Elze Schollema shows a crack in his garage wall following one of the recent earthquakes. Photo: Maude Brulard/AFP
July 5, 2013
By Bruno Waterfield
The last tremor, (click here) registering 3.0 on the Richter scale, hit the nearby village of Garrelsweer late on Tuesday night and rocked a dyke holding back the North Sea - fuelling fears that gas extraction could lead to major earthquake disaster in Holland.
These low level quakes, down to 1.3, are indicative of hydraulic fracturing as well. It is a fact. Proven.
July 5, 2013
By Bruno Waterfield
The last tremor, (click here) registering 3.0 on the Richter scale, hit the nearby village of Garrelsweer late on Tuesday night and rocked a dyke holding back the North Sea - fuelling fears that gas extraction could lead to major earthquake disaster in Holland.
These low level quakes, down to 1.3, are indicative of hydraulic fracturing as well. It is a fact. Proven.
"It was like a tractor crashing into my house," said Elly Broekmans,
who suffered extensive damage to her property including widening cracks in
structural walls.
The government and the consortium responsible for the drilling concede that
the earthquakes are caused by the extraction of natural gas from shale rocks
deep below the Groningen region, where there are up 1,800 natural faults in
the porous Rotliegend sandstone subsurface..
Then there is this. The chronic subsidence of New Orleans, Louisiana.
When one realizes the only place the land in New Orleans is at all above sea level are the levies lining the bayou (waterway) it is completely obvious this city has significant problems directly related to offshore drilling.
The subsidence of New Orleans due to the offshore drilling directly caused the flooding and deaths of the citizens of the Ninth Ward during Katrina. If the wetlands were intact and the land never sunk the citizens would would still be alive. Considering the petroleum industry does NOTHING for improving the quality of life of the people of New Orleans, this is complete oppression of the public trust to benefit no one.
The Dutch should hold the those causing the disturbance responsible. There are well documented cases both in subsidence and earthquake related to the drilling practices of the petroleum industry.
Then there is this. The chronic subsidence of New Orleans, Louisiana.When one realizes the only place the land in New Orleans is at all above sea level are the levies lining the bayou (waterway) it is completely obvious this city has significant problems directly related to offshore drilling.
The subsidence of New Orleans due to the offshore drilling directly caused the flooding and deaths of the citizens of the Ninth Ward during Katrina. If the wetlands were intact and the land never sunk the citizens would would still be alive. Considering the petroleum industry does NOTHING for improving the quality of life of the people of New Orleans, this is complete oppression of the public trust to benefit no one.
The Dutch should hold the those causing the disturbance responsible. There are well documented cases both in subsidence and earthquake related to the drilling practices of the petroleum industry.
...Fluid Withdrawal (click here)
Most of the case studies about þuid withdrawal are related to water, because water is often pumped from rather shallow, poorly-consolidated rocks and soils, but pumping out oil from shallow reservoirs can and does give similar effects.
Two oil fields have been particularly well studied: the Goose Creek oil
field in Texas, and the Wilmington oil field in Long Beach Harbor,
California. Each is close to sealevel, so that the subsidence became
obvious very quickly. Subsidence in the Wilmington oil field caused a
great deal of damage because it was in the center of a busy port and
industrial area, and it can be used to demonstrate the problem most
effectively. In the greater Houston area, subsidence was first noticed
over the Goose Creek oil field, but by now the area is having far
greater problems with groundwater pumping than it ever did with oil
extraction....
