EPA to Oklahoma Officials: Do More to Curb Earthquakes

The Environmental Protection Agency told Oklahoma regulators last November to do more to protect the state from a surge in earthquake activity that scientists have linked to the underground disposal of oil and gas wastewater.

An EPA administrator sent a letter in November 2016 to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, saying the magnitude 5.0 earthquake near Cushing, Okla., on Nov. 6, 2016, happened despite state and federal action to curb wastewater injection.

The Oklahoma-based online media site, The Frontier, first reported the contents of the letter on Feb. 2

The Nov. 22, 2016, letter said well-related pressure buildup can affect health and underwater drinking water sources.

The commission’s response to the EPA, dated Nov. 29, said Oklahoma will continue to work with federal officials and made note of a governor’s task force on wastewater. The results of that group’s study are expected in late February.

Data from the OCC show disposal well operators placed about 23 percent less wastewater into the earthquake zone in 2016 compared to the previous year.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is President Donald Trump’s pick to head the EPA. At press time his nomination was pending Senate approval.

Environmentalists have criticized Pruitt for not doing more to reduce seismic activity linked to oil and gas production in Oklahoma.

The EPA sent the letter to Oklahoma while President Barack Obama was in power. The Trump administration could take a different stance on scaling back on oil and gas wastewater disposal.