Sunday, October 24, 2004

 

PD reports County is pumping wastewater to The Geysers

A Press Democrat "Around the Empire" item reported today (10/24, "THE GEYSERS/2nd day of quakes for Geysers area"),

"A magnitude-3.4 earthquake rumbled through The Geysers area Saturday, the second day of significant seismic activity in the area this week. The quake, reported at 7:47 p.m., was centered about three miles west of Anderson Springs and 20 miles north of Santa Rosa. A magnitude-3.1 quake was recorded in the same vicinity at 3:14 p.m. Thursday. No damage or injuries were reported. Nine smaller quakes, ranging from 1.4 to 2.5 in magnitude, were recorded in between, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Residents in the small Lake County community of Anderson Springs have complained about increased seismic activity for several years, saying it coincided with the start of a program to recharge steam fields at The Geysers with wastewater from Lake County. Sonoma County recently started pumping some wastewater to the steam fields too. [emphasis added] Anderson Springs residents said Saturday they are scheduled to meet next month with representatives of Calpine, the San Jose-based power company that generates electricity at The Geysers."

No kidding, folks. The PD has discovered that "Sonoma County recently started pumping some wastewater to the steam fields too."

More accurately, the City of Santa Rosa last year began pumping millions of gallons of its near-drinkable treated sewage almost to Lake County, to pour it into Calpine's steamfields at The Geysers. And of course, the PD has been reporting on the progress of The Geysers Recharge Project for many years.

What makes this item so ingenuous is that the PD also publishes the "Seismo-Watch" box every Saturday (www.seismo-watch.com). For example, Seismo-Watch reported 5/29/04,

"Activity at The Geysers geothermal area continued on its 'seismic rampage,' producing its sixth straight week at the century level. Activity this high has never occurred before and follows the controversial Santa Rosa wastewater injection procedure, which began late last year."

And by 7/24, Seismo-Watch was reporting:

"It was another robust week at The Geysers, as the number of man-made seismic events reached the 100 quake-per-week mark for the 13th time in 14 weeks." [emphasis added]

We can probably count on the PD to report allegations of increased seismic activity, when property owners near The Geysers ultimately file a huge lawsuit against the City of Santa Rosa.





Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?