{"id":22570,"date":"2015-01-22T06:15:27","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T12:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=22570"},"modified":"2015-03-24T21:23:35","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T02:23:35","slug":"as-authorities-use-permit-process-to-scrutinize-wells-in-earthquake-country-oil-industry-remains-silent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/01\/22\/as-authorities-use-permit-process-to-scrutinize-wells-in-earthquake-country-oil-industry-remains-silent\/","title":{"rendered":"As Authorities Use Permit Process to Scrutinize Wells in Earthquake Country, Oil Industry Remains Silent"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_22575\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22575\" alt=\"Oil-field workers tend to American Energy-Woodford's Judge South well in November 2014 well shortly after the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered it temporarily shut-in.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/0141126-perkins-disposal-wells096_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/0141126-perkins-disposal-wells096_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/0141126-perkins-disposal-wells096_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/0141126-perkins-disposal-wells096_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/0141126-perkins-disposal-wells096_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oil-field workers in November 2014 tending to American Energy-Woodford&#39;s Judge South well near Perkins, Okla., shortly after the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered it temporarily shut-in.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>As earthquakes continue to rattle Oklahoma and scientists study links to oil and gas production, many Oklahomans want to know what, if anything, is being done to address the shaking.<\/p><p>An investigation by StateImpact shows that while authorities are quietly scrutinizing wells in quake-prone parts of the state, most of the companies that operate the wells are staying silent.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/187281365%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-Vrwzg&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><br \/>\nMarla\u2019s Salon looks like a little house. It has a fence and a yard and a collie keeping watch at the door. Inside, the owner, Marla Stevens, snips and blow-dries. There\u2019s buzzing in the salon, too, including clatter from hair clippers and chatter about earthquakes.<\/p><p>Marla\u2019s Salon is six miles south of Stillwater in Payne County, which is now earthquake country. The salon and the real house behind it, where Stevens and her husband live, sit atop a geological formation called the Arbuckle, which has recently come alive with earthquakes.<\/p><p>Even though most of the quakes are minor \u2014 in the magnitude-2.0 or -3.0 range \u2014 Stevens says they don\u2019t feel small. A 3.8-magnitude quake that struck here in November 2014 knocked all the bottles of dye off the shelves.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpactok.cartodb.com\/viz\/5b51b338-a20c-11e4-9280-0e4fddd5de28\/embed_map\" height=\"620\" width=\"100%\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>&#8220;They all fell down,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cAnd my angel fell off the wall \u2014 and her head fell off.\u201d<\/p><p>More than 560 magnitude-3.0 or larger earthquakes were recorded in Oklahoma in 2014, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/stories\/1060011066\">more than twice as many as California<\/a> and the most among any state in the Lower 48.<\/p><p>Scores of <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/tag\/earthquakes\/\">peer-reviewed scientific papers<\/a> suggest much of the shaking has been triggered by disposal wells that the energy industry pumps full of waste fluid, a byproduct of oil and gas production.<\/p><p>Stevens\u2019 husband, Roger, says he believes the wells are a contributing factor in at least some of the shaking.<\/p><p>\u201cI want to know if it being caused by the oil companies or not,\u201d he says. \u201cIf it is that, they need to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22600\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22600\" alt=\"Marla Stevens at her salon south of Stillwater, Okla.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/20141012-perkins-field-trip167_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/20141012-perkins-field-trip167_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/20141012-perkins-field-trip167_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/20141012-perkins-field-trip167_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/01\/20141012-perkins-field-trip167_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marla Stevens at her salon south of Stillwater, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4>\u2018Areas of interest\u2019<\/h4><p>The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the state\u2019s oil and gas regulator, enacted stricter monitoring requirements for disposal well operators in 2014.<\/p><p>Other states \u2014 including <a href=\"http:\/\/earthquake.usgs.gov\/research\/induced\/\">Arkansas, Colorado, Texas and Ohio<\/a> \u2014 have reported earthquakes that seismologists say were likely triggered, or \u201cinduced,\u201d by disposal wells. Many of those states were more aggressive than Oklahoma in responding with formal rules.