In Oil and Gas Waste Governance, Zachary Mahafza, Joseph A. Aistrup, Jonathan M. Fisk, and Lorraine W. Wolf tell the story of unconventional oil and gas production, earthquakes, and how they both relate to the much broader conversation centering on private property, energy production and the role of science within the public policy process, and environmental sustainability.

Utilizing a unique national-level dataset that includes human-induced earthquakes associated with oil and gas development between 2006 and 2018, the book combines insights on focusing/tipping events, media, geoscience, and state-choice to develop and test a new model of event-driven policy change. Examining the politics of induced seismicity at the national level as well as in Ohio and Oklahoma, the authors demonstrate how event severity and frequency interact with political and social considerations and, in turn, contribute to administrative decision-making. Oil and Gas Waste Governance offers a much-needed examination of seismicity in Public Administration and Public Policy.

About the Author

Dr. Zachary Mahafza is a Research and Data Analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center and Adjunct Instructor at Auburn University. He researches a wide range of environmental and public health topics often using geographical data. His published work has appeared in journals such as: State and Local Government Review, Water Policy, Politics and Policy, INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, and Contemporary Rural Sociology.

Dr. Jonathan M. Fisk is an Associate Professor and Academic Program Director for the Master of Public Policy Program within the Division of Public Affairs at the University of Utah. He is the author of Intergovernmental Relations: State and Local Challenges in the 21st Century (2022) and The Fracking Debate: Intergovernmental Politics of the Oil and Gas Renaissance (2017) and co-author of The Shale Renaissance: How Fracking Changed Pennsylvania in the 21st Century (2022) and The Drought Dilemma (2024). He has published more than 30 articles and chapters covering a wide range of energy and environmental topics in journals such as American Review of Public Administration, Energy Policy, and State and Local Government Review.

Dr. Joseph A. Aistrup is a Professor of Political Science at Auburn University, and former Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He is the co-author of Kansas Politics and Government: The Clash of Political Cultures (2010) and author of The Southern Strategy Revisited: Republican Top-Down Advancement in the South, which was nominated for the V.O. Key Award in 1997. He has published 67 peer-reviewed articles and professional publications in a wide variety of political science, public policy and multidisciplinary journals, including Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Applied Geography and Social Science Quarterly.

Dr. Lorraine W. Wolf, Emerita Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Geosciences at Auburn University. She has applied a wide range of geophysical methodologies in her research, including crustal-scale magnetic and gravity modelling, deformation and fluid pressure modelling, seismic hazard analyses, and electrical resistance tomography. Wolf has published in a variety of national and international geophysical journals and assumed a primary editorial role in three books on geophysical data policy published by the National Research Council.

Reviews

This book provides an explicit overview of the challenges and complexities involved in implementing and adapting regulatory policies to manage induced seismicity from oil and gas production in the shale energy producing states.

Sarmistha Majumdar, Chair of Political Science & Public Administration, Texas Southern University

Energy development has many complex social and environmental impacts. In this book, Mahafza et al. evaluate the challenge of human induced seismicity, that is, earthquakes related to the underground injection of oil and gas' wastes-an issue that is increasingly salient in the current era of energy abundance. The interdisciplinary team of authors describes the evidence for induced seismicity, particularly from injection wells, the policy regimes governing induced seismicity, and associated state responses, with detailed looks at responses in Oklahoma and Ohio. They conclude by offering valuable lessons learned that can be applied to the management of waste from other energy sources.

Adam Mayer, Research Scientist, Colorado State University

This is a well written book that offers a comprehensive and informative analysis of oil and gas waste management policies aimed at dealing with the risks associated with production activities. Drilling for oil and gas in the U.S. slowed in the middle twentieth century but rebounded following the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technology to access energy resources lying beneath rock formations. But greater use of fracking processes resulted in a corresponding rise in man-made seismic risk on or near drilling sites (often referred to as induced seismicity). Project authors focus upon decisions made by key stakeholders to address quake related impacts in affected states, notably Ohio and Oklahoma in an effort to balance costs with benefits. The concluding chapter provides an especially useful discussion of best practices used to guide state officials attempting to cope with quake related damages.

Charles Davis, Professor emeritus, Colorado State University

Book Information
ISBN 9781032797182
Author Zachary Mahafza
Format Hardback
Page Count 168
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd