Community Knowledge-Seeking During Uncertainty: Induced Seismicity and Hydraulic Fracturing
In Oklahoma, the frequency of earthquakes has risen significantly in the past decade with many scientists believing that these earthquakes are induced by injecting vast quantities of salty wastewater, a byproduct of petroleum production, deep underground. Because the cause is still being debated publicly, communities impacted by these quakes often face uncertainty when it comes to understanding the earthquakes and the subsequent effects on their lives, and share information related to the causes and impacts of the quakes. In order to understand how information is being shared and how it is being used, it is first necessary to examine what types or categories of information are being shared by varying stakeholder groups. Through semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders, we have found that there is a difference between the type of information shared by different groups, with the most notable difference being between lay Community members and those with a background working in oil & gas, government, or academia & the physical sciences.
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