Oklahoma Supreme Court to Decide Lawsuit Over Earthquake Near Prague, Okla.

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

Seismologists say oil and natural gas disposal wells, like this one near Sparks, Okla., are likely triggering earthquakes in Oklahoma.

The state’s highest court will consider whether two oil companies can be held liable for injuries a woman suffered during the 2011 earthquake near Prague, Okla.

The 5.7-magnitude earthquake was the state’s largest recorded with modern instruments, and is the largest quake scientists have linked to disposal wells, a type of well oil and gas companies use to pump full of wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling.

The case is “expected to set a precedent for future earthquake claims,” The Tulsa World‘s Ziva Branstetter reports:

An attorney for one of the companies has said the lawsuit, if successful, would cause energy companies to abandon wastewater disposal wells across the state.

“These wells will become economic and legal-liability pariahs,” attorney Robert Gum told a Lincoln County judge during an October hearing in the case. Gum represents New Dominion LLC, a Tulsa-based oil and gas company, in the lawsuit.

Spess Oil Co., based in Cleveland, Oklahoma, is also named as a defendant. Gum and attorneys for Spess Oil Co. have denied the companies are responsible for triggering earthquakes.

The lawsuit was brought by Sandra Ladra of Prague. Dozens of similar lawsuits have been filed across the country, Branstetter reports.

After a Lincoln County judge dismissed Ladra’s case for lack of jurisdiction, the Supreme Court opted Dec. 2 to decide her appeal instead of referring it to the state Civil Appeals Court. Attorneys for both sides view that as a sign the court wants to weigh in on issues raised by the lawsuit.