About Induced Seismicity And The Human (Social) Environment

The regulatory team is documenting federal and state law for minimizing induced seismicity associated with wastewater disposal for oil and gas development and for mitigating the influence of injection-induced events on communities and the environment.  The team is creating a publicly accessible, searchable database of federal (Environmental Protection Agency) regulations and regulations from seven states: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The database will catalogue regulations on the jurisdictions' regulatory authority over Class II injection wells as well as rules on well sitting and permitting, well construction and operation, public notification, financial assurances, and liability.  In year three and four of the project, we will use this database and additional research on state policy and proposed rules to identify the characteristics of a model regulation that could serve as a guide for states and others dealing with induced seismicity.

Who we are: 

Liesel Ritchie, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University

Email: liesel.ritchie@okstate.edu

Dr. Ritchie has studied a range of disaster events, including the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills; the Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash release; Hurricane Katrina; and earthquakes in Haiti and New Zealand. Since 2000, her focus has been on the social impacts of disasters and community resilience, with an emphasis on technological disasters, social capital, and renewable resource communities, and she has published widely on these topics.

Nnenia Campbell, Research Associate, University of Colorado Boulder Natural Hazards Center

Email: nnenia.campbell@colorado.edu

Dr. Campbell’s research interests center on the social dimensions of disasters, particularly social capital, risk perception, and the intersections between vulnerability and resilience. Her dissertation research examined disaster impacts and recovery among community-dwelling older adults and senior-serving organizations following the 2013 Colorado floods.

Jamie Vickery, Research Associate, University of Colorado Boulder Natural Hazards Center

Email: jamie.vickery@colorado.edu

Dr. Vickery’s research interests focus on the social dimensions of disasters, particularly social vulnerability and resilience, political ecology, social inequality, social dimensions of

risk, and culturally responsive evaluation. Her dissertation research studied the experiences of homeless individuals and homeless service organizations in Boulder County during the 2013 Colorado floods.

Products: 

Our team has completed Phase One of our research plan, which entailed qualitative data collection in Colorado and Oklahoma. All interviews have been transcribed, coded, and analyzed. A report on key themes from this qualitative inquiry has been completed and is currently under review. Once this report is finalized, the team will discuss a publication strategy. Phase two of our research plan, quantitative telephone survey data collection, is also underway. The geographical parameters for the sample population have been finalized, and the survey instrument will be refined in spring 2018.

Conference presentations include:

(UNDER REVIEW) Vickery, Jamie, Campbell, Nnenia, and Liesel Ritchie.  2018. “Understanding Risk Perception and Uncertainty in the Context of Induced Seismicity: An Oklahoma Case Study.” International Symposium on Society and Resource Management Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Campbell, Nnenia, Vickery, Jamie, and Liesel Ritchie. 2017. "Making Sense of Uncertainty: Risk Communication in the Context of Induced Seismicity.” Seismological Society of America Meeting in Denver, Colorado.

 Ritchie, Liesel, Campbell, Nnenia, and Jamie Vickery. 2016. "Risk and Opportunity: The Role of Context and Social Responses to Oil and Gas Development." Association for Humanist Sociology Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado.