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Every Oklahoma County Under State of Emergency as Historically Wet Spring Continues
29 May 2019
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On May 27 Tulsa County Sheriff patrol flooding by boat in the Town and Country Neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa County Sheriff / Twitter
This has been a historically wet spring for the South and Central U.S.
<p>The National Weather Service said that Mississippi River <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> in at least eight states has lasted its longest since the "Great Flood" of 1927, <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/28/mississippi-river-flooding-longest-lasting-since-great-flood-1927/1261049001/" target="_blank">USA Today reported Wednesday</a>. And now, following two weeks of storms in Oklahoma and Kansas, the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas has swollen to record levels, <a href="https://www.axios.com/historic-flooding-swamps-oklahoma-relentless-storms-5d14f33d-fc44-4f6f-8b47-b7959bde59e6.html" target="_blank">Axios reported Wednesday</a>. </p>
<p>Authorities in Tulsa, Oklahoma are hoping 70-year-old levees will hold, according to Axios, and every county in the state has declared an emergency over flooding, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/28/us/oklahoma-counties-emergency-wxc-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported Tuesday</a>. As many as six people have died in the state over the past few days because of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a>, including floods and tornadoes.</p><p>"We still have water still rising in the east," Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Monday. "We are not out of the woods yet."</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" id="twitter-embed-1133054192116031488" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1133054192116031488&created_ts=1558976145.0&screen_name=TCSO&text=Here%E2%80%99s+a+look+at+the+flooding+we+are+seeing+as+we+patrol+by+boat+in+the+Town+and+Country+Neighborhood+today.+This+i%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FDp8XM4xUl1&id=1133054192116031488&name=Tulsa+County+Sheriff" frameborder="0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KWX0OA1576662466"></iframe><p>Thunderstorms are predicted through Tuesday night from Iowa to Oklahoma and then again Wednesday and Wednesday night from Texas into Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, <a href="https://weather.com/safety/floods/news/2019-05-27-river-flooding-record-may-rain-arkansas-oklahoma-kansas" target="_blank">The Weather Channel reported</a>. This could threaten new flash floods and add to existing flooding.</p><p>The Army Corps of Engineers increased the water flow from the Keystone Dam in Oklahoma to 275,000 cubic feet per second to try and prevent water from overflowing the spillway, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/us/floods-oklahoma-braggs.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said authorities were monitoring water levels.</p><p>"We are planning for and preparing for the flood of record, and we think everybody along the Arkansas River corridor ought to be doing the same," Bynum told reporters Tuesday, according to The New York Times. "While it's high risk, there is not an emergency behind the levees right now. It's a high-risk situation when you're talking about infrastructure that's being tested in such a strong way."</p><p>Meanwhile, flood waters have turned the town of Braggs, Oklahoma into an island since late last week, and residents have organized boat runs for gas, medicine and food for livestock and people.</p><p>"We're just blocked off from civilization," 35-year-old nurse Carrie Ross told The New York Times.</p><p>Record flooding is also expected in Ozark, Dardanelle, Morrilton and Toad Suck Reservoir, Arkansas this week, and could top levees in Conway and Faulkner Counties, The Weather Channel said Tuesday.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" id="twitter-embed-1133154040966197248" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1133154040966197248&created_ts=1558999951.0&screen_name=NWSLittleRock&text=Here+is+an+update+including+the+latest+river+levels+along+the+Arkansas+River+as+of+early+this+evening.+The+next+for%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FscisSn6shn&id=1133154040966197248&name=NWS+Little+Rock" frameborder="0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="XD29DJ1576662466"></iframe><p>Locations from Oklahoma to Missouri have seen as much as 10 inches of rain this month, and many places could break rainfall records both for May and for any month, as The Weather Channel outlined:</p><blockquote>Almost 15 inches of rain soaked Bartlesville, Oklahoma, nearly tripling its average May rain, crushing its previous May record of a mere 10.31 inches in 2000 and threatening the city's single wettest month record of 16 inches in June 1957.<br><br>All-time monthly rain records are also within reach in Chanute, Kansas (18.35 inches in May 1990), Wichita, Kansas (14.43 inches in June 1923), and Enid, Oklahoma (15.85 inches in May 1982).</blockquote><p>But the wet weather has lasted longer than a month in many places. Since early 2019, most of the lower Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys have seen more than two feet of rain, USA Today reported. In several locations, the Mississippi has either broken or matched its 1927 records for the longest time at flood stage.</p><p>In Vicksburg, Mississippi, it has been at flood stage since February 17, the longest since 1927. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, it has been at flood stage since early January, and will break its 1927 record if it stays elevated far into June. And in Illinois' and Iowa's Quad Cities, the river did beat its 1927 record for the amount of time it stayed above the flood level.</p><p>The Great Flood of 1927 killed hundreds, displaced around 750,000 people and led to the existing system of flood controls managed by the Army Corps of Engineers.</p><p>Today's historic flood and precipitation levels are associated with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>. Warmer air holds more moisture, and extreme precipitation events have increased in frequency and intensity across most of the U.S., according to the <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/heavy-downpours-increasing" target="_blank">National Climate Assessment</a>. Since 1991, that increase has been most extreme in the Northeast, Midwest and Upper Great Plains, and has led to an increase in flooding in the Northeast and Midwest. In the <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/23/" target="_blank">Southern Great Plains</a>, the overall frequency of flooding has decreased in the last 30 years, but the number of record-breaking floods has increased. The frequency and intensity of heavy rains are also expected to increase in the region, especially if nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the National Climate Assessment concluded.</p>
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Produced water from gas drilling in the Marcellus shale. Tara Lohan
By Tara Lohan
We're living beyond our means when it comes to groundwater. That's probably not news to everyone, but new research suggests that, deep underground in a number of key aquifers in some parts of the U.S., we may have much less water than previously thought.
"We found that the average depth of water resources across the country was about half of what people had previously estimated," said Jennifer McIntosh, a distinguished scholar and professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona.
<p>McIntosh and her colleagues—who published a <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae6d8/meta" target="_blank">new study</a> about these aquifers in November in <em>Environmental Research Letters—</em>took a different approach to assessing groundwater than other research, which has <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/applications/groundwater/" target="_blank">used satellites</a> to measure changes in groundwater storage. For example, a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015WR017349" target="_blank">2015 study</a> looked at 37 major aquifers across the world and found some were being depleted faster than they were being replenished, including in California's agriculturally intensive Central Valley.</p><p>McIntosh says those previous studies revealed a lot about how we're depleting water resources from the top down through extraction, such as pumping for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture">agriculture</a> and water supplies, especially in places like California.</p><p>But McIntosh and three other researchers wanted to look at groundwater from a different perspective: They examined how we're using water resources from the bottom up.</p><p>The study may help close the gap about what we know and don't know regarding how much water is available deep underground, as well as its quality.</p><p>It also rings some alarm bells.</p><h2>A Different Approach</h2><p>Instead of examining how fast water tables were falling, as in previous studies, the researchers looked at water chemistry to determine how deep underground you could drill for freshwater or brackish water before that water became too salty to use.</p><p>"We looked at the bottom limit of groundwater resources," said McIntosh.</p><p>The researchers used information from the U.S. Geological Survey on the quality of groundwater across the country and looked specifically at salinity—how salty the water is. "We looked basin by basin at how that depth of fresh and brackish water changes across the United States," said McIntosh.</p><p>The results were about half as much usable water as previous estimates. That means that deep groundwater reserves are not nearly as plentiful as we'd thought in some places.</p><p>That's important because when shallow groundwater reserves become depleted or polluted, the strategy so far has been to drill deeper and deeper wells to keep the water flowing.</p><p>But we may not always be able to drill our way out of water shortages. "Tapping into these deep waters works for now, but the long-term prospects for using these waters are quite concerning," said the report's lead author, <a href="https://www.usask.ca/water/about/profiles/people/grant-ferguson.php" target="_blank">Grant Ferguson</a>, an associate professor in the department of Civil and Geological Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.</p><p>The problem isn't evenly distributed across the country. While a number of aquifers in the West have deep freshwater reserves, the water in parts of the eastern and central U.S. becomes salty at much shallower depths. "Drilling deeper water wells to address groundwater depletion issues represents no more than a stopgap measure in these areas," the researchers concluded in their paper. One area of particular concern the researchers noted was in the Anadarko and Sedgwick basins underlying parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, which has particularly shallow freshwater reserves.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA4NTMwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTY3NDI1OX0.1hRXCMwTh5LNWxenwTgxkUtSnvsKF4piq2hWCexqGpw/img.jpg?width=980" id="814bf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1c96c3e74348404bebd73ad293444387" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Depth to water with total dissolved solids (a) <3000 and (b) <10 000 mg l−1 based on median values in 100 m bins. (c) TDS distribution relative to the 50th and 95th percentile of water well depths</small></p><h2>Oil and Water<br></h2><p>The study looked at a total of 28 sedimentary basins across the U.S. that were chosen because they're known to contain oil and gas reserves.</p><p>The researchers found that the oil and gas industry uses fresh and brackish water, both of which are drawn from the bottom up. And that's another element of the research that could raise concern.</p><p>In some cases the industry pumps out brackish water as part of its drilling operations. Industry waste is then injected back underground into deep aquifers. As a result, water reserves are depleted from pumping and possibly contaminated during re-injection, the researchers found.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA4NTMwMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU4ODA4MTI1MX0.DO8w8zP61x3a3KpHPWGboTdrp50s0NNC8Mx7DAWmuTg/img.jpg?width=980" id="120ea" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="faf292e10b4f91901e815a3c4c1bd9a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Deep groundwater resources can be threatened by oil and gas production or injection wells.</small></p><p>The depth between oil and gas activities and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a> reserves varied greatly across the country. Wyoming and the Michigan basin were two places where oil and gas activities are relatively shallow and in close proximity to fresh and brackish water, which could increase the chances of contamination of water resources. Water contamination from <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29032016/fracking-study-pavillion-wyoming-drinking-water-contamination-epa" target="_blank">oil and gas activity</a> has already been documented in Pavillion, Wyoming.<br></p><p>The authors suggest that carefully monitoring for potential contamination or overexploitation of water reserves may be crucial in these areas with minimal separation between groundwater and oil and gas wells used for either production or disposal.</p><h2>The Future Is … Saltier </h2><p>While brackish water can be used for some types of agriculture and by oil and gas activities, it hasn't been used much yet for drinking because it requires desalination (although not as intensively as seawater). But as water resources become more constrained, particularly in the arid West where some communities and farms rely exclusively on groundwater, brackish water may be a more valuable future resource and a larger part of the water supply.</p><p>"I think of it in terms of water security. Both fresh and brackish aquifers are part of our potential water source into the future," said McIntosh.</p><p>But further utilizing these deep-water resources will have "all kinds of policy and economic consequences because they aren't going to be replenished as quickly as other waters" closer to the surface, said Ferguson. And that may mean better monitoring of oil and gas activity is needed in those regions, along with a possible rethinking of how we permit and manage drilling into those deep waters. "That would change the nature of how we're using water in a lot of places," he said.