Posted on 07/07/2014 1:23:59 PM PDT by mbarker12474
Study links Oklahoma earthquake swarm with fracking operations
By Hailey Branson-Potts
[skip to the last paragraph if you want to skip the nonsense.]
Oklahoma ... boom ... recent years: oil and gas production and earthquakes.
To many residents, the timing .... Before the oil and gas industry started drilling... rare to feel an earthquake. Today, Oklahoma... second-most seismically active state ....
Now ... fresh scientific evidence .... Researchers from Cornell University and the University of Colorado say a large swarm of earthquakes ... caused by ... disposal wells, ... wastewater from drilling operations ... hydraulic fracturing ... deep geological formations....
Four high-rate disposal wells ... induced a group of earthquakes ... Jones swarm, ... 20% of the seismicity in the central and eastern United States ... journal Science.
The Jones swarm, ... more than 100 earthquakes ... five-year period. The four wells ... 4 million barrels of fluid monthly. Hydraulic fracturing... high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals ... extract oil and natural gas. ... wastewater is often forced underground ....
When fluid is injected ... increases pressure ... pores of those formations..... The increased pressure .... trigger earthquakes ....
For ... researchers created a three-dimensional hydrogeological model... spread pressure through the pores. The computer model used actual... .......
The “more fluid you put in ... the sponge ....
....
Terry said disposal wells have been used in the state for more than 50 years and “have met and even exceeded current disposal volumes during that time.” Oil and natural gas are produced in 70 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, so “any seismic activity within the state is likely to occur near oil and gas activity,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
At just a slight increase in cost of course.
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