Man-made Earthquakes

Sharon Wilsonswilson@earthworksaction.org

www.earthworksaction.orgFebruary 2, 2015

Irving League of Women Voters

Who I am:

• 5th generation Texan.

• Former oil & gas industry employee

• Landowner & mineral owner

• Witness of fracking impacts www.texassharon.com

• Organizer for Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project.

Who we are:

Earthworks is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting people and the environment from the impacts of mineral and energy development.

Oil & Gas Accountability Project – OGAP is a project of Earthworks

• Water Climate Wildlife

• Air Public Health Earthquakes

Risks from Unconventional Drilling aka Fracking:

“What's different is the volume of fracking fluids and the volume of flow-back that occurs in these wells. It is 50 to 100 times more than what was used in the conventional wells.”

~Louis Allstadt, former Mobil V.P.

1.21 barrels of total drilling waste are generated for every foot drilled in the United States.

~American Petroleum Institute

• We have known since 1870 that man’s actions can cause earthquakes. (impounding lakes)

• Three main causes of man-made earthquakes (Schlumberger 2000, Seismicity in the Oil Field):

1. Underground explosions.2. Injection.3. Extraction.

• We have known since 1960 that injection can cause earthquakes.

• Six-fold increase in Midwest earthquakes since late 20th

century.

Man-made earthquakes – what we know and don’t know:

Prior to the fracking boom, Texas was one of the least likely places in the United States for earthquakes.

Texas ranked 6th in 2013 in the list of top 10 states for M30. or larger earthquakes.

(E&E News)

Man-made earthquakes – what we know and don’t know - 2:

• Induced seismicity may be delayed for many years, (20 years, [Keranen, K.M. et al., 2013]).

• Induced seismicity may not end for years after injection ends

• Research has not established a maximum distance over which injection can induce earthquakes. (20 miles – AP, 31 miles, Keranan )

• The maximum possible magnitude of induced earthquakes is unknown.

Man-made earthquakes – what we know and don’t know - 3:

Three kinds of injection:

1. Fracking injection – requires millions of gallons of

water, thousands (8,000 WSJ) of tons of sand and

thousands a gallons of chemicals all injected under

5,000 to 8,000 pounds-per-square-inch (PSI). Fracking

is meant to break rock.

2. Waste disposal injection –injects under lesser

pressure the massive amounts of waste fluids the from

many fracked wells.

3. Enhanced recovery injection –has been linked to

earthquakes. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is used to

create pressure in a formation.

Man-made Earthquakes – Injection

• M3 - M5 quakes have been scientifically linked to wastewater injection wells in: Arkansas (M4.7), Colorado (M5.3), Ohio (M3.9), Oklahoma (M5.7), and Texas (M4.8).

• Fracking injection has produced quakes of M2 and M3.

• Horn River Basin seismicity events, from 2009 to late 2011, were caused by fluid injection during fracking. All events occurred during or between hydraulic fracturing stage operations and produced earthquakes from M2.2 and M3.8

• In Oklahoma during 2011, 116 quakes from M0.06 to M2.9 occurred near a well being hydraulically fractured.

Man-made Earthquakes – Injection 2

• 190 quakes in 3 days started within 3 hours of fracking. Ohio quakes directly linked to fracking injection.

• Canadian scientists believe a M4.4 quake in Alberta was caused by fracking.

• 18 M3 > quakes in Snyder area may have been triggered by CO2 injections. EOR

• Eagle Ford Shale – (2013) 62 probable quakes, complex geography, seismic activity associated with injection and extraction.

Man-made earthquakes – Injection 3

Underground explosions called “perf guns” are required for fracking.

• Armor piercing charges are used to blow holes through the steel casing pipe, cement casing and surrounding shale.

• Sometimes the charges accidentally go off on the surface causing serious accidents.

• One study limited to 3 suppliers prior to the shale boom, found 94 accidents, 49 injuries and 29 deaths due to perf guns.

• Cell phones can set off a perf gun.

Man-made earthquakes – Underground Explosions

Perf guns are transported through towns and into neighborhoods.

Energy Quote of the Day: Power of the Perf Gun:

Perforating unconventional oil & gas wells as part of the hydraulic fracturing process uses armor-piercing charges, Senior Petroleum Engineer for Wagner & Brown Billy Harris... Given the powerful nature of the explosives, some countries have strict regulations controlling their use.

“Perf guns do really well on tanks and armored vehicles. Some folks are very sensitive about this.”

Billy Harris, Sr. Petroleum Engineer, Wagner & Brown

Man-made earthquakes – Underground Explosions - 2

Why not recycle?

Devon Energy estimates it costs about 75% more to recycle than to inject in a disposal well.

Texas Water Development Board study found minimal recycling in Texas:

• 2% of total water used in Permian Basin.

• 5% of total water used in Barnett Shale.

• 0% of total water used in Eagle Ford Shale.

Industry will not recycle until it’s mandated.

Alternatives to injection:

What about reuse?

Alternatives to injection - 2:

Be careful what you wish for.

Air pollution from waste pits in California.

• Require seismic analysis and monitoring over a 2 mile radius for 3 to 6 months prior to applying for a permit for a commercial or non-commercial injection well. Results must be included in the permit application and made publicly available.

• Require operators to provide information on the structural geology within a two mile radius of new proposed injection well sites.

• Require ongoing seismic monitoring within two miles ofpermitted injection well site. All seismic monitoring datamust be publicly available via the internet on a real time basis.

Possible Recommendations:

• Require monitoring and reporting on a daily basis of the quantity of waste injected, the minimum and maximum daily injection pressure and the daily annular pressure.

• Establish trigger criteria that will require a decrease in the quantity of waste injected and/or injection pressure or cease injection of waste.

• Establish protocols for ceasing waste injection and for additional monitoring requirements following decrease in quantity of waste injected, decrease in injection pressure and/or cease of injection waste all together.

Possible Recommendations - 2:

• The monitoring and reporting requirements in recommendations 2, 3, 4 and 5 must be required for all existing injection wells and all wells where active stimulation/pressurization has occurred.

• Establish a mechanism for community members in a 5-mile radius of an injection well to reporttremors, describe the intensity of the tremors, date and time of tremors, and structural damage.

• Establish a mechanism for community members to identify the location and distance of the nearest injection well by name and serial number. Make this information publicly available.

Possible Recommendations - 3:

• Allow community complaints to be accompanied by photos of structural damage

• Require injection well operators to report and record any indication of tremors in the area of their injection well, and the injection pressure and annular pressure at the time of each tremor event.

Possible Recommendations - 3:

Among scientists, 31 percent favor the increased use of fracking while a majority—66 percent—are opposed.

Pew Research CenterJanuary 29, 2015

The Solutions Project – 100% Renewable Energy

http://thesolutionsproject.org/

50 plans for 50 states. Let’s do it!