{"id":23069,"date":"2015-03-03T12:10:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T18:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=23069"},"modified":"2015-03-03T13:12:08","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T19:12:08","slug":"state-geological-survey-stayed-silent-after-linking-oklahoma-quakes-to-oil-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/03\/03\/state-geological-survey-stayed-silent-after-linking-oklahoma-quakes-to-oil-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"State Geological Survey Stayed Silent After Linking Oklahoma Quakes to Oil Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_21289\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21289\" alt=\"Austin Holland with the Oklahoma Geological Survey briefs Corporation Commissioners on new earthquake research.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/09\/20140909-interim-frack091_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/09\/20140909-interim-frack091_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/09\/20140909-interim-frack091_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/09\/20140909-interim-frack091_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/09\/20140909-interim-frack091_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Austin Holland with the Oklahoma Geological Survey briefs Corporation Commissioners on new earthquake research.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Despite long-held suspicions that the state&#8217;s earthquake surge was linked to <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/topic\/earthquakes-2\/\">oil and gas activity<\/a>, the Oklahoma Geological Survey stayed silent amid pressure from oil company executives, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/energywire\/2015\/03\/03\/stories\/1060014342\">EnergyWire reports<\/a>.<!--more--><\/p><p>For this and <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/01\/30\/state-seismologist-to-wapo-oil-industry-has-tried-to-influence-earthquake-research\/\">other interviews<\/a>, State Seismologist Austin Holland acknowledges &#8220;intense personal interest&#8221; from energy company executives, but told reporter Mike Soraghan it never affected his scientific findings:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>But Holland and OGS have been the voice of skepticism in the scientific community about connections between oil production activities and the hundreds of earthquakes that have shaken the state.<\/p><\/blockquote><p>The EnergyWire piece relies heavily on emails \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/assets\/2015\/02\/27\/document_ew_03.pdf\">click here to read a .pdf<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 obtained through the state Open Records Act, which highlight tensions with the oil industry, politicians and university donors, and reveal inconsistencies in OGS&#8217;s private discussions and public messaging.<\/p><p>Some of the highlights \u2014 paraphrased and bulleted by me, unless quoted directly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Earthquake Activity Near Jones, Okla.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In an email, Holland told the USGS that since 2010 the OGS had suspected an earthquake swarm near Jones was likely linked to an oil and gas operation known as the &#8220;Hunton dewatering.&#8221; Publicly, however, Holland downplayed the connection, Soraghan reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In a television interview at the time, he pointed toward natural causes. In a scientific posting, he pointed at changing water levels at a nearby lake.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">That concerned [USGS&#8217; Bill] Leith, who runs the earthquake hazards program at USGS. He wrote to Holland saying the lake level theory was &#8220;unlikely&#8221; and possibly unhelpful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Asked by <em>EnergyWire<\/em> why he hadn&#8217;t publicly aired suspicions that Jones swarm was caused by oil production activities, Holland replied, &#8220;I guess you should go back and read my paper.&#8221; He sent a citation to a <a href=\"http:\/\/srl.geoscienceworld.org\/content\/84\/5\/876.short\">paper<\/a> he published in 2013, which does not make a link between the Jones swarm earthquakes and the Hunton dewatering.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meeting With the Corporation Commission and Oil Executives<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In October 2013, OGS joined the U.S. Geological Survey in issuing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usgs.gov\/newsroom\/article.asp?ID=3710&from=rss\">a statement<\/a> about Oklahoma&#8217;s growing earthquake risk and possible links to oil and gas industry disposal wells. A week later, Holland was &#8220;summoned&#8221; to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission for a meeting with Jack Stark \u2014 then a senior vice president of exploration, now president and chief operating officer at Continental Resources \u2014 and then-Commissioner Patrice Douglas, Sorgahan reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Douglas and the Continental executive were &#8220;concerned&#8221; about the joint statement with USGS and a story about it by EnergyWire, Holland recounted later in an email.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">At the time, Douglas was about to run for Congress. She got more campaign money from Continental executives in 2014 than anyone except Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and the Republican National Committee, according to OpenSecrets.org. The $14,775 she received from Continental includes $6,575 from Hamm, who did not contribute to her Republican primary opponent, Steve Russell. Russell beat Douglas in the primary and is now a congressman.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In the meeting, Douglas said she &#8220;wants to, of course, protect the safety of Oklahomans, but also balance that with industry in the state,&#8221; according to Holland&#8217;s email.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meeting with OU President David Boren and Oil Executives<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">After the OGS &#8220;cautiously&#8221; agreed with scientists about links between disposal wells and earthquakes, Holland in November 2013 was called into a meeting with University of Oklahoma President David Boren and oil executives, including Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm, &#8220;a leading donor to the university.&#8221; Boren also serves on Continental&#8217;s board of directors, where, in 2013, &#8220;he received $272,700 in cash and stock for his service,&#8221; Sorgahan reports:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A meeting with such powerful figures in the state would be intimidating for a state employee such as Holland, said state Rep. Jason Murphey of Guthrie.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Wow. That&#8217;s a lot of pressure,&#8221; said Murphey, a Republican whose district has been rattled by numerous quakes. &#8220;That just sends chills up your spine if you&#8217;re from Oklahoma.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>OGS&#8217; Position on Earthquakes Has Drawn Internal &#8216;Derision&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In April 2013, another OGS scientist, petroleum geologist Richard Andrews, said in a note to a family member on his agency email account that OGS shouldn&#8217;t be telling the public that the earthquakes are naturally occurring.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Myself and a few other geologists that know of the Hunton dewatering oil operations in the affected areas and subsequent re-injection into the Arbuckle [are] the culprit,&#8221; wrote Andrews, who is now the interim director of OGS. &#8220;I am dismayed at our seismic people about this issue and believe they couldn&#8217;t track a bunny through fresh snow!&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite long-held suspicions that the state&#8217;s earthquake surge was linked to oil and gas activity, the Oklahoma Geological Survey stayed silent amid pressure from oil company executives, EnergyWire reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":21289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[489,500,515,324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23069"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23088,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23069\/revisions\/23088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}