{"id":11630,"date":"2012-11-27T09:40:14","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T15:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=11630"},"modified":"2013-02-21T15:35:49","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T21:35:49","slug":"a-first-look-at-oklahomas-new-mining-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/11\/27\/a-first-look-at-oklahomas-new-mining-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"A First Look At Oklahoma’s New Mining Regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Mill Creek, in south-central Oklahoma, originates from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer.<\/p>\n<\/div>

The land above the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer \u2014 perhaps Oklahoma\u2019s most sensitive water resource \u2014 is dotted with great chasms, some empty, some filled with groundwater that\u2019s seeped in.<\/p>

It\u2019s the result of pit mining by mostly out-of-state companies<\/a> eager to get their hands on the area\u2019s rich deposits of silica sand, often used for hydraulic fracturing, and some of finest limestone in the world.<\/p>

But property owners along Mill Creek, which is fed by the aquifer, are reporting low water levels. The landowners blame the mining companies for pumping out massive amounts of groundwater as they bore through the aquifer.<\/p>

Water use in pit mining has been largely unregulated to this point, but that\u2019s about to change<\/a>.<\/p>

The Oklahoma Water Resources board has been charged by the legislature with creating new rules for the monitoring and management of aquifer water displaced by mining.\u00a0The process is ongoing, but the OWRB has sent proposed rules to interested parties like Citizens for the Protection of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer and mining companies.<\/p>

The rules appear fairly strict. New mines will have to report how much aquifer water is being displaced down to the amount of water still dampening the rock when it\u2019s hauled off.<\/p>\n

Proposed Pit Water Rules – Draft<\/h3>\n
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