EPA shuts more Oklahoma disposal wells

OREANDA-NEWS. September 08, 2016. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has directed oil and gas producers in Osage county, Oklahoma, to shut 17 wastewater disposal wells that inject into the Arbuckle formation in an effort to prevent earthquakes.

The EPA action was in tandem with recommendations from Oklahoma state regulators who ordered operators to shut 37 disposal wells after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake on 3 September near Pawnee, Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas in most of the state, does not have jurisdiction in Osage county, which has been under federal control since the Osage Tribe Allotment Act of 1906 which granted the tribe control of mineral rights.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for administering the development of oil and gas resources in the county while the EPA has permitting authority for underground injection under the Osage Drinking Water Act.

The EPA is coordinating closely with state officials, representatives from the Osage Nation, the Osage Minerals Council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Geological Survey (USGS) to determine further actions, an agency spokesman said today.

The 5.6 magnitude earthquake on 3 September matched the strongest ever recorded in Oklahoma. It was also felt in neighboring states, including Texas.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said the earthquake amounted to "an emergency situation having potentially critical environmental or public safely impact resulting from the operation of saltwater disposal wells."

The increase in earthquakes in Oklahoma has coincided with a surge in oil and gas drilling activity. The number of earthquakes in Oklahoma above a magnitude 3.0 increased to more than 900 in 2015, compared to about 580 in 2014 and about 100 in 2013, according to the USGS.

State regulators have been taking steps to reduce wastewater injection wells to prevent further seismic activity. A large program announced in May included limits on more than 600 wastewater disposal wells in the Arbuckle formation. That program was expanded last month after earthquakes near Luther, Oklahoma.