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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Early draft of long-anticipated EPA report calls for shutting injection wells that are causing earthquakes

Environmental Protection Agency officials released an early draft of a long-awaited report about the link between disposal of hydraulic fracturing waste and earthquakes, saying "oil and gas wastewater injection wells that are causing earthquakes should stop operating if there's no way to stop the shaking," Mike Soraghan reports for Environment & Energy News. But before going that far, EPA has a list of options to consider, including "scaling back how much well owners can inject, and requiring more data collection or public education about 'the complexities of injection-induced seismicity'."

There is no timetable for when the draft, which was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011, will be released. An EPA spokesman said in the statement that the agency is hoping to submit the draft for peer review "later this year, Soraghan reports. The document could change substantially as the work group addresses comments from reviewers." To read the draft click here.

"Scientists have known for decades that underground injection of fluid can lubricate faults and unleash earthquakes," Soraghan reports. "Some seismologists now think the boom in shale drilling in the United States -- and the wastewater it produces -- might be causing a sharp increase in the number of earthquakes in the middle of the country. A study released last year found that deep injection of oil and gas wastewater appears to be causing more earthquakes than previously thought.

Some states have ignored the warning signs as they rewrite their drilling laws, but a few states have responded. Officials in Arkansas and Ohio shut down wells linked to earthquakes, and a Texas company shut down wells that were causing quakes near the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, Soraghan reports. "Oil and gas production is regulated almost entirely by states," he notes. "But a federal law, the Safe Drinking Water Act, governs underground injection of drilling wastewater. EPA regulates disposal directly in a few states, such as Pennsylvania, but in most it has handed day-to-day regulation to state agencies." (Read more)

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