By Constitution Staff

On September 4, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced the creation of a Coordinating Council on Seismic Activity to link researchers with policy makers and energy industry experts. Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment Michael Teague will lead the group. Fallin's announcement came during the Fourth Annual Governor's Energy Conference, held in Oklahoma City.

"Oklahoma has always had seismic activity," said Fallin. "But the reality is, we are seeing more earthquakes today than we did several decades ago. It's important we study this issue and have sound science that can inform decisions made in both the public and private sector. This new council will link researchers with the energy industry and policymakers to ensure we are maximizing communication and access to information. We can't examine a complex issue like this in a vacuum; everyone needs to be at the same table and talking."

The coordinating council will include input from public sector groups like the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the Corporation Commission, and the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board; research institutions including the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University; industry groups like the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association and the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association; and state legislators.

Oklahoma has a seen a major increase in earthquakes beginning in 2009, increasing each year with the number in the first half of 2014 already exceeding those in 2013. There have been over 500 large enough to be felt in 2014, with over 200 quakes exceeding 3.0 on the rector scale. The number of tremors in Oklahoma this year is above those experienced in California.

Recorded earthquakes in Oklahoma date back to 1882 when a 4.9 quake hit near Bennington in Bryan County on April 9. A large earthquake hit El Reno in Canadian County on April 9, 1952 with a magnature of 5.5 and damaged state buildings in Oklahoma City. The November 6, 2011 quake near Prague in Lincoln County was a 5.6. The Prague earthquake damaged a number of homes and the historic Benedictine Hall at St. Gregory's University in Shawnee. The only known surface expression of an active fault occurs in southwestern Oklahoma. The last slip on this fault is estimated to be about 1300 years ago and may have been equivalent to a magnitude 6.5 or 7.0 earthquake.

While it is thought that earthquakes might be triggered by human activities such as reservoir impoundments, mining, oil production, hydraulic fracturing and fluid injection, there are very few documented cases. Energy companies use injection wells for various purposes, including the disposal of waste liquids generated during oil and gas production. Injecting such waste underground tends to be cheaper than disposing of it above ground in treatment plants. Wastewater injection is also used as a means of enhancing the production of oil and natural gas. Steam, carbon dioxide and water can be injected into an oil or gas well in order to add pressure to the well and improve the recovery of those resources. This is known as enhanced oil or gas recovery.

While Fluid Injection wells have been in use for 60 years, the Wastewater Disposal Wells are the greatest concern because of the longer duration and greater volumes involved in the operations. There are over 5,000 EOR wells, and 4,000 disposal wells in Oklahoma. Most of the wastewater is a byproduct coming out of the ground along with oil and gas. The wastewater injection wells return the water to the ground.

Lawmakers in Oklahoma are joining with Texas and Kansas to study the issue. Regulators from each of the states met in Oklahoma City in March to exchange information on the earthquakes and discuss toughening standards on wastewater disposal.

State Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie), along with Rep. Lewis Moore (R-Arcadia) held a town meeting on June 26th to help people get more information about the increased earthquake activity. An overflow crowd of concerned residents filled the Waterloo Road Baptist Church auditorium in north Edmond. The legislators invited representatives of the OGS, and the OCC to speak on the issue and answer questions. OGS seismologists Austin Holland and Amberlee Darold said that at this time there is no way to know what has caused the unprecedented increase in earthquakes and that it is important to scientifically study the issue.

Many of the attendees of the town hall meeting were hostile toward the oil and gas industry. The first question posed during the meeting's question-and-answer session was why oil and gas activity has not been halted. OCC spokesman Matt Skinner responded that state law does not allow such a unilateral action. He said regulators must have legal justification before shutting down an injection well. When Austin Holland, the OGS seismologist, said stopping the use of injection wells would deprive researchers of important data that might help figure out how to prevent earthquakes, he was met with an angry response with some saying the researchers just want the people to be guinea pigs for their studies. Skinner said many of the commission's employees, himself included, live in the areas that have been impacted by the earthquakes. "The search for answers is very, very real, and it's very, very personal," Skinner said.

Recently, the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) received a $1.8 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy which the state cost share is being provided by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC)and the oil and gas industry. The project will add permanent and temporary seismic stations to the regional network, and aid in better mapping of geological faults. This effort will be aided by new data reporting requirements for wells as a result of legislation which passed the Oklahoma Legislature and was signed by Gov. Mary Fallin earlier this year. There will be daily collection of data on well volume and pressure by well operators which will be used to aide researchers.

To more accurately determine the locations and magnitudes of earthquakes in Oklahoma, the OGS has increased the number of monitoring stations and now operates a seismograph network of 15 permanent stations and 17 temporary stations, many of which are on