Ohio probe: Gas-drilling waste behind quakes

A brine injection well owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC is seen in Youngstown, Ohio on Jan. 4, 2011. Operations were stopped after a series of small earthquakes. / AP Photo/Amy Sancetta

(CBS/AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio - A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth, Ohio oil and gas regulators said Friday as they announced a series of tough new regulations for drillers.

Among the new regulations: Well operators must submit more comprehensive geological data when requesting a drill site, and the chemical makeup of all drilling wastewater must be tracked electronically.

The state Department of Natural Resources announced the tough new brine injection regulations because of the report's findings on a well in Youngstown, which it said were based on "a number of coincidental circumstances."

Since March 2012, the Youngstown area has experienced 12 low-magnitude siesmic events, ranging from 2.1 to 4.0 magnitude, the official report said.

According to CBS affiliate WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio, fluid from the Northstar 1 (D&L) disposal well went an unmapped fault which was in a state of stress, creating the earthquakes.

On circumstancee investigators cited was that the well began operations just three months ahead of the first quake.

They also noted that the seismic activity was clustered around the well bore, and reported that a fault has since been identified in the Precambrian basement rock where water was being injected.

"Geologists believe it is very difficult for all conditions to be met to induce seismic events," the report states. "In fact, all the evidence indicates that properly located ... injection wells will not cause earthquakes."

Northeastern Ohio and large parts of adjacent states sit atop the Marcellus Shale geological formation, which contains vast reserves of natural gas that energy companies are rushing to drill using a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

That process involves freeing the gas by injecting water into the earth, but that water needs to be disposed of when companies are done with it. Municipal water treatment plants aren't designed to remove some of the contaminants found in the wastewater, including radioactive elements. Deep injection is considered one of the safest methods for disposing of the wastewater.

Past earthquakes have been linked to energy exploration and production, including from injections of enormous amounts of drilling wastewater or injections of water for geothermal power, experts said. They point to recent earthquakes in the magnitude 3 and 4 range — not big enough to cause much damage, but big enough to be felt — in Arkansas, Texas, California, England, Germany and Switzerland. And in the 1960s, two Denver quakes in the 5.0 range were traced to deep injection of wastewater.

The improper placement of the Youngstown well stemmed in part from inadequate geological data being available to regulators, the report states. New rules would require a complete roll of geophysical logs to be submitted to the state.

"These logs were not available to inform regulators of the possible issues in geologic formations prior to well operation," the document says.

Requiring well operators to submit more comprehensive geologic data is just one of the added regulations the department will either impose immediately or pursue through legislative or rule changes.

Among other changes:

— Future injection into Precambrian rock will be banned, and existing wells penetrating the formation will be plugged.

— State-of-the-art pressure and volume monitoring will be required, including automatic shut-off systems.

— Electronic tracking systems will be required that identify the makeup of all drilling wastewater fluids entering the state.

"Ohio has developed a new set of regulatory standards that positions the state as a national leader in safe and environmentally responsible brine disposal," Natural Resources Director James Zehringer said in a prepared statement.

"Ohioans demand smart environmental safeguards that protect our environment and promote public health. These new standards accomplish that goal," he said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave Ohio regulatory authority over its deep well injection program in 1983, deeming that its state regulations met or exceeded federal standards. The new regulations would be added to those existing rules.

[sjc_1]

"..injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth.."

This should not be done, the fracting water contains lots of toxic chemicals. The water should be processed properly, but that costs more.

Cheney pushed a bill through Congress in 2005 exempting natural gas drillers from the Clean Water Act and just about every other environmental law. Cheney has made 100s of millions of dollars from natural gas, I guess he wanted even more.

[flexsf]

Every greedy, corporate executive should be forced to purchase all of the worthless property that was within range of the frackquake. They must be held accountable.

[realtimecoffee]

by fedup12 March 9, 2012 6:32 PM EST
Back in my old structural geology class I remember a theory that was being discussed about injecting water into fault zones in order to cause slippage along the zones. Essentially to trigger smaller quakes in order to avoid the bigger ones.

So I would not be surprised if fracking is causing some of this. I have no proof one way or the other. Probably need to be careful where they put the injection well.

Looks to me like just being careful is the answer.

OOooo.... Reglations are job killers.
--
So if I undersand what you are saying, it's possible fracking caused a series of tiny quakes, relieving stress and avoiding (or delaying) a future larger quake?

[realtimecoffee]

Well if this is really what is going on it's an unplanned real world experiment into something that might one day help mitigate megaquakes. I hope someone is keeping track of the data.

[realtimecoffee]

Sometimes unintended consequenses turn out fantastic. Would like to hope this is one of those times.

[dj_chi]

Man, the GOP's gonna scream about all these new job-killing regulations!!

[retm-w]

LOL, Ohio has a republican governor and state legislature, they'll never enforce the regulations. They already ignore regulations that are on the books.

[realtimecoffee]

If I read the story right, these ARE from the GOP, though ret has a point about enforcement.

[creeper00]

Wait a minute! Have I got this right?...First they inject the water into the ground to force the gas out. Then they remove the water from the ground. Then they pump it back into the ground somewhere else? Does not compute.

[Diamonddavej]

To legalbutnotjust

"I suppose 200 dead and 5000 homeless in on par with the human toll of a multi-national, years long war as well, right?"

Several hydroelectric dam projects have displaced millions people (1.4 million in the case of the Three Gorges Dam alone) in normal operation or during disasters - killed 100s to 170,000 (and left 11 million homeless) in the case of the 1975 Banqiao Dam disaster (dam collapse & flood).

I'm not denying the destructive effects of fossil fuels, just noting that other sources of energy normally seen as safe, are not so safe.

[Diamonddavej]

New hydroelectric dams and reservoirs also cause earthquakes, the weight of water pushes down on the crust and forces water, at pressure, into dormant fault lines - causing earthquakes.

The most destructive and even deadly human generated earthquakes originate from hydroelectric dams and reservoirs. The Mag 6.7 1967 Koyna Dam earthquake, India, killed 200 and left 5000 people homeless. It's also speculated that the Zipingpu Reservoir, China might have caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that killed 70,000 (4 million homeless).

Dam induced (human caused) seismicity is quite common. Thankfully, few earthquakes a so destructive. I suppose people think hydroelectric power is a safe and clean, but it's not.

Ge et al., 2009. Did the Zipingpu Reservoir trigger the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Geophys. Res. Lett 36, L20315.

[cedaredge]

One paragraph says something and the next paragraph says COMPLETELY THE OPPOSITE!
I see that this article was written by the AP and CBS. If the AP has anything to do with this article...........no wonder it's confusing.
IMPO, I believe we are being conned with this FRACKING.
The article already said that it had an influence on earthquakes in various areas in the country.
It doesn't take a genius to know you don't mess with Mother Nature.
Don't mess with my CLEAN WATER!!!!!!

[fedup12]

Back in my old structural geology class I remember a theory that was being discussed about injecting water into fault zones in order to cause slippage along the zones. Essentially to trigger smaller quakes in order to avoid the bigger ones.

So I would not be surprised if fracking is causing some of this. I have no proof one way or the other. Probably need to be careful where they put the injection well.

Looks to me like just being careful is the answer.

OOooo.... Reglations are job killers.

[jumkey]

That can't be true....the Republicans said the earthquakes were caused by gay marriage.