Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
BOX 6.2
The Geysers: Toward Mitigating the Effects of Induced Seismicity
About 40 years ago researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and elsewhere began report-
ing that induced seismicity was associated with the geothermal production and injection operation at The
Geysers (e.g., Hamilton and Muffler, 1972). At first, the causes of the seismicity in this area, where natural
seismic activity has a long history, were unclear to the seismologists and to the local operators. Following
the installation of additional seismometers to increase the accuracy of locating the events, it became evident
that the earthquakes were primarily associated with the injection wells associated with The Geysers and,
indeed, essential for continued operation of the field to produce electricity (see Chapter 3; Box 3.1). Conse-
quently, when a pipeline project was proposed 15 years ago to deliver wastewater for increased injection
at The Geysers to maintain and enhance power generation, the Environmental Impact Report required the
establishment of a Seismic Monitoring Advisory Committee (SMAC) to monitor and report on the production
and injection, and seismic activities.
The committee includes representatives of the Bureau of Land Management and California state regulatory
agencies, county government, the USGS and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the local communities,
and the operators of the geothermal facilities. Real-time results of the seismic monitoring are continuously
available to all at the Northern California Seismic website, and the semiannual meetings of this committee
provide a forum for all the stakeholders to compare the locations and magnitudes of the reported seismic
events to the locations of the reported production and injection activities.
Despite the benefits of establishing the SMAC, the geothermal operators were still viewed by some local
residents as not having taken sufficient responsibility for mitigating the effects of the clearly increased numbers
of induced seismic events being felt within the local communities (see Box 3.1), and a petition was filed to
declare the situation as being a public nuisance. The county government established two subcommittees to deal
directly with the residents of the two local communities of Anderson Springs and Cobb. Each subcommittee
has representatives of its local community, the local operators, and the local county supervisor. Ground motion
recording instruments were installed in each community, and the resulting information is available in near real
time at an independently controlled website. This information allows anyone with Internet access to compare the
recorded time of an observed ground motion with the reported times of the separately reported local seismic
events in order to determine the location of the apparent source that caused the observed ground motion.
The members of each subcommittee have developed a system of receiving, reviewing, and approving
damage claims attributed to the local induced seismicity. Over the past 6 years the geothermal operators
have reimbursed the homeowners for their costs to have their home damages repaired, at a total expense of
less than $100,000 while contributing funds far in excess of this for improvements to the common facilities
in the local communities. In addition the county government has continued to contribute to these communities
part of the mitigation funds it receives as redistributions of the royalty payments made to the federal govern-
ment by the local geothermal operators. This system of coordinating the use of the combined resources of
both industry and local government has much improved the mitigation of the effects of the locally induced
seismicity, and it is now resulting in much improved and mutually satisfactory relationships among the parties.
SOURCES: DOE (2009); J. Gospe, Anderson Springs Community Alliance, 2011, “Man-Made Earthquakes
& Anderson Springs,” DVD, June 30; see also www.andersonsprings.org/.
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