Sandra Ladra, a resident of Prague, Oklahoma, was injured during a 2011 earthquake. Mounting evidence has shown that the earthquakes were caused by the injection of wastewater from fracking. So Sandra decided to sue the oil and gas companies that operate injection wells in her area.
The Wall Street Journal has published a debateabout whether oil companies should be held liable for injuries caused by the quakes.
Blake Watson, a law professor at the University of Dayton, says the companies should pay. He hopes the lawsuits will compel companies to consider safer ways to dispose of wastewater.
But Catrina Rorke, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute in Washington, disagrees. She says it’s the job of the insurance market to compensate those injured in quakes.
