Officials shut drilling waste well after 2nd quake

Colorado regulators have ordered the shutdown of an oil and gas wastewater disposal well east of Greeley after seismologists detected two earthquakes in the area in less than a month.

The Greeley Tribune reports the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission directed High Sierra Water Services to stop injecting water into the well after a team of University of Colorado seismologists recorded a 2.6-magnitute earthquake Monday afternoon. The team began monitoring the region after a 3.4-magnitude earthquake May 31.

The company agreed Monday to halt wastewater injection at the site for 20 days as a precaution. Regulators plan to evaluate the area’s baseline, historical seismic activity and evaluate other disposal wells in the area.

Wastewater disposal must occur at the proper rate and pressure to ensure it’s safely deposited in the formation.