Special Investigation: The Earthquakes and Toxic Waste

By Mike Ludwig, Truthout

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012--Drilling seismic wave is facilitating an oil and gas boom in the Buckeye State, and Ohioans have reason to be shaken up about the issue.

Between the spring of 2011 and early 2012, a fracking waste injection well known as Northstar 1 caused more than a dozen minor earthquakes near Youngstown, Ohio, including one 4.0 magnitude earthquake that was felt for miles.

A Truthout investigation has revealed that Ohio regulators permitted Northstar 1 operators to raise its maximum injection pressure twice, once shortly before and once again after the well caused two initial earthquakes on March 17, 2011.

Happy St. Paddy’s Day...You’re screwed!

And btw...we don't need no stinkin' Maximum Injection Pressure Tests, either! 

Trust us...we're A-OK! 

The injection well had the highest pressure of any well in the state, but the well operator was not required to conduct seismic testing before drilling and operating the well.

The well was drilled more than 9,000 feet into a deep rock formation called the Precambrian basement, where the bottom of the well was left uncased, or "open hole," allowing drilling waste to flow freely into the underground formation, according to geological documents obtained by Truthout.

It appears the drilling waste fluid lubricated a previously unknown fault as drilling waste moved through the Precambrian layer and caused the series of earthquakes.

Earthquakes?? Caused by man? OMG! 

What have we done?? But wait! 

There is no proof  that our excessive drilling had anything to do with some random earthquakes. NFW!

A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Nature Resources (ODNR), which permitted Northstar 1 and regulates oil and gas waste injection wells, told Truthout they had not had enough information about the earthquake activity when the pressure increases were approved and have since reformed their permitting process.

Not enough information?

Didn't you get suspicious when your morning coffee spilled all over your vest?

...Y’know, the vest that is part of that cool, 3-piece number. 

Crucial data about Northstar 1 and the Precambrian formation appears to have existed during well operation.

As Northstar 1 was initially drilled, researchers with Battelle, a massive nonprofit research firm, teamed up with state geologists to collect data from deep within the well as part of a "high priority" research project on the region's geological potential for underground disposal of carbon dioxide waste from coal burning power plants.

In its preliminary report linking Northstar 1 to the earthquakes, ODNR stated that, "there are observed permeability zones" where waste could permeate the Precambrian basement "in the 'piggyback' logs recorded by Battelle," but that data was not made available to regulators prior to waste injection because the project lacked funding to fully process the logs at the time.

Battelle did obtain "final processing" of the data logs by late March 2011, around the same time Northstar 1 was increasing its pressure and the first earthquakes struck the area, according to ODNR.

Battelle geologist Neeraj Gupta told Truthout that Battelle shares such research with its partners, such as the ODNR's geologists, but he did not know any specific dates in regards to the Northstar 1 logs.

He also said the complicated information recorded in such logs, which can take months or even a year to process, is gathered for the purpose of understanding the region's geology.

The logs provide a snapshot of the well during the brief drilling period and it's difficult to use the information to predict future problems like earthquakes if geologists cannot correlate seismic data. The information, Gupta said, is useful to geologists "in hindsight."

Truthout has also confirmed that in most cases the ODNR, federal regulators, and other state regulators do not test the contents of potentially toxic fracking wastewater before disposing of it despite complaints from environmental groups.

Oh, them freakin’  environmental groups...what prix!

eer, did you say Fracking Injection?

Natural gas drilling is bringing new wealth to Ohio and producing cleaner burning fuel, but it also creates a lot of waste.

Hydro-fracking rigs use millions of gallons of chemical-laced water to drill for oil and gas.

The wastewater that flows back during drilling is saltier than seawater and can contain toxic metals and radioactive substances from deep underground, so authorities in Ohio allow disposal companies to inject the wastewater back underground into spent gas and oil wells.

hmmm...that sounds perfectly logical...

what could possibly go wrong??

The waste is shot down a well and left to mingle deep underground, where drillers rely on natural formations to confine the waste.

Mingle...Mingle...poof! no more waste!

And they lived happily ever after!

The End