Earthquakes and Resulting Lawsuits Persist in Oklahoma

A group of Edmond residents filed a lawsuit on Jan. 11 against 12 energy companies, claiming that their saltwater disposal wells were partly to blame for earthquakes in central Oklahoma.

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction to stop the use of 16 disposal wells operated by the companies.

The lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma County District Court. Nine homeowners claim that the companies acted negligently and their use of disposal wells constituted an “ultrahazardous activity,” which contributed to the earthquakes of magnitudes 4.3 and 4.2 in the Edmond area on Dec. 29 and Jan. 1 that damaged their homes. No injuries were reported.

Some of the companies named in the lawsuit include affiliates of Devon Energy Corp. A spokesman for the company said it could not comment on pending litigation.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) asked operators of five nearby injection wells to reduce disposal volumes in response to the Edmond-area earthquakes. The commission said that none of the disposal wells in Edmond were the type of high-volume wells, which inject more than 25,000 barrels of saltwater per day, that were targeted in previous regulatory directives in areas of increased earthquake activity.

According to the commission, some wells operated by both Devon Energy and Pedestal Oil have agreed to suspend operations.

Sandridge Energy

The OCC is still working to resolve a dispute with another oil and gas company – SandRidge Energy Inc. – that has neglected to shut down some of its saltwater disposal wells.

The commission had issued a voluntary directive to a dozen energy companies on Dec. 3 after the Medford and Cherokee areas were hit with a swarm of earthquakes, including a 4.7-magnitude temblor. Regulators asked the companies to shut down, reduce volumes or be aware of future actions at 140 saltwater disposal wells.

SandRidge was asked to shut down six disposal wells in the Medford/Cherokee region by Dec. 9, but as of early January had not complied, according to media reports.

Commission spokesman Matt Skinner says if a settlement isn’t reached, officials will ask the commission to modify the company’s existing permits for saltwater disposal in Alfalfa and Grant counties.

SandRidge spokesman David Kimmel said in an email to The Oklahoman that the company is committed to addressing the issue.

The Wichita (Kansas) Eagle reported that SandRidge Energy is the largest user of saltwater injection wells in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Earlier Lawsuit

In late December, an Oklahoma judge rejected a request from two energy companies to throw out a lawsuit previously filed by a woman who claims she was injured in an earthquake caused by the injection of wastewater.

Lincoln County District Judge Cynthia Ferrell Ashwood overruled the motions to dismiss by Oklahoma-based Spess Oil Co. and New Dominion LLC.

The lawsuit by Prague resident Sandra Ladra alleges the companies are liable because they operated wastewater disposal wells that triggered the largest earthquake in state history, a 5.6-magnitude temblor in 2011.

Ladra claims the quake crumbled her fireplace, causing rocks to fall on her knee.

Earthquake-Prone

Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes magnitude 3.0 or greater skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 800 in 2015. Many of the earthquakes are occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater – a byproduct of oil and gas production – deep into the earth.

About 1.5 billion barrels of wastewater was disposed underground in Oklahoma last year, according to statistics released by the governor’s office. Over the past year, OCC directives resulted in 197 wastewater disposal wells reducing the depth of their operations and 14 wells reducing disposal volumes by half, according to the commission.

Some industry representatives and oil and gas producers acknowledge that some of the earthquakes in Oklahoma are caused by human action, but warn against generalizing that all of them have been triggered by their practices.

Chad Warmington, president of the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association, which represents many of the larger drillers in the state, said further study is needed and a way found to strike “a balance of injecting and producing without an increase in seismic activity.”