滨迟鈥檚 that injecting wastewater from oil and gas operations deep into the ground can . shows that in some cases those earthquakes can keep happening long after an injection.
The practice of injecting wastewater has become more common across our region as oil and gas production has expanded. And the hotspot for in the Mountain West is .
The says, in some areas, this injected wastewater can contain high levels of salt and other compounds that make it very dense.
, professor at Virginia Tech and lead researcher on the study, said 鈥渨hat we鈥檙e showing is that even after you stop pumping water underground, this high density wastewater will continue sinking and it can continue increasing fluid pressure to high enough levels that earthquakes can be triggered.鈥�
And he said his research shows they can be triggered for up to a decade or more after the injections stop.
The report looked at the practice across the central US and Colorado. Pollyea said while Colorado does have injection-induced earthquakes the multi-year effect isn鈥檛 happening here yet. He said that鈥檚 because the wastewater is less salty here than in other parts of the country and doesn鈥檛 sink as deep.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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