GEOTHERMAL DRILLING REGULATED

Geothermal Drilling Safeguards Imposed
James Glanz, January 15, 2010 (NY Times)

"The United States Energy Department, concerned about earthquake risk, will impose new safeguards on geothermal energy projects that drill deep into the Earth’s crust.

"The new policy is being instituted after a project in California that used the new technology was shut down by technical problems and encountered community opposition, federal documents indicate."

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"The project, by Seattle-based AltaRock Energy, would have fractured bedrock and extracted heat by digging more than two miles beneath the surface at a spot called the Geysers, about 100 miles north of San Francisco. The company ran into serious problems with its drilling and faced accusations from scientists and local residents that it had not been forthcoming enough about the earthquake risk. AltaRock denied those accusations.

"The documents…indicate that the Geysers project has run through $6 million in federal financing in several unsuccessful efforts to drill to the necessary depth…[By] early December…AltaRock had removed its drill rig from the site and informed the department that the project would be abandoned…"

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"[T]he department concluded that earthquakes that would have been set off by the AltaRock project would “not have a significant impact on the human environment.” [DOE] later awarded AltaRock $25 million to try a similar project at the Newberry Volcanic Monument near Bend, Ore…through the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package…

"Two seismic experts who read the documents said the message about the perils and potential of geothermal energy was unclear. But…the new standards were a welcome development…Among the new safeguards are requirements that projects monitor ground-motion sensors and other data and have an approved plan to shut down if earthquakes induced by the drilling are too powerful. Companies must also file estimates of expected earthquake activity and submit project proposals to outside experts for a review of the risks and the likelihood of success…"