Oklahoma quake prompts shutdown of gas-linked wells

Oklahoma quake prompts shutdown of gas-linked wells

ASSOCIATED PRESS SEPTEMBER 05, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY — State officials said 37 waste-water disposal wells will be shut down in north-central Oklahoma, where a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck over the weekend.

There are about 4,200 total wells across the state and about 700 in a 15,000-square-mile ‘‘area of interest’’ created by the commission to address earthquakes in the area that includes the epicenter of Saturday’s temblor near Pawnee.

The earthquake tied a November 2011 quake as the strongest in recorded state history and was felt as far away as Nebraska.

Not all of the state’s wells operate simultaneously, said Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. He said about 3,200 active disposal wells are in use at one time.

An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of waste water from oil and natural gas production, and since 2013, the commission has asked waste-water well owners to reduce disposal volumes in parts of the state that the temblors have been most frequent.

The ‘‘area of interest’’ includes another 211 adjacent square miles that’s under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Skinner said the commission doesn’t know how many wells may be involved there.

Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency in Pawnee County because of the earthquake. State and local emergency management officials and officials from the US Geological Survey assessed damage Sunday, according to Mark Randell, Pawnee County’s emergency management director.

Associated Press

Kyndra Richards cleans up at White's Foodliner after an early morning earthquake in Pawnee, Oka., on Sept. 3, 2016. (Photo: Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman AP)