<\/p><p>The Corporation Commission, however, has revised its permitting process to scrutinize disposal wells and their operators.<\/p><p>The commission has defined \u201careas of interest,\u201d wherein concentrated seismic activity warrants extra review of both proposed and existing disposal wells.<\/p><p>If approved, new disposal wells within six miles of the epicenter of a 4.0-magnitude or larger earthquake, or within two miles of faults designated by the Oklahoma Geological Survey to likely be under the most stress, are issued \u201ctraffic light\u201d permits.<\/p><p>The exact language differs from well to well, but these temporary, six-month permit often limit well pressures and injection volumes. They also define a \u201cred light\u201d condition, in which a significant increase in earthquake activity triggers a well shutdown.<\/p><p>For existing wells, a magnitude-4.0 earthquake alone prompts a review of every disposal well operation within six miles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignright\">\n<h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4>\n<div class=\"links\">\n<h5>Posts<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/11\/19\/experts-meet-in-oklahoma-to-update-u-s-maps-with-manmade-earthquake-hazards\/\">Experts Meet in Oklahoma to Update U.S. Maps With Manmade Earthquake Hazards<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"topics\">\n<h5>Topics<\/h5>\n<p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/01\/disposalTN.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/topic\/earthquakes-2\/\">Exploring the Link Between Earthquakes and Oil and Gas Disposal Wells<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><p>\u201cWe\u2019re systematically looking at all these wells, especially the ones in the areas where we\u2019re having seismicity, and we\u2019re seeing if they were completed in strict compliance with their permit,\u201d says Tim Baker, director of Oklahoma Corporation Commission\u2019s oil and gas division.<\/p><p>While scientists still are trying to understand what combination of geologic features and disposal well parameters are most likely to trigger earthquakes, there is wide consensus on several factors that appear most risky. One factor is disposal wells that are drilled into basement rock, the hard layer of granite underneath oil and gas deposits.<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s the highest risk scenario we can get into if we\u2019re looking for the possibility of disposal wells generating pressures on faults,\u201d Baker says.<\/p><p>Injecting waste fluid near critically stressed fault lines is another big risk factor. Baker says the commission is working with the state Geological Survey and other scientists to better map Oklahoma\u2019s faults.<\/p>\n<h4>Directives and orders<\/h4><p>The Corporation Commission\u2019s permit scrutiny has led to regulatory sanctions \u2014 known as directives or orders \u2014 of at least 18 disposal wells in earthquake-prone regions, a StateImpact examination of well records and documents obtained through Open Records Act requests show.<\/p><p>Among those, six were ordered to temporarily shut down or to slow or cease waste fluid injection.<\/p><p>StateImpact contacted the companies that operate the wells \u2014 American Energy Partners-Woodford, Bosque Disposal Systems, B.R. Polk, B&W Operating, Devon Energy, Pedestal Oil, Petro Warrior, RC Taylor Companies, Red Fork Energy and Spess Oil Company \u2014 to find out what, if anything, they were doing to monitor and minimize the risk of earthquakes.<\/p><p>Most of the companies didn\u2019t reply or declined StateImpact\u2019s requests for comment. Denver-based Sundance Energy was the only company that agreed to an interview.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of extra work and spent some money and time to help with the commission in this particular area,\u201d says Jim Nondorf, a geologist with Sundance\u2019s Oklahoma operation.<\/p><p>Even though the earthquake activity started before Sundance\u2019s Conforth disposal well in Logan County had gone online, Nondorf says Sundance supplied the commission with drilling logs and extra data.<\/p><p>\u201cWe showed them everything, and they came back and said we were compliant in doing everything that we were supposed to do. One-hundred percent compliance,\u201d Nondorf says.<\/p><p>Most of the other companies that were issued orders after quake-related inspections are suspected of drilling into basement rock, records show. Those companies can provide logs and data that prove otherwise, or they can pump in cement to reduce the well\u2019s depth, the Corporation Commission\u2019s Baker says. If they don\u2019t, Baker says they won\u2019t be allowed to continue using the disposal well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As earthquakes continue to rattle Oklahoma and scientists study links to oil and gas production, many Oklahomans want to know what, if anything, is being done to address the shaking.An investigation by StateImpact shows that while authorities are quietly scrutinizing wells in quake-prone parts of the state, most of the companies that operate the wells [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":22575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[390,489,500,238],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22570"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22570"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22585,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22570\/revisions\/22585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}