Researchers may have found the cause of the spike in Oklahoma earthquakes. Originally, it was thought that fracking may have been the reason earthquakes occur but a new study reveals that rather it is waste water in deep rock formations. Researchers published their findings in the journal Science Advances in which, according to CNBC, the ground where drillers are working has lots of produced or waster water is mixed in with the oil and gas. Once the water is separated from the oil and gas it is released back into the ground as waste.

The ground where drillers are working in Oklahoma has large amounts of this brackish water, and drillers have been separating it from the oil and gas reserves and then pumping the saltwater back into a deeper formation of rock known as the Arbuckle Group.

The waste water, in turn, is causing the faults in the formation to slip, which causes earthquakes. That waste water is separate from the water that drillers pump into the ground to push out oil and gas reserves, the study said.

So far the earthquakes occurring are not noticeable at 3.0 on the Richter scale but the frequency has increased with more recorded in 2014. However, one quake has been recorded at 5.7 and the study states there is the potential of a more severe earthquakes down the line. The study’s co-author Geophysicist Mark Zoback states he is optimistic that scientists will make progress in understanding what is going on and they are making their findings known to regulators.

Environmentalists will cherry-pick from stories in order to make up propaganda against fracking. They have tried (and failed) to link the procedure to polluting groundwater and other aspects of the natural environment. But it does not mean they will stop trying even when the science is against them.