Logan County Commissioners discussed requesting the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to halt all salt water disposal injection well operations within the county on Thursday morning. Two of the three commissioners were in agreement on the subject.
District 1 Commissioner Marven Goodman requested the agenda item to be placed for conversation to temporary stop all injection well operations until a proper geological survey and seismic study could be conducted at depth. The commissioner’s goal was to help prevent a large earthquake.
According to a report, the OCC says this was the first a county proposed the idea to them.
Video of the entire conversation can be viewed following this article.
“My greatest concern is that we don’t inadvertently induce seismic activity that might rattle our buildings here in Guthrie and surrounding areas,” Goodman said.
District 3 Commissioner Monty Piearcy responded by saying, “by doing that you are shutting down all production in Logan County.”
Goodman responded by saying “no sir” and explained this would not shut down production, but would require wastewater to be transported and injected away from fault lines.
“I just can’t support it,” Piearcy said. “I think by doing that you’re shutting down all production. If we were having a lots of trouble in a zone I wouldn’t have a problem writing a letter asking for them to take a look at it.”
Commissioner Mike Pearson said the earthquakes are indeed a major issue, but he believes the OCC is doing a good job overlooking the wells.
“It seems to me the OCC is doing a fairly good job of overseeing these,” Pearson said. “I think they have a handle on it.”
In Aug. 2015 the OCC reduced oil and gas wastewater disposal well volume in the county after several earthquakes rolled through. At the time, the plan called for operators to have a 60 day period during which volume was reduced 38 percent, or about 3.4 million barrels under the 2014 total.
Goodman made a motion to adopt the resolution to send the request to the OCC, but failed to earn a second and died.
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