</p><p>While this research adds to our growing knowledge of groundwater resources, there is still a lot we don't know about the chemistry of these deep aquifers beyond just salinity, said McIntosh. Addressing that knowledge gap, she said, will be important as we work to match water resources to our varying needs for drinking, industry and agriculture.</p><p>"This 'bottom up' approach is a novel one and will find great utility, but it does depend upon the availability of deep groundwater data," said <a href="https://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/" target="_blank">Michael Campana</a>, a professor and hydrogeologist at Oregon State University who did not participate in the study. And the deeper we go, the less data we have, said Ferguson.</p><p>Both the researchers and outside experts suggest that more research is needed. This is particularly true in areas not associated with oil and gas activity that weren't part of the study, Campana points out. But the authors say their results may still show the need for important changes on policy or behavioral levels regarding how we use our nation's groundwater.</p><p>"There was this idea that deeper groundwater would be more pristine, and it is to a point, but there are all kinds of natural salinity and hydrocarbon problems once you get into deeper and deeper groundwater systems," said Ferguson. "So we're working with that idea that maybe the window of freshwater is not as big as we thought and it's probably getting even smaller in a lot of areas."</p><p>In an age of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>, that's something that may play out sooner rather than later.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" id="twitter-embed-1058448717865455619" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1058448717865455619&created_ts=1541188814.0&screen_name=EcoWatch&text=An+Aquifer+From+the+%23IceAge+Becomes+a+Battleground+in+New+Mexico+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FSco9rnOlqA+%40greenpeaceusa+%40Sierra_Magazine&id=1058448717865455619&name=EcoWatch" frameborder="0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SCBYAH1576779568"></iframe>
</p><p><em>Tara Lohan is deputy editor of The Revelator.</em><br></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/shrinking-groundwater/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
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Wind farm with solar panels in southern California. 4kodiak / E+ / Getty Images
By Jeff Deyette
Despite the Trump administration's ongoing attempts to prop up coal and undermine renewables—at FERC, EPA and through tariffs and the budget process—2018 should instead be remembered for the surge in momentum toward a clean energy economy. Here are nine storylines that caught my attention this past year and help illustrate the unstoppable advancement of renewable energy and other modern grid technologies.
<h3>1. California Goes All-In for Carbon-Free Electricity</h3><p>In late August, California—the world's 5th largest economy—committed to the target of fully decarbonizing its power sector by 2045. The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california_cements_climate_leadership" target="_blank">landmark legislation</a> also strengthens the state's renewable portfolio standard (also known as a renewable energy standard, or RES) from 50 to 60 percent by 2030. What's more, at the bill signing, Governor Jerry Brown signed an <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/adrienne-alvord/even-more-than-100-clean-californias-audacious-net-zero-carbon-challenge" target="_blank">executive order</a> that establishes a goal of achieving carbon-neutrality across all sectors of California's sprawling economy by 2045, cementing the state's place as a global leader in climate action.</p><h3>2. Several States Strengthen Their RES Requirements</h3><p>State-level renewable electricity standards continued to be a primary driver of new renewable energy development in 2018. In addition to California, legislatures in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/nyregion/new-jersey-renewable-energy.html" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> (50 percent by 2030), <a href="https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?Q=603448&A=4965" target="_blank">Connecticut</a> (40 percent by 2030) and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> (35 percent by 2030) all adopted stronger targets for renewable energy, accelerating their states' transitions away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>. In addition, voters in <a href="https://www.renewableenergyoutlook.com/2018/11/15/nevada-voters-approve-50-renewable-portfolio-standard-by-2030/" target="_blank">Nevada</a> overwhelmingly approved a measure to increase their state's RES to 50 percent by 2030 (the measure must be approved again in 2020 to officially become law).</p><h3>3. Clean Energy Champions Win Gubernatorial Races</h3><p>One of the bright spots in November's election results was the number newly elected governors who campaigned on aggressive clean energy and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> agendas. Newly elected governors in at least 10 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, have pledged to accelerate clean energy and carbon reductions in their states by supporting U.S. commitments to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, joining the <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/" target="_blank">U.S. Climate Alliance</a> and/or calling for renewable energy targets of 80 to 100 percent. These election results demonstrate the widespread support for greater investments in renewable energy and signal the push for even stronger clean energy policies in the coming year.</p><h3>4. Record Low Prices for Renewables</h3><p>Innovation, growing economies of scale and attractive financing continued to drive the costs down for renewables in 2018. Power purchase agreements for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> projects in states like Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have reportedly ranged between $20 to $30 per megawatt-hour, well below the cost of natural gas generation—and the technologies are positioned for further cost reductions to continue to be low-cost options even as federal tax incentives change. What's even more exciting is that the many of these low-priced projects also include energy storage components, increasing their value to the grid.</p>
