Cal Energy Commission holding workshop on rapid land subsidence and impact on gas & oil infrastructure
07 November 2015
The staff of the California Energy Commission staff will conduct a workshop on 10 November in Sacramento to open a discussion about the extremely fast rate of land subsidence in the Central Valley of California and how it may be affecting the oil & natural gas infrastructure. The ongoing drought and extensive extraction of groundwater have accelerated a non-seismic downward displacement of land (subsidence).
At its current rate the subsidence may pose a danger to natural gas pipelines, oil and gas wells, natural gas storage systems, aqueducts, and other facilities.
Recent measurements of subsidence carried out by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and U.S. Geological Survey have shown that the groundwater extraction in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys during the recent drought has resulted in increasing rates of subsidence.
During the CPUC En Banc meeting on September 24, 2015, a representative from PG&E indicated that about 50 miles of PG&E natural gas pipelines have been affected by subsidence. During this workshop, additional information will be presented to coordinate future research activities, to better anticipate impacts, and to develop corrective measures, if needed.
Documents and presentations for this workshop will be available online at: http://www.energy.ca.gov/research/notices/index.html
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