Hello Kim,
With respect to the 'Wastewater Injections' article you kindly shared, I'm not sure the study says there is direct scientific evidence between the re-injection of the water-cut associated with oil production and earthquakes but rather it is saying that their is a statistical probability that they are related due to a noted increase of seismic activity in the region around the oil field.
Basically the energy companies are putting the associated fluids separated from the oil production back where it came from. But to say that the re-injected fluids are migrating to fault planes and causing this increased seismic activity is a working hypothesis at this point. Frankly I am more concerned with the massive subsidence of the Central Valley from the increased fresh water withdrawal from water wells over the last 5 years. This is something we can actually measure and see surface evidence of its presence.
I would like to see more folks following the potential risks associated with providing irrigation and drinking water from massive water wells rather than academic studies on old oil fields that are in secondary-recovery operational phase. I would argue that many responsible Producers are at least putting the associated brackish water production back where it came from ( and in most cases the same geological formation (i.e., production interval) it originally came from).
On a side note, I remember the late Dr. John Manning ( a well known California Hydrologist & my college advisor) once telling me ( during a conversation of the 1976-77 California drought we were experiencing) that I would see 50' or more of ground subsidence in certain areas of the San Joaquin Valley during my lifetime; I wish Dr. Manning were around today to witness his prediction.
Thanks for the great public service and information you provide,
Regards,
Ed Miller
On Fri, Feb 5, 2016 at 2:28 AM, Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com [californiadisasters] <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
California earthquake series in 2005 linked to oilfield wastewater injections, study findsSource: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-earthquakes-linked-to-oil-injections-study-finds-20160204-story.html
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Posted by: Ed Miller <edmillerbolivia@gmail.com>
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