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<h3>5. Major Utilities Commit to Low-Carbon Portfolios</h3><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/xcel-commits-to-100-carbon-free-energy" target="_blank">Xcel Energy</a> became the first major utility to commit to a completely carbon-free electricity supply across the eight states it operates in. In doing so, it joins a <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeremy-richardson/utilities-look-toward-a-clean-energy-future-yet-the-administration-keeps-looking-back" target="_blank">growing number of utilities</a> that are committing to phasing out their use of coal and transitioning to substantially lower carbon energy portfolios. Also this year, both <a href="https://www.apnews.com/f876e5b74bc941fcadea30a99760aa59" target="_blank">Consumers Energy</a> in Michigan and <a href="https://nawindpower.com/indianas-nipsco-plots-coal-phaseout-transition-to-renewables" target="_blank">NIPSCO</a> in northern Indiana announced plans to phase out coal generation and utility giant <a href="https://www.powermag.com/aep-american-power-giant-sets-goal-to-slash-carbon-emissions-80-by-2050/" target="_blank">American Electric Power</a> announced a goal of reducing its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. What's especially exciting about these utility actions is that they are <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/sam-gomberg/trump-clean-energy" target="_blank">driven primarily by economics</a>, clearly demonstrating the competitiveness of clean energy technologies.</p><h3>6. Corporate Renewable Energy Purchases Keep Growing</h3><p>Low renewable energy prices continue to attract major corporations looking to save money and achieve ambitious <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> goals. As a result, direct corporate purchases of renewable energy have become a major driver of renewable energy deployment. In 2018, the Rocky Mountain Institute <a href="https://rmi.org/press-release/corporate-renewable-energy-procurement-continues-to-break-records-in-2018/" target="_blank">reports,</a> corporate renewable energy purchases—led by companies like Facebook, Walmart, ATT and Microsoft—reached more than 6.4 gigawatts (GW). The <a href="https://www.rmi.org/our-work/electricity/brc-business-renewables-center/" target="_blank">number of corporations</a> investing in renewables expanded at a record pace this year as well, with nearly two-thirds of Fortune 100 and nearly half of Fortune 500 companies now having set ambitious renewable energy goals.</p><h3>7. Offshore Wind Moves Forward</h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTIzNDE0N30.RlIl9Xnj7vZN7eXZ1QHJBJ4L53CBh31jzs7OBcTRPuQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="75b83" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d7ba97e1e4be27bc1bcb37140ad7ada" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Kim Hansen / Wikimedia Commons</small></p>
<p>While no new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind">offshore wind</a> projects came online in the U.S. this year (the next project—off the Virginia coast—is scheduled for 2020), the industry did take some big leaps toward becoming a major player in the nation's power supply. For example, the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/low-price-offshore-wind-massachusetts" target="_blank">winning bid</a> for Massachusetts' first request for offshore wind proposals to help meet the state's offshore wind requirements passed in 2016 went to an 800-megawatt project from Vineyard Wind at a shockingly low price of about 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In addition, the latest U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/auction-sets-america-on-course-for-offshore-wind" target="_blank">auction</a> for leasing parcels of water for future projects resulted in 11 bidders and $405.1 million in winning bids, both smashing previous records. And strong state policies, including <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/offshore-wind-massachusetts-rhode-island-new-jersey" target="_blank">new offshore wind requirements in New Jersey</a> and elsewhere, mean that there's a lot more action to come.</p><h3>8. Storage Steps Into the Spotlight</h3>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTAwNTg5N30.omEye9FYOO3TjOiWQPO-XImBKe0VJ1zpdcEeUfHDWW4/img.jpg?width=980" id="7f379" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7046e6104690287c1e001ebc573fbec9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Lithium-ion batteries for advanced energy storage</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Argonne National Laboratory / Flickr</small></p>
<p>Once a fringe player in the electric power sector, the energy storage industry is quickly emerging as a game changer in the transition to a clean energy economy as a tool for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy. In 2018, the pipeline for new storage projects doubled to nearly 33 GW as more utilities are investing in the technology thanks largely <a href="https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-and-levelized-cost-of-storage-2018/" target="_blank">rapidly falling prices</a> and growing support from state policies. While California has led the nation in storage deployment to date, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-york-psc-sets-states-energy-storage-target-at-3-gw-by-2030/544371/" target="_blank">New York</a> recently established the strongest storage requirement in the country at 3,000 MW by 2030. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-jersey-sets-aggressive-target-2-gw-by-2030-for-energy-storage/524422/" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> set an ambitious storage target of 2,000 MW by 2030 and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> significantly increased its storage requirement to 1,000 megawatt-hours by 2025. At the federal level, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-order-opens-floodgates-for-energy-storage-in-wholesale-markets/517326/" target="_blank">Order 841</a>, which directs regional grid operators to set market rules that allow energy storage to participate on a level playing field in the wholesale energy, capacity and <a href="https://www.logicenergy.com/what-are-ancillary-services-and-why-do-power-grids-need-them/" target="_blank">ancillary services</a> markets.</p><h3>9. PG&E Turns Down the Gas With Storage and Renewables</h3><p>In one particular sign of what's to come in 2019 and beyond in terms of how these technologies fit together to displace fossil fuels, one of the most exciting <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/storage-will-replace-3-california-gas-plants-as-pge-nabs-approval-for-worl/541870/" target="_blank">regulatory decisions</a> I saw this year was the California Public Utility Commission's approval of PG&E's plan to use energy storage to replace retiring gas generators. One of the key barriers to fully transitioning to a carbon-free economy is replacing natural gas generation and the ancillary services they provide to the power grid. This decision, which marks the first time a utility will directly replace power plants with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/">battery storage</a>, should spur <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/ca-and-western-states/turning-down-gas" target="_blank">many more similar projects</a> to move forward in California and across the country and open the door for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy onto the power grid.</p><p>These nine stories are just a sampling of what occurred in 2018 to further the clean energy transition. As the year comes to a close, UCS will continue to work hard to keep up the clean energy momentum in 2019.</p>
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<p><em>Jeff Deyette is the director of state policy and analysis at the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeff-deyette/9-clean-energy-stories-from-2018" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em><br></p>
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Wind power in rural Iowa, one of four states that gets 30 to 37 percent of its electricity from wind power. Voice of America
Four U.S. states generated 30 to 37 percent of their energy from wind power in 2017. That's just one of the findings of the Department of Energy (DOE)'s annual Wind Technologies Market Report, released August 22.
Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota were the leaders in terms of how much wind contributed to their state's overall electricity generation, but 14 states got more than 10 percent of their in-state energy from wind power last year. Texas took the lead in added wind capacity, installing 2,305 megawatts worth.
<p>Overall, 2017 was a good year for U.S. wind power, with $11 billion invested and 7,017 megawatts of capacity added to increase total U.S. wind capacity to 88,973 megawatts. </p><p>The U.S. added the second most wind capacity globally in 2017 after <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/china" target="_self">China</a>, but when it comes to the percentage of energy the U.S. generates from wind, the U.S. lags farther behind. While wind power meets around 48 percent of Denmark's electricity demand, and around 30 percent of Ireland and Portugal's, it accounts for only 7 percent of overall U.S. electricity demand in an average year.</p><p>Low costs are currently helping the U.S. wind industry to grow.</p><p>"Wind energy prices–particularly in the central United States, and supported by federal tax incentives–remain at all-time lows, with utilities and corporate buyers selecting wind as a low-cost option," Ryan Wiser, a senior scientist at the <a href="http://emp.lbl.gov/" target="_blank">Electricity Markets & Policy Group</a> of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which prepared the report for the DOE, <a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2018/08/23/report-confirms-wind-technology-advancements-continue-to-drive-down-wind-energy-prices/" target="_blank">said in a press release</a>.</p><p>The cost of wind turbines has fallen to $750 to $950 per kilowatt, which has in turn decreased the cost of installing new projects. In addition, the cost of wind energy has fallen from its 2009 peak of 7 cents per kilowatt-hour to a national average of 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, which has made wind power an attractive purchase for corporations, municipalities and universities, as well as traditional utilities.</p><p>One technological improvement helping the sector has been the development of bigger wind turbines. The average generating capacity of wind turbines installed in 2017 has risen 224 percent from what it was two decades ago.</p><p>The report predicted that wind power would continue to grow in the U.S. through 2020, in large part because of a production tax credit (PTC) that Congress extended for five years as part of the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2029/text" target="_blank">Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016</a>. </p><p>Projections for 2021 to 2025 are less optimistic, though. </p><p>"Expectations for continued low <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_blank">natural gas</a> prices, modest electricity demand growth and lower demand from state policies also put a damper on growth expectations, as do limited transmission infrastructure and competition from natural gas and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" target="_blank">solar</a> energy," the report said.</p><p>However, the report also thought that technological innovations, as well as state <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> policies, could boost wind power in the long term.</p>
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Pruitt Grants Oklahoma Leniency to Dispose of Toxic Coal Ash Without Federal Oversight
19 June 2018
Politics
The collapsed coal ash impoundment and closed power plant at Dan River Steam Station (Duke Energy), Eden, North Carolina. The impoundment failure caused the 2014 Dan River coal ash spill. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
On Monday, Oklahoma became the first state to be granted a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to dispose of its own coal ash, The Associated Press reported.
The move displaces the federal government as the body responsible for coal ash disposal in EPA head Scott Pruitt's home state. Coal ash is the residue left over from burning coal for power that often contaminates groundwater. It is a change that industry has lobbied for and environmental groups have opposed.
<p>States have demonstrated that "they don't care about the health and safety of communities near coal ash dumps," Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans told The Associated Press. </p><p>About 100 million tons of coal ash is produced by U.S. plants every year, often left in disposal ponds that leak into groundwater, contaminating it with pollutants like arsenic and radium. Tests ordered by the EPA this spring of groundwater around plants in various states found elevated pollution levels, according to The Associated Press. </p><p>Despite this, "industry has asked for leniency, less stringency. That's the direction they're going," Evans said.</p><p>According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, switching coal ash oversight to states was part of an "action plan" proposed by coal industry executive Robert Murray this spring to Pruitt and other officials in the Trump administration. </p><p>Pruitt defended the decision, saying in a statement that the move empowered "those who are best positioned to oversee coal ash management—the officials who have intimate knowledge of the facilities and the environment in their state."</p><p>Pruitt also <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-coal-ash-disposal-2541726001.html" target="_self">moved to weaken</a> Obama-era coal ash disposal regulations in March, but the rule change allowing states to control coal ash disposal was actually passed by Congress and signed by former President Barack Obama in 2016, according to <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2018/02/16/environmental-groups-fight-states-effort-to-regulate-coal-ash-on-its-own/" target="_blank">NPR</a>. The law said that state rules had to be "as protective as" federal guidelines. </p><p>"I am pleased that Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to receive approval of its Coal Combustion Residuals permit program. We actually incorporated the federal rule into our state permitting rules program over a year ago," Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Executive Director Scott Thompson said in an <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-approves-first-nation-state-coal-ash-permit-program-oklahoma" target="_blank">EPA press release</a> about the decision. </p><p>But at a hearing in February, Oklahoma environmental groups said the DEQ was not prepared to adequately regulate coal ash. </p><p>"The DEQ rules are weaker than the EPA rules," Oklahoma Grand Riverkeeper and activist Earl Hatley told NPR in February. "This is just a boon for industry to do what they want."</p><p>Waterkeeper Alliance senior attorney Kelly Foster further expressed concerns that the DEQ plan did not provide enough information on how companies would be made to comply with regulations and how the DEQ would take on new responsibilities with existing resources. </p><p>Georgia and Texas are following Oklahoma in taking steps to control coal ash disposal, The Associated Press reported.</p>
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"This is what the raw crude oil looked like when firefighters arrived earlier in the 16900 block of N Pennsylvania." Oklahoma City Fire Department / Twitter
Raw crude oil spewed from a ruptured Sunoco pipeline in Oklahoma on Thursday.
