Sharon Wilson discusses man-made earthquakes caused by oil and gas operations like fracking. There are three main causes - underground explosions, injection of wastewater, and extraction. Injection of wastewater has been scientifically linked to earthquakes in several states. Fracking injection has also caused small quakes. Wilson provides recommendations to address man-made quakes like requiring seismic monitoring and establishing protocols to decrease injection pressures in response to tremors.

1. Man-made Earthquakes
Sharon Wilson
swilson@earthworksaction.org
www.earthworksaction.org
February 2, 2015
Irving League of Women Voters

2. 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.

3. 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

4. • 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

6. • 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:

7. 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:

8. • 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:

9. 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

10. • 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

11. • 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

12. 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

13. Perf guns are transported through towns and
into neighborhoods.

14. 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

15. 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:

16. What about reuse?
Alternatives to injection - 2:
Be careful what you wish for.

17. Air pollution from waste pits in California.

18. • 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 of
permitted injection well site. All seismic monitoring data
must be publicly available via the internet on a real time
basis.
Possible Recommendations:

19. • 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:

20. • 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 report
tremors, 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:

21. • 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:

22. Among scientists, 31 percent favor the
increased use of fracking while a
majority—66 percent—are opposed.
Pew Research Center
January 29, 2015

23. The Solutions Project – 100% Renewable Energy
http://thesolutionsproject.org/
50 plans for 50 states.
Let’s do it!