A team of scientists has developed an approach to disposing wastewater that reduces the danger of triggering an earthquake.
A team of scientists has developed an approach to disposing wastewater that reduces the danger of triggering an earthquake.
Oil production generates large volumes of wastewater, which is often injected into the ground as a means of disposal to avoid polluting surface waters. However, injections have the potential to cause earthquakes.
A study documenting the method devised by a multidisciplinary team of scientists to avoid such earthquakes has been published today in the journal Nature. Their method was tested in western Europe’s largest onshore oil field, the Val d’Agri field in southern Italy.
Hundreds of small earthquakes were detected there after field operators injected wastewater into an abandoned well in 2006.
Read more at: University of California Riverside
Photo Credit: drpepperscott230 via Pixabay