The Oklahoma City Fire Department and hazmat crews responded to the situation after receiving reports of a "yellow liquid" shooting into the air near an oil and gas well site in Edmond, a suburb outside of Oklahoma City.
<p>
Officials briefly closed off a section of road on Pennsylvania Avenue and denied access to some homes in the neighborhood north of the release. The neighborhood was not evacuated.
</p><p>
"This is all taken care of now," the fire department <a href="https://twitter.com/OKCFD/status/994709614519308288" target="_blank">tweeted</a> later that afternoon. Cleanup efforts are underway.
</p><p>
<a href="http://kfor.com/2018/05/10/residents-near-crude-pipeline-release-frustrated-after-homes-coated-in-oily-film/" target="_blank">News 4</a> reported that the leak from Sunoco's pipeline occurred in the area of a natural gas booster plant operated by Colorado-based DCP Midstream.
</p><p>
<span></span>The release occurred in a well-populated area, with many houses surrounding the facility. Some residents expressed dismay after their property was coated in oil. One <a href="https://twitter.com/mikeschueler/status/994708531671691264" target="_blank">tweeted</a> to DCP Midstream, "a massive leak at your facility in Edmond, OK, just coated my entire house and my neighborhood with crude. What are you going to do to clean it up?!?"</p><p>
A DCP spokesperson told News 4 it has no control over the Sunoco pipeline but is assisting with cleanup.
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An Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman told News 4 about 5-10 barrels of crude oil was released from the pipeline. The commission has also launched an investigation into the incident.
</p><p>
Sunoco confirmed to the news station that it did have a release of crude.
</p><p>
Sunoco is a subsidiary of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/energy-transfer-partners">Energy Transfer Partners</a>, which <a href="http://www.energytransfer.com/company_overview.aspx" target="_blank">owns</a> about 71,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, refined products and crude oil pipelines across the country, including the contentious <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline">Dakota Access pipeline</a>.
</p><p>
"The section of the line has been isolated and the area contained," Energy Transfer spokesperson Vicki Granado told News 4. "We are in the process of bringing the appropriate resources onsite to fully remediate the area and make repairs. Once that is complete the line will be returned to service."
</p><p>In recent years, the city of Edmond and much of central Oklahoma has been rattled by a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-earthquakes-2468650582.html" target="_self">swarm of earthquakes</a> that experts say are related to wastewater deposits from oil and gas production. In 2016, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-residents-sue-12-reckless-fracking-companies-for-earthquake-d-1882149721.html" target="_self">more than a dozen</a> Edmond and Oklahoma City residents filed a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/295158264/Edmond-earthquake-suit" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> against energy companies, claiming their operations contributed to a string of earthquakes. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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A 4.3 magnitude earthquake near Perry, Oklahoma on April 9. USGS
A 4.3 magnitude earthquake that rattled Northern Oklahoma early Monday morning was the fourth temblor to strike the region in the past 24 hours.
In fact, a dozen-plus earthquakes, ranging from magnitudes of 2.5 to 4.6, have been recorded in the Sooner State since Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the latest quake at 5:22 a.m. local time near the city of Perry, Oklahoma. It's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-earthquakes-fracking-2543113696.html" target="_blank">among the largest</a> in the state so far this year and it <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSKansasCity/status/983300827044569088" target="_blank">woke people up</a> as far away as Kansas City, according to the area's National Weather Service.
</p><p>
The 4.3 came less than an hour after a magnitude 3.3 (highlighted in blue below) struck in the same vicinity.
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzUzMDc5Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5MjE1MTc3MH0.T5cof7m81pRXZgmnEVXBaYvYJjQD7NOIxfclOoIu5Ec/img.png?width=980" id="3d473" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aed4dd03b707e1c3f0b1d9f76d40ba75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Magnitude 2.5+ earthquakes in Northern Oklahoma in one day. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">U.S. Geological Survey</small>
</p><p>
The threshold for damage starts around 4.0. A tremor at that magnitude
<a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/mag_vs_int.php" target="_blank">feels like</a> a heavy truck striking a building.
</p><p>
Mike Honigsberg, the emergency management director for the city of Enid and Garfield County, said there are no immediate reports of injury and he is asking residents to
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/mike.honigsbergsr/posts/10215503854339177" target="_blank">submit</a> damage reports to him.
</p><p>
The alarming flurry of earthquakes shaking Oklahoma in recent years has been tied to the large volume of
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking" target="_blank">fracking</a> wastewater dumped into the state's injection wells.
</p><p>
State regulators have directed oil and gas producers in the state to close wells or reduce injection volumes. The regulations have worked
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-earthquakes-man-made-quakes-decline-after-new-regulations/" target="_blank">to a certain degree</a>. While Oklahoma has dropped from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/its-official-oklahoma-experiences-more-earthquakes-than-anywhere-else--1882119660.html" target="_blank">two earthquakes per day</a> to fewer than one per day, some of the post-regulatory quakes have been large and damaging.
</p><p style="">
Two big ones happened in 2016: the 5.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Cushing, one of the largest oil hubs in the world, and a 5.8 that hit near Pawnee, the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-earthquake-largest-on-record-1998208742.html" target="_blank">largest ever</a> recorded in the state. </p><p style="">On Saturday, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission forced oil and gas producer M M Energy Inc to reduce operations on a disposal well in the Perry area.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
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USGS recorded two 4.2-magnitude earthquakes near Enid, Oklahoma on March 4.
