Oil industry's wastewater wells blamed for triggering Oklahoma quakes

[Lodestar]

Source: Fortune (Energy section)

For the past several years, Oklahoma has seen an upsurge in tiny earthquakes that have rattled the nerves of residents in this normally quiet part of the country.

Some scientists have suggested the oil and gas industry’s use of injection wells to bury huge amounts of wastewater deep underground may be to blame. The wastewater results from enhanced hydrocarbon extraction operations, mostly in the search for oil; Burying the wastewater deep underground, the thinking goes, may increase the pressure on the rocks enough to cause seismic events. Now, a new study in Science released Thursday finds this may be the case.

Using seismic data and pumping rate data at the well heads, a research team at Cornell University led by Prof. Katie Keranen has concluded that four of the highest-volume disposal wells in Oklahoma are likely behind 20 percent of hundreds of quakes since 2008 east of the Rocky Mountains. Keranen and her team also found the wells could trigger quakes as far away as 30 kilometers, a much greater distance than 5 kilometer which was previously believed.

Read more: http://fortune.com/2014/07/03/oil-industrys-wastewater-wells-blamed-for-triggering-oklahoma-quakes/?xid=ob_rss

[ffr]

2. Is this OK's way of competing with CA?

Sure are an unusual amount of earthquakes taking place in what should be a zone without many active faults. Strange indeed. I just assumed it was from fracking and nobody from OK cared enough to speak up about it.

[George II]

3. This is unbelievable.....

"some scientists" have "suggested"?

[starroute]

7. And not just "tiny quakes"

There was a magnitude 5.7 in 2011 -- and even the magnitude 3's can be felt by people in the area.

I was just looking around and this seems like a good resource:
http://stillwaterweather.com/okareaearthquakes.php

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Lodestar.

[Blue Owl]

5. Frackin-A...

[AAO]

6. Free roller coaster ride!

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Remember Ohio?

[font size="4"]U.S. fracking
Geologists: Fracking Likely Cause of Ohio Earthquakes[/font]

Sam Frizell @Sam_Frizell

April 12, 2014


Tremors under the state’s Appalachian Mountains last month were likely the result of hydraulic fracturing—the gas extraction process referred to as “fracking”—geologists have said for the first time, leading Ohio to issue strict permit conditions on Friday.

Geologists have for the first time linked earthquakes deep under Ohio’s Appalachian Mountains to hydraulic fracturing, leading the state to issue strict permit conditions Friday on the gas extraction process.

Researchers found that five small tremors last month near Youngstown, Ohio were likely the result of the injection of sand and water that occurs during the hydraulic fracturing — or “fracking” — process, the Associated Press reports. Fracking involves injecting rocks with pressurized water or other liquids in an effort to extract gas which can be turned into usable fuel.

Because the geology of each shale formation is different, the discovery in Ohio may not apply everywhere across the country. However, other instances of fracking causing small earthquakes have been recorded elsewhere, including in Oklahoma, England and British Columbia, Canada.

More: http://time.com/60363/fracking-earthquakes-ohio/