Professor Pifer to deliver webinar on link between quakes and oil and gas activities

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Clinical Professor Ross Pifer, director of Penn State Law’s Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, will deliver a webinar on the legal issues associated with induced seismicity—earthquake activity resulting from human or artificial development—and its impact on landowners at 12 p.m. EST on Feb. 17.

The online talk, which is sponsored by the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, is free, but participation is limited to the first 100 people who join the webinar shortly before the session begins. There is no pre-registration.

Earthquakes across the central and eastern U.S. in recent years have prompted focus on the oil and gas industry’s activities in those areas. Pifer’s presentation will review the seismic events that have been potentially induced by oil and gas activities and include a review of relevant scientific literature. There were 659 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater in the central and eastern states in 2014, compared to an annual average of 21 earthquakes before 2008. 

“Some of the evidence has pointed to the underground injection of waste fluids as being a cause of induced seismicity in some instances,” Pifer said. “More controversially, some research has questioned whether hydraulic fracturing itself has been the cause for isolated seismic events.” 

Pifer referred to studies showing that 98 percent of recent earthquakes in central Arkansas occurred within 6 kilometers of one of three waste disposal wells after the start of wastewater injection into the wells. The studies concluded that the activity in the wells induced the quakes. In 2014, Oklahoma experienced 608 earthquakes of at least magnitude 3, which a study said coincided with a doubling of the wastewater disposal rate in injection wells from 1999 to 2013. 

Pifer will discuss scientific literature covering wastewater injection wells and high-volume hydraulic fracking. He will review strategies and regulations adopted by different states to manage induced seismicity. Pifer will also cover legal advice for landowners entering into oil and gas leases and their rights in case of induced seismicity. 

Pifer’s research focuses on shale gas development and the interface between agricultural and residential development. He has presented nationally and internationally on shale gas and agricultural law topics to audiences comprised of judges, attorneys, legislators, government officials, landowners, and the general public. 

Additional information about the webinar is available on the National Agricultural Law Center website.