Two 4.2-magnitude earthquakes struck near Enid in northern Oklahoma Sunday at 5:17 p.m and 9:40 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). They are the largest recorded this year so far and even felt in neighboring Kansas.
The large quakes were followed by two smaller ones around the same area early Monday. The first was a magnitude 2.7 followed by 12:35 a.m. then magnitude 2.6 at 6:16 a.m.
<p style="">
At least one home in Breckinridge was damaged by the first earthquake. According to
<a href="http://www.enidnews.com/news/updated-two-earthquakes-recorded-sunday-ne-of-enid-damage-reported/article_6e5e2bf8-2005-11e8-b808-430069a361a5.html" target="_blank">Enid News</a>, the home had major brick separation from doors and windows and other structural damage.
</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="29d7579c9a11cea4668f85716cb81e3d"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/mallory.thomas.tv/videos/2121396831479923/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p style="">
The 4.2-temblors are the largest in the state
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-earthquakes-2468650582.html" target="_blank">since August 2017</a>, when a swarm of earthquakes, including a magnitude 4.2, hit the central part of the state. There were five quakes of <a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/earthquakes/saltwater-disposal-volumes-down-but-expert-warns-quake-chances-remain/article_48217c79-5e59-5661-bb0e-a88c9f40d53e.html">4.0 or greater</a> last year.
</p><p style="">
A tremor at that magnitude feels like a heavy truck striking a building, USGS
<a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/mag_vs_int.php" target="_blank">describes</a> on its website.
</p><p style="">
Oklahoma has seen an alarming uptick in seismic activity that's been linked to the injection of saltwater produced from oil and gas drilling activities into disposal wells.
<span></span>
</p><p style="">
State regulators have directed oil and gas producers in the state to close wells or reduce <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wastewater">wastewater</a> injection volumes. The regulations have worked
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-earthquakes-man-made-quakes-decline-after-new-regulations/" target="_blank">to a certain degree</a>. While the Sooner State has dropped from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/its-official-oklahoma-experiences-more-earthquakes-than-anywhere-else--1882119660.html" target="_blank">two earthquakes per day</a> to fewer than one per day, some of the post-regulatory quakes have been large and damaging. Two big ones happened in 2016: the 5.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Cushing, one of the largest oil hubs in the world, and a 5.8 that hit near Pawnee, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-earthquake-largest-on-record-1998208742.html" target="_blank">largest ever</a> recorded in the state.
</p><p style="">
<a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/earthquakes/wastewater-injection-limit-set-due-to-earthquake-worries-but-oklahoma/article_ae0cbeb4-197c-597b-af3f-3531580e5137.html" target="_blank">Tulsa World</a> reported this week that if oil and natural gas prices begin to soar, wastewater injection could climb 40 percent more under a regulatory cap.
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GE Renewable Energy
The Wind Catcher Energy Connection project, which includes a massive 800-turbine wind farm under construction in the Oklahoma panhandle, is getting closer to lift-off.
Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), a subsidiary of major utility American Electric Power, announced this week a settlement with various parties, including Walmart, allowing the $4.5 billion project to move forward.
<p style="">
According to a <a href="https://swepco.com/info/news/viewRelease.aspx?releaseID=2509" target="_blank">press release</a>:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"After a series of negotiation sessions with the [Arkansas Public Service Commission] General Staff, the Arkansas Attorney General and other parties, SWEPCO agreed to provide a number of guarantees, including a cap on construction costs, qualification for 100 percent of the federal Production Tax Credits, minimum annual production from the project, and others."
</p><p style="">
The project is subject to approval by utility commissions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma, as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
</p><p style="">
<span></span>Once getting its legs, Wind Catcher is expected to deliver <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind energy</a> to customers in the four states by the end of 2020.
</p><p style="">
The Wind Catcher facility, developed by Invenergy, will be the largest single-site wind farm in the U.S. once complete. The 2,000-megawatt facility will generate power from 800 GE 2.5 megawatt turbines. The project also involves building a 360-mile extra high-voltage 765 kilovolt power line to connect two new substations, one located at the wind facility and a second near Tulsa, Oklahoma.
</p><p style="">
"Oklahoma's panhandle has some of the best wind in America but is hundreds of miles from larger cities and communities that can benefit from low-cost, clean energy," the developers
<a href="https://windcatcher.invenergyllc.com/" target="_blank">tout</a>. "Wind Catcher Energy Connection is a $4.5 billion infrastructure investment that will bring Oklahoma wind power to more than 1.1 million energy customers in the South Central U.S."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzMyMDc4Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTMzNTIzOH0.C-wUVPM3Cgbl3mAhvvJoutA66Bc6N6MkOhUoKh7QlD4/img.png?width=980" id="768ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="973ae5df06b44147a3e1233e0a43fca8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p style="">
"We are extremely pleased with this settlement agreement because it recognizes the tremendous opportunity the Wind Catcher project provides for clean, low-cost energy and long-term savings for SWEPCO customers," said Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer.
</p><p style="">
"Our customers are looking to us to provide clean, reliable and cost-effective power. Wind Catcher will help companies, universities, cities and other customers meet their
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> and
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> goals," McCellon-Allen said.
</p><p style="">
SWEPCO says the project will save its customers about $4 billion, net of cost, over 25 years.
