Tighten rules on drilling waste disposal, Dem says

E&E News
By Mike Soraghan
March 28, 2014

Federal law governing the disposal of oil and gas waste should be strengthened to address its potential to trigger earthquakes, a top House Democrat said.

"We need to decide if re-injection of wastewater is wise in some places," said Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, at an earthquake hearing yesterday. "This is all regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is focused on protecting groundwater. It turns out there are other problems."

DeFazio and Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) used a hearing on the 50th anniversary of Alaska's "Good Friday" mega-quake to highlight the earthquake danger that's been linked to oil and gas waste disposal activity.

They also needled the Republican majority for ignoring the issue -- and for not initially inviting anyone from the U.S. Geological Survey to testify at the hearing. William Leith, senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards at USGS, was invited at the request of Democrats.

"I'm pleased you allowed us to invite them," said Holt, the ranking member on the subcommittee that held the hearing, Energy and Mineral Resources. "It's a topic we might devote an entire hearing to."

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), chairman of the subcommittee, ignored the barbs and the topic of quakes linked to drilling.

Scientists have known for decades underground injection of waste fluid -- from drilling or other industrial activities -- can lubricate faults and unleash earthquakes.

The nation's drilling boom has been powered by advances in the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," which uses millions of gallons of water for each well and creates millions of gallons of salty, toxic wastewater. Most of that waste fluid eventually gets injected underground into the country's roughly 40,000 deep disposal wells.

Fracking itself has not been linked to damaging earthquakes, but USGS and academic researchers say waste fluid disposal appears to be leading to a surge in earthquakes in the middle of the country.

In a 2012 report to a scientific conference, USGS scientists highlighted a "remarkable" surge in earthquake activity in the middle of the country, particularly in Oklahoma. The report said the increase was most likely linked to disposal of waste fluid from oil and gas production.

Researchers have also linked such deep injection wells to earthquakes in Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio and Texas. In some of those states, wells were shut down. But in others, state officials disagreed with the researchers' findings. Kansas has also formed a task force to look at potential links between injection and earthquakes near the state's border with Oklahoma (EnergyWire, Feb. 19).

'Record-keeping is minimal'

Oil and gas production is regulated almost entirely by states. But the Safe Drinking Water Act, a federal law enforced by U.S. EPA, governs underground injection of drilling wastewater. Usually, the state oil and gas agency administers the program with EPA oversight.

The law doesn't make it illegal to cause an earthquake. Instead, regulators seek to prevent earthquakes because they might harm the underground sources of drinking water the law does protect.

Scientists, Leith said, need better information than states require if they are to understand better the phenomenon of man-made earthquakes. Most companies need provide only the volume of waste injected every month and the average pressure used to keep it down.

"The record keeping is minimal," Leith said. "It's not specific enough. In order to really understand this better, the federal government or the states need to request more data."

Oklahoma is working on requirements to increase data collection, and Ohio implemented injection rules in 2012 after a series of disposal-related earthquakes hit Youngstown. But most states have not followed suit.

DeFazio has been pressing Republican leaders to take the threat of man-made earthquakes more seriously (EnergyWire, March 26). Along with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) he asked late last year for a joint hearing of the Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees on the topic.