Oklahoma gets 1.4 mln for earthquake research

Nearly USD 1.4 million of emergency funds will be directed to research earthquakes thought to be linked to wastewater disposal wells in Oklahoma, Governer Mary Fallin stated yesterday.

The funds will be used by the Oklahoma Geological Survey, a state agency charged with investigating land, water, mineral and energy resources, and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a government-run oil and gas regulator.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey will use its USD 1 million to build more seismic monitoring stations, update the current monitoring infrastructure and analyse the response of seismicity to water injection. It will also investigate properties of the Arbuckle formation in a complex fluid reservoir.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission will use USD 387,000 on technology upgrades and extra personnel, including geologists and a geophysicists as well as an oil and gas attorney.

The commission already called for operators to cease and limit fracking at hundreds of wells in the area, but was met with resistance. US independent Sandridge Energy said it would not follow the commission’s appeal in December, but ceased operations on seven wells when legal action was suggested.

Earlier this month, residents filed a lawsuit against 12 oil and gas operators for damages in property.

Oklahoma has seen a 600-fold rise in earthquakes since hydraulic fracturing started.

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