</p><p style="">
The company also promised:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Cost savings include no fuel cost for wind, which lowers SWEPCO's overall fuel and purchased power costs; full value of the federal Production Tax Credit, which is available for construction of new wind farm projects; and the cost-efficient delivery of the wind generation to customers through the new, dedicated power line."
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Customers will see savings primarily through a reduction in the fuel portion of their bills, beginning in 2021."
</p><p style="">
<span></span>"Walmart has a goal to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, and sourcing from wind energy projects—like the Wind Catcher project—is a core component in the mix," said Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Walmart. "The energy procured from this project represents an important leap forward on our renewable energy journey."
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House damage in central Oklahoma from the magnitude 5.6 earthquake on Nov. 6, 2011. Wikimedia Commons
The alarming string of earthquakes that have shaken Oklahoma for years has long been tied to the large volume of fracking wastewater dumped into the state's injection wells. And while state regulators have taken numerous measures to reduce wastewater disposal volumes to prevent such "induced" earthquakes, they might want to consider another measure—restricting how deep wastewater gets sent underground.
A new study, published Thursday in the journal Science, finds that Oklahoma's earthquakes can also be triggered by wastewater injection depth.
<p style="">
The research was conduced by researchers at the University of Bristol and involved the University of Southampton, Delft University of Technology and Resources for the Future.
</p><p style="">
After analyzing the state's 10,000-plus wastewater injection wells, the researchers concluded that the amount of wastewater injected and the depth are key to understanding the state's unusual seismic activity, the
<a href="https://apnews.com/fcdff62cd97b40cea5bc40e9305d9f91" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> reported from the study.
</p><p style="">
Oklahoma regulators could reduce the number of quakes by half by restricting deep injections in the ground, lead author Thea Hincks, an earth scientist at the University of Bristol, told the AP.
</p><p style="">
Wastewater should not be injected within 600 to 1,500 feet of the geologic basement, where earthquake faults can generally be found.
</p><p style="">
The AP reported:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Lab experiments show basement rocks are more susceptible to earthquakes because 'having fluids in a rock is going to weaken the rock,' said co-author Thomas Gernon, a geologist at the University of Southampton.
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Previous studies had pinpointed the amount of fluids injected into wells as an issue. Gernon said volume does trigger earthquakes, but when volume levels were reduced the number of quakes didn't drop as much as had been expected. That's because where the stuff is put matters slightly more, he said."
</p><p style="">
Oklahoma's wastewater reduction regulations have worked
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-earthquakes-man-made-quakes-decline-after-new-regulations/" target="_blank">to a certain degree</a>. While the Sooner State has dropped from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/its-official-oklahoma-experiences-more-earthquakes-than-anywhere-else--1882119660.html" target="_blank">two quakes a day</a> to less than one a day, the post-regulatory quakes have been large and damaging. Two big ones happened in 2016: the 5.0-magnitude temblor that struck Cushing, one of the largest oil hubs in the world, and a 5.8 that hit near Pawnee, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oklahoma-earthquake-largest-on-record-1998208742.html" target="_blank">largest ever</a> recorded in the state.
</p><p style="">
<span></span>According to a press <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180201141519.htm" target="_blank">release</a> for the new study, raising injection well depths to above the basement rocks in key areas could significantly reduce the annual energy released by earthquakes. This would reduce the relative likelihoods of larger, damaging earthquakes.
</p><p style="">
"Thanks to an innovative model capable of analyzing large and complex data sets, our study establishes for the first time a clear link between seismicity and fluid injection depth," Gernon said in a statement.</p>
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Driller in Oklahoma Explosion Has History of Deadly Accidents, Safety Violations
25 January 2018
Energy
The drilling company involved in Monday's natural gas rig explosion in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma that killed five workers has a long record of deadly accidents and numerous safety violations.
Ten workers have died within the past ten years at well sites linked to Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy, the Associated Press reported, citing data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
<p style="">
The accidents occurred at drilling sites in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas.
</p><p style="">
Patterson-UTI has also been fined nearly $367,000 in the last decade for more than 140 safety violations, including many serious ones.
</p><p style="">
According to the AP:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"A 2008 report from a U.S. Senate committee described Patterson-UTI as one of the nation's worst violators of workplace safety laws. The report devoted an entire section to the company and 13 employees who died in Texas rig accidents over a nearly four-year period.
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"A separate AP analysis published in 2008 showed at least 20 Patterson-UTI employees died on the job between 2002 and 2007. No other oil and gas company had more than five fatal accidents during that span."
</p><p style="">
The rig explosion this week appears to be the deadliest since the 2010
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deepwater-horizon">Deepwater Horizon</a> explosion in the Gulf of Mexico claimed the lives of 11 men.
</p><p style="">
"Patterson-UTI has embraced a culture of continuous improvement in safety, training and operations," the company responded to the AP about its safety record. "In recent years, we have invested millions of dollars on training and protective equipment and worked to instill a company-wide culture where safety is the top priority of each employee."
</p><p style="">
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the explosion near the town of Quinton. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will
<a href="https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Chemical-Safety-Board-weighing-larger-12524332.php" target="_blank">also consider</a> launching a larger investigation.
</p><p style="">
An initial report indicates an uncontrolled gas release led to the blast. A worker at the scene tried unsuccessfully to shut the well down.
</p><p>
"There is nothing more important to us than the safety of our employees and others we partner with in the field. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected and their loved ones," the company said in a <a href="http://www.patenergy.com/r219.cfm" target="_blank">statement</a> after the explosion.
</p><p style="">
<span></span>"We are actively investigating the cause of the tragedy so that we can learn from it and protect against it happening again."</p>
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