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Swiss Geologist On Trial For Causing Earthquakes
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that Markus Haering's company had been working with the authorities in Basel, Switzerland to try to convert the heat in deep-seated rocks into electricity, but the project was suspended in 2006 when drilling triggered earthquakes, one of them with a magnitude of 3.4, leading Haering's company to pay out $9M in damages. Haering's team planned to drill a series of holes penetrating up to 3 miles (4.8 km) underground with water being pumped onto rocks with a temperature of more than 195C. Basel's location on top of a fault line – the upper Rhine trench – had been deliberately chosen because the heat was closer to the Earth's surface. A risk assessment has since shown that the prospect of further quakes is too high to continue drilling in the city. Haering faces up to five years in prison if the judge finds he intentionally damaged property. Haering has admitted the 3.4 magnitude earthquake was stronger than he had expected and that his team 'had very little knowledge of seismicity' before starting to drill, but called the quakes 'a learning process for everyone involved.' Despite Haering's trial, the Swiss appetite for geothermal projects has not diminished. Engineers are beginning preliminary drilling in Zurich to see whether that area was suitable for a similar scheme, and St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland, plans to start work on its own geothermal project next year. Drilling efforts are being closely watched in the US, where the energy department is sponsoring more than 120 geothermal energy projects in several states."
Hey, gotta break a few eggs (and dishes) to make an omelet.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I doubt the geologist is at fault. However, his defense rests on really shaky ground.
We learned that causing earthquakes costs 9 million dollars and a 5 year stretch. I had always wondered.
Blast it, I failed the broadcast take over announcing my intentions for world domination! It was my demostration of my earthquake machine! me, me ME!
Demented But Determined.
These villagers were scamming the poor guy. $9 million in damages from a *3.4* quake? Cripes, a bus crossing in front of my house is close to 3.4... either their houses are made from eggshells, or this is the scam of the century.
I'd feel terrible if useful research was suspended because of profiteering townsfolk.
Comment of the year
Thankfully a project by the same company just north of San Francisco has been shut down. The last thing CA needs is more earthquakes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/science/earth/12quake.html
Just imagine the other inmates, 'So, what are you in for?'
Some people are only alive because it's against the law for me to hunt them down and kill them.
In other news, Swiss marine biologist accused of attaching lasers to the heads of sharks.
Seriously, if this guy changes his name to Dr. Quake or some other reasonable mad scientist name his only punishment should be a lecture from the super hero of his choice.
__________
On a more serious note, this is pretty scary. His excuse that the result was stronger than he expected is lame - when dealing with things of this magnitude you should try to be as certain as possible. Calling such a damaging incident "a learning process" seems a little asinine. I hope no one was hurt.
These villagers were scamming the poor guy. $9 million in damages from a *3.4* quake? Cripes, a bus crossing in front of my house is close to 3.4... either their houses are made from eggshells, or this is the scam of the century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggshell_skull
Translation/application: if you demonstrate negligence and cause an earthquake, even if everyone's houses are made of chewing gum and paper- you're responsible for the damage, because had you not done what you did, the damage wouldn't have happened.
Please help metamoderate.
I imagine he would be seen as an evil supervillain like Lex Luthor or something, and emerge from jail with a small army to do his geological bidding.
those pesky minarets! Yeppers!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/energy-environment/08fracking.html
The drilling boom is raising concern in many parts of the country, and the reaction is creating political obstacles for the gas industry. Hazards like methane contamination of drinking water wells, long known in regions where gas production was common, are spreading to populous areas that have little history of coping with such risks, but happen to sit atop shale beds.
And a more worrisome possibility has come to light. A string of incidents in places like Wyoming and Pennsylvania in recent years has pointed to a possible link between hydraulic fracturing and pollution of groundwater supplies. In the worst case, such pollution could damage crucial supplies of water used for drinking and agriculture
It isn't going to be climate change that kills us. We won't have any clean water to drink. Fun fact: the "safe water drinking act" isn't being enforced by the EPA, and even water that has very unhealthy level of arsenic is "safe". Does a 1-in-600 chance of getting bladder cancer sound "safe" to you?
Please help metamoderate.
This has all happened before and apparently will happen again:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/lr247770l2272741/
I recall these earthquakes were triggered by chemical weapon disposal, same plot though, dig a big deep hole and put liquid in.....
]
Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
I'm not familiar with Swiss law either. This may be a lost-in-translation issue. If he knew his actions would cause damage, and continued in those actions anyway, then likely he has committed some crime. The specific word "intent" may not be the right one here... "willful" may be a better translation/interpretation.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
The big eye-opener was the injection of fluid at Rocky Mountain Arsenal near denver causing medium size quakes in 1965. This is called induced seismicity . Its been seen around new dams (possibility in last years large Sichuan quake), geothermal drilling, irrigation fluid disposal, water table drops, etc.
Teh question really is political. Was the possibility of I.S. included in the pre-project environmental study? Did they ignore signs of it starting? Was it really caused by their activities.
Is your name Louis Michaud?
Nobody pushes buttons like our bunny. Big red buttons with labels that say "IGNITION", apparently.
All this to produce electricity to dry clothing in the electric dryers. Just let people dry clothing and linen on the ropes in the sun and wind.
Billions and billions of such drying wet items will cool the planet. Because it will be daily, and it will be in billions.
We are trying to solve by engineering means a problem which is not a technical problem. It is a problem in our heads.
Here in Iceland they have been pumping down Co2 for testing. That is down with water, but the result is the same, it has created earthquakes. The largest one was about ML2.0 before they stopped the experiment.
I don't know why it was stopped. But it is quite oblivious that pressure changes create earthquakes faster then one might think.
However, in Iceland they where pumping down that water within a active volcano with a lot of fault lines.
... trying to selectively topple minarets.
"Press to test."
(click)
"Release to detonate."
Yes, I agree, indeed this is the whole point of an LLC. LLCs are horribly abused quite routinely. I often observe that chemical companies should really be charged with manslaughter for some of their pollutants. *But* a serious research project that happens to "break a few eggs" should really be let slide.
A reasonable compromise might be awarding shares in this company to the damaged cities and the Swiss national science funding body, so the company current backers face dilution as punishment, but no immediate funds change hands, and any IP becomes closer to public property.
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
You can't "cause" an earthquake. They are caused by tectonic pressure. You may be able to adjust the timing of one, though.
Perhaps this man's 3.4 quake actually saved the village from having a 4.0 quake a few years later! Did anyone think of that? Perhaps they should be giving him a medal.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Hell, here's a map of the earthquakes that happened this week in California.
http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/
Just imagine the other inmates, 'So, what are you in for?'
Drilling holes with deep penetration. With a ground shaking climax.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
I hate to be pedantic (ahem), but heat from the earth's core is nuclear power, since it is the decay of radioactive materials that heats the core.
But cooling the earth's core would halt continental drift. Did anyone think of that? And then where would we be? Screwed, that where.
People just don't think these things through.
It is a shame that this fellow is going to be on trial. He obviously had no intent to do harm. And this article does not indicate the he was irresponsible in his efforts. Sometimes bad things happen but that does not mean that someone should be punished.