Railroad Commission orders oil companies to check seismic data before drilling
The Texas Railroad Commission ruled Tuesday that oil and gas companies must check local seismic data from the U.S. Geological Survey before opening a new waste disposal well.
The new rule follows a series of small but unexpected earthquakes almost 12 months ago around the North Texas town of Azle in the natural gas rich Barnett Shale. The earthquakes are under study by scientists at Southern Methodist University to determine if they were induced by nearby injection wells used to dispose of drilling waste.
The railroad commission came under pressure from Azle residents and legislators earlier this year to move without definitive findings, which could be years away.
Changes Tuesday also asserted the railroad commission’s right to shut down or deny an injection well if it were determined to potentially cause earthquakes.
“These comprehensive rule amendments will allow us to further examine seismic activity in Texas and gain an understanding of how human activity may impact seismic activity,” Commissioner David Porter said in a statement. “While continuing to allow for the important development of our energy resources in Texas.”
But the rule fell short of demands that oil and gas companies provide geologic research showing disposal wells would not impact underground faults.
“The faults are what is important for people to know when they place the injection wells,” said Sharon Wilson of the environmental group Earthworks. “The industry does seismic testing that needs to be made public… or at the very least let the railroad commission have that information.”
There are around 50,000 injection wells around Texas. They are used to dispose of saltwater, hydraulic fracturing fluid and other byproducts of the drilling process. Scientific studies going back decades have linked the wells to earthquakes.
Under the new rules, companies drilling in Texas would have to review earthquake data in a 100-square mile circle around the injection well site. An area with a history seismic activity would “likely” require operators to submit additional data indicating amongst other things the location of faults, a commission spokesman said.
The new rules were worked out over a period of months in consultation with representatives of the oil and gas industry, which widely supported the change.
“The Texas Oil & Gas Association applauds the Railroad Commission of Texas efforts to address the issue of induced seismicity by deliberately seeking out concrete information to arrive at science-driven rule amendments related to disposal wells,” read a statement from the oil and gas association.
The earthquake activity in Azle has died down since January. Mayor Alan Brundrett said there were a series of “mini-quakes” this summer, not strong enough for anyone to feel them.
Reading the new injection well rules Tuesday, he said he did not believe the commission went far enough. And he worried about how staff would determine an injection well was causing earthquakes.
“I think it’s a good first step,” Brundrett said. “They did act fairly quickly for state government.”
Read the text of the rule changes below: