Utah Desalinization Plant Causes Earthquake

mknewman writes "A Utah desalinization plant which removes 260 gallons of salty brine from a river which feeds the Colorado river has caused a 3.9 on the Richter Scale earthquake, noticeable by people 60 miles away in Grand Junction. More information at http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/11/15/earthqu ake.wellpumpin.ap/index.html"

Comments

Let me get this straight

[wowbagger]

Let me get this straight. You expect:

1. A /. reader to correctly read the FA
2. That same reader, upon submitting the story, to correctly plagerize^Wsummarize the story
3. A /. editor to actually read the FA...
4. ...and having read it, to note the factual corrections in the story post.
5. A /. editor to then add the fact that the event in question is nothing new, nor dangerous.

Boy, you sure don't ask for much, do you?

Good news

[crow]

The theory is that the water essentially lubricates the fault, making it easier for it to move. The pumping does nothing to create pressure. Instead, it reduces the amount of pressure that has to build up before an earthquake hits. This means we get a bunch of small quakes relatively frequently instead of a big bad one when we least expect it.

So perhaps they should start similar pumping actions in California to allow for more smaller quakes to reduce the pressure buildup?

Re:Good news

[KilobyteKnight]

The pumping does nothing to create pressure. Instead, it reduces the amount of pressure that has to build up before an earthquake hits.

I was thinking the same thing when I read that. Seems like over all a Good Thing[tm]. However, from the FA:

That event, combined with two significant tremors in 1999, led government officials to reduce the amount of brine injected by a third.

Perhaps reducing the the amount pumped in increased the likelyhood of bigger quakes. It seems like lubricating the fault line would be the thing to do.

Your Tax Dollars At Work.

[Bob_Robertson]

Subsidizing the farmers and cities who are pulling H2O out of the river, raising the relative salt concentrations by using tax money to remove salt to try to reduce the relative salt level to "normal".

Another "tragedy of the commons" caused by a lack of private property rights.

Want to solve this whole problem? Salt-neutral use of the river. If you want it, take it and deal with the salt. If you put into it, treat it first so it's at least as clean as what you took out.

Don't get me wrong, this same physical problem might exist as Provo or Los Vegas tries to deal with excess salt in their water, but at least then it wouldn't be my taxes paying for it. Or yours. Only the people who choose to use it deserve to be responsible for the cost of it.

Bob-

it's natural salt

[klossner]

Your argument would make sense only if the farmers and cities were distilling the water and returning the solids to the river. They're not, so there's no "tragedy of the commons" here.

The salt in the Dolores River comes from natural underground salt formations. Ground water passes through a collapsed salt anticline and becomes brine. You can read the technical report at http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/wri/wri02-4275/ and see photos at http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~jeh/Photos/Captions/capday 4.html.

Natural salt water is not uncommon in this region. The Great Salt Lake formed long before the Industrial Age.