Scientists have linked the underground injection of oil-drilling wastewater to a magnitude-5.7 earthquake in 2011 that struck the US state of Oklahoma. Wastewater injection from drilling operations has been linked to seismic events in the past, but these have typically been much smaller quakes.
They also have tended to occur in the first weeks or months of injection. The study in Geology suggests that "induced seismicity" can occur years after wastewater injection begins.
Wastewater was first injected into Oklahoma's Wilzetta oilfields, near the town of Prague, some 18 years prior to the November 2011 series of quakes that included three of magnitude 5 or greater.
The new study adds to an increasing body of evidence that the injection of wastewater is correlated to an increase in seismic events. A comprehensive review in 2012 by the US' National Academy of Sciences found that "injection for disposal of waste water derived from energy technologies into the subsurface does pose some risk for induced seismicity".
Monsanto is on the attack.In its fight to keep its blockbuster weedkiller glyphosate on the European...
Activists from the environmental group Greenpeace said they were able to disrupt operations at a Statoil...
The Trump administration has ordered researchers to stop work on an independent evaluation of potential health...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to rewrite limits on toxic waste from power plants, the...
