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Ohio Quakes Probably Caused by Drilling-Fluid Well, Report Says
2012-03-09 15:51:24.261 GMT
By Mark Niquette
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Earthquakes last year in Ohio were
probably caused by wastewater from oil and natural-gas drilling
injected into a disposal well, and regulations are needed to
address concern about seismic activity, a state report said.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources today proposed
creating rules for fluid transportation and disposal, including
banning drilling into some rock formations and requiring
geological reviews before wells are approved.
The recommendations are a response to 12 quakes centered
within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of an injection well in
Youngstown, Ohio.
“A number of coincidental circumstances appear to make a
compelling argument for the recent Youngstown-area seismic
events to have been induced,” including the timing, location
and depth of the earthquakes in relation to the well, the report
said.
Researchers are also looking into whether temblors in
states, including Arkansas and Texas, were caused by injecting
fluid under pressure. U.S. states are trying to avoid any
environmental impact from hydraulic fracturing while reaping the
economic benefits. So-called fracking involves injecting water,
sand and chemicals underground at high pressure.
Safeguards Demanded
“Ohioans demand smart environmental safeguards that
protect our environment and promote public health,” James
Zehringer, the department director, said in the release. “These
new standards accomplish this goal.”
Exxon Mobil Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., and Devon
Energy Corp. are among companies drilling in Ohio’s Utica and
Marcellus shale formations. Federal regulators are studying any
links between injections and quakes and the effects of fracking
on drinking water. The value of production in Ohio may add $4.9
billion to the state’s economic output by 2014, a Feb. 28 study
commissioned by the Ohio Shale Coalition concluded.
The evidence suggests that fluid from the Youngstown well
“intersected an unmapped fault in a near-failure state of
stress causing movement along that fault,” the agency said.
There had been no record of earthquakes in modern times
from epicenters located in the Youngstown area before D&L Energy
Inc. began injecting drilling brine, a byproduct of drilling,
about 9,200 feet (2,804 meters) underground in December 2010,
the report said. Starting in March, there have been 12 temblors
around the well ranging from magnitude 2.1 to a 4.0 quake that
hit on New Year’s Eve, according to the report.
Kasich’s Moratorium
That quake prompted Republican Governor John Kasich to
place an indefinite moratorium on the Youngstown well, plus
three other drilled wells and one in the vicinity with a permit
pending, according to the report. The moratorium affecting five
Youngstown-area wells will remain in place, the agency said.
The report recommends 10 changes to the state’s permitting
and monitoring program for Class II deep injection wells,
including limiting the depth of drilling; additional review of
available geological data; installation of a system at wells to
continuously monitor pressure; and an automatic shut-off system
if injection pressures exceed state limits.
The changes will be implemented as part of the permitting
process until they are either enacted into law or approved as
part of state administrative rules, the department said in its
release. The state also will buy four additional portable
seismometers, the report said.
Tracking System
The agency also is requiring the installation of an
electronic system to track fluids brought to Ohio wells for
injection.
There have been more permits for disposal wells in Ohio
during the past two years than in the previous decade combined,
according to records from the department. More than half of the
volume injected last year was from out of state, included more
than 90 percent of the water sent to the Youngstown well,
records show.
State Representative Armond Budish, the House Democratic
leader, has said Ohio has become “the dumping ground for
contaminated brine.” Kasich has said that while he’s not happy
about the rising volume of wastewater from neighboring states,
the U.S. Constitution prohibits interference with shipments.
While drawing a link to the Youngstown quakes, the agency
said it didn’t see a wider threat.
It is “very difficult for all the conditions to be met to
induce seismic events,” the state report said. It cited fewer
than 20 connected with more than 144,000 U.S. injection wells in
operation.
Since Ohio assumed control of regulating disposal wells in
1983 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than
202 million barrels of oilfield fluids have been sent to such
wells in the state with no reports of contamination or other
earthquakes, the report said.
For Related News and Information:
News on U.S. utilities: TNI UTI US
Natural-gas trading hub prices: NGHB
News about fracturing: STNI FRACKING
Map of U.S. shale basins: BMAP 82555
--Editors: Mark Tannenbaum, Mark Schoifet
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mark Tannenbaum at +1-212-617-1962 or
mtannen@bloomberg.net
