Seismicity accompanying hydraulic injections into granitic rock is often diffuse rather than falling along a single plane. This diffuse zone of seismicity cannot be attributed to systematic errors in locations of the events. It has often been asserted that seismicity occurs along preexisting joints in the rock that are favorably aligned with the stress field so that slip can occur along them when effective stress is reduced by increasing pore fluid pressure. A new scheme for determining orientations and locations of planes along which the microearthquakes occurred was recently developed. The basic assumption of the method, called the three point method, is that many of the events fall along well defined planes; these planes are often difficult to identify visually in the data because planes of many orientations are present. The method has been applied to four hydraulic fracturing experiments conducted at Fenton Hill as part of a hot dry rock geothermal energy project. While multiple planes are found for each experiment; one plane is common to all experiments. The ratio of shear to normal stress along planes of all orientations is calculated using a best estimate of the current stress state at Fenton Hill. The plane common to all …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a public street or alley owned in fee simple may be used in computing 20 percent of land area for purposes of article 1011e, V.T.C.S..