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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDifferent Kind Of Boom: Replacing Extracted Oil And Gas With Toxic Wastewater Causes Earthquakes
Different Kind Of Boom: Replacing Extracted Oil And Gas With Toxic Wastewater Causes Earthquakes
By Ryan Koronowski
After pulling massive amounts of fossil fuels out of the Earths crust so we can burn it up into our atmosphere, we have a good sense of where the stuff goes. Our oceans. A global greenhouse. Our lungs. But what happens to the ground formerly occupied by those fossil fuels?
Its becoming increasingly clear that oil and gas extraction processes are actually weakening the structural integrity of the Earths crust just enough to cause more frequent earthquakes, in places not used to them.
Oklahoma, for instance, is not known for earthquakes. Yet the central U.S. has seen an elevenfold jump in recent years, including the Sooner States largest earthquake on record. This 5.7-magnitude quake occurred on November 6, 2011 near Prague, Oklahoma. And research published yesterday in Geology from the University of Oklahoma, Columbia University, and the U.S. Geological Survey has made a direct connection to the disposal of wastewater from conventional oil production:
As Climate Progress has written before, this practice of disposing chemical-laced water generated during the extraction of oil and gas has far-reaching effects. Drillers have been doing this for more than a decade, and the researchers note that the Oklahoma quake did not actually require very much wastewater. In fact, because we have been doing this for so long, the built-up pressure in the Earths crust changes the criteria of how quakes happen. The studys abstract notes:
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/03/27/1780101/different-kind-of-boom-replacing-extracted-oil-and-gas-with-toxic-wastewater-causes-earthquakes/
By Ryan Koronowski
After pulling massive amounts of fossil fuels out of the Earths crust so we can burn it up into our atmosphere, we have a good sense of where the stuff goes. Our oceans. A global greenhouse. Our lungs. But what happens to the ground formerly occupied by those fossil fuels?
Its becoming increasingly clear that oil and gas extraction processes are actually weakening the structural integrity of the Earths crust just enough to cause more frequent earthquakes, in places not used to them.
Oklahoma, for instance, is not known for earthquakes. Yet the central U.S. has seen an elevenfold jump in recent years, including the Sooner States largest earthquake on record. This 5.7-magnitude quake occurred on November 6, 2011 near Prague, Oklahoma. And research published yesterday in Geology from the University of Oklahoma, Columbia University, and the U.S. Geological Survey has made a direct connection to the disposal of wastewater from conventional oil production:
A new study in the journal Geology is the latest to tie a string of unusual earthquakes, in this case, in central Oklahoma, to the injection of wastewater deep underground. Researchers now say that the magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Prague, Okla., on Nov. 6, 2011, may also be the largest ever linked to wastewater injection. Felt as far away as Milwaukee, more than 800 miles away, the quake the biggest ever recorded in Oklahoma destroyed 14 homes, buckled a federal highway and left two people injured. Small earthquakes continue to be recorded in the area.
The recent boom in U.S. energy production has produced massive amounts of wastewater. The water is used both in hydrofracking, which cracks open rocks to release natural gas, and in coaxing petroleum out of conventional oil wells. In both cases, the brine and chemical-laced water has to be disposed of, often by injecting it back underground elsewhere, where it has the potential to trigger earthquakes. The water linked to the Prague quakes was a byproduct of oil extraction at one set of oil wells, and was pumped into another set of depleted oil wells targeted for waste storage.
As Climate Progress has written before, this practice of disposing chemical-laced water generated during the extraction of oil and gas has far-reaching effects. Drillers have been doing this for more than a decade, and the researchers note that the Oklahoma quake did not actually require very much wastewater. In fact, because we have been doing this for so long, the built-up pressure in the Earths crust changes the criteria of how quakes happen. The studys abstract notes:
Significantly, this case indicates that decades-long lags between the commencement of fluid injection and the onset of induced earthquakes are possible, and modifies our common criteria for fluid-induced events.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/03/27/1780101/different-kind-of-boom-replacing-extracted-oil-and-gas-with-toxic-wastewater-causes-earthquakes/
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Different Kind Of Boom: Replacing Extracted Oil And Gas With Toxic Wastewater Causes Earthquakes (Original Post)
ProSense
Mar 2013
OP
Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)1. Poisoning our water isn't bad enough
Berlum
(7,044 posts)2. Crack, Inc.