Azle Residents Demand Answers About Quakes

AZLE (CBSDFW.COM) - More than 800 Parker County residents pressed Commissioner David Porter of the Texas Railroad Commission Thursday for answers about a series of minor earthquakes there.

The commission regulates oil and gas operations. Angry and frustrated, many residents are fed up after experiencing 30 earthquakes in one month. Many of the people at the meeting, which took place at Azle High School, blame the quakes on water injection wells. Fracking water is disposed of in those wells.

"They're bringing millions of gallons a day out here that have toxic chemicals and putting them down those wells. It's just a bomb waiting to happen," one resident told CBS 11 News.

After the meeting Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter refused to speak with the media; leaving the agencie's Executive Director, Milton Rister to pick up the pieces.

Rister told CBS 11 News that the TRC intends to give the Mayor of Azle a full investigation -- that it's all part of  "a process," which includes listening to people for starters.

No timeline on how long the investigation will take was set. However, the TWC said they are working with the EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey to determine the cause of the quakes.

The Tarrant Regional Water District has also requested advice from experts, including the U.S. Geological Survey, about the quakes. Inspections were done on Eagle Mountain Reservoir, as a precaution, to check for cracks or other possible damage.

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