Geysers drilling project halted due to quake fears

<p>Federal regulators have stopped a North Bay energy firm from conducting an experimental type of drilling at The Geysers until more study is done on risks it could trigger stronger earthquakes in the seismically active area.</p><p>AltaRock Energy plans to drill down more than two miles and fracture the underlying bedrock, creating cracks deep underground to unleash the heat below. The company would then pump water into the cracks, converting the heat into steam the Sausalito company would sell to a municipal agency operating four geothermal power plants at The Geysers.</p><p>Citing the need for additional study, the Department of Energy is withholding funding for the project. The agency last fall approved a $6.2 million grant for AltaRock because of the potential to expand development of renewable energy, a spokeswoman said.</p><p>The Bureau of Land Management has suspended review of AltaRock’s application for a permit to fracture bedrock until further seismic studies are completed, a spokesman said.</p><p>A central question is whether creating new cracks deep underground at The Geysers might trigger a powerful earthquake as similar drilling did at a project in Switzerland in 2006 and 2007, officials said.</p><p>“They’re going to look at the affects of what happened in Europe and what kind of affect that might have here. We’re going to await the outcome of that before proceeding with the application,” said John Dearing, a BLM spokesman.</p><p>AltaRock continues preliminary work on the project, which it predicts could produce steam sometime in 2010, said Jim Turner, the company’s operations vice president.</p><p>“We’re currently working toward the completion of our project. At this time we don’t expect any delay,” Turner said. “The DOE has requested information which we have provided, and are confident we will work with the DOE so we can move forward safely and deliberately.”</p><p>AltaRock has BLM approval to extend an existing Northern California Power Agency well deeper into the ground. That work started in June and should be complete in August, Turner said.</p><p>The company still needs BLM approval to fracture the bedrock by injecting water at high pressure into holes drilled into ground. It also needs BLM permission to develop a second well to produce the steam.</p><p>Companies have been pushing to develop geothermal energy sources across the West with the nation’s renewed push for renewable energy.</p><p>The Geysers is the world’s largest geothermal operation, straddling Sonoma and Lake counties. Steam has been tapped to power electricity plants at The Geysers for nearly 50 years, with 22 in operation today generating enough electricity for 750,000 homes.</p><p>Federal regulators had given AltaRock’s project an initial green light.</p><p>The BLM approved an environmental study this spring that included a look into the potential for large earthquakes caused by fracturing bedrock, Dearing said.</p><p>“It concluded that it wouldn’t have a significant impact on creating any different seismic activity than already exists there,” he said.</p><p>But the depth of that review was criticized by residents concerned about the project’s potential for causing stronger earthquakes.</p><p>The Geysers geothermal field experiences 90 micro-quakes a month, mostly in the 1.5-magnitude range, according to the U.S. Geological Service. The numbers have been steadily increasing for the last half-decade as power companies inject wastewater into the shallow steam beds to generate electricity.</p><p>Federal energy officials last week required AltaRock to provide more data as part of its environmental review. The concern centers on earthquakes linked to geothermal drilling into an earthquake fault below Basel, Switzerland.</p><p>“The Department is conducting additional analysis of the question of induced seismicity, and specifically comparing induced seismicity at The Geysers to induced seismicity at Basel, Switzerland to determine whether there should be additional safeguards beyond what is already planned for The Geysers site. We plan to have it completed soon,” said Stephanie Mueller, an energy department spokeswoman.</p><p>AltaRock officials contend The Geysers site is safer than Basel. They said it is not on a major fault, that the company relied on extensive mapping, and has designed controls to monitor seismicity and suspend activities if needed.</p><p>“AltaRock has been focused on the safety and success of our project from the beginning, and will continue to work with the community and regulators to ensure geothermal energy can provide our state with clean, abundant, and affordable energy,” according to a statement on the company’s Web site.</p>