An Oklahoma energy company has been ordered to shut down a wastewater injection well due to concerns that it may be causing earthquakes, a state official said Wednesday.
Matt Skinner, with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), said due to continuing earthquakes in Alfalfa County, a SandRidge Energy well, located near the northern Oklahoma town of Cherokee, will stop operating until more data is collected to study a possible connection to seismic activity.
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake was recorded in the area Friday.
“There is nothing more important (for us) than this issue,” Skinner said.
That injection well was already operating under a “yellow light” permit that required it to be “shut in” if an earthquake happened within six miles of the well.
“Perhaps the most important is they (energy companies) have to monitor for seismicity. They have to have equipment in the ground to measure for seismicity,” Skinner said. “It is their responsibility. They have to do it.”
A House committee studying this issue in October said officials need better, faster data to solve Oklahoma’s earthquake swarm mystery.
Now, State Representative Jason Murphey (R – Dist 31) says he may ask for a follow-up hearing because new data is painting a clearer picture of where not to drill.
“There are many in the energy sector who are the good actors in this scenario,” he said, “and they know that it’s not a best practice to put an injection site close to a fault line.”
Experts have told NewsChannel 4 that injecting wastewater, which is produced from oil and gas wells, into the earth near a fault line can have a greasing effect on a fault, allowing it to slip.
Jeff Wilson, VP of Government & Public Affairs with SandRidge Energy, released this statement Wednesday: “SandRidge recently received a notice from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission that a routine review of one of our assets is currently under way. We maintain a solid record of safety, cooperation and compliance with regulatory authorities and as we do with all OCC requests, we are working closely with commission staff to provide them with any and all relevant information needed to quickly address this routine review.”
Skinner said their rules and regulations will continue to evolve as fault line maps improve and energy companies share seismic more data with the Oklahoma Geological Society and the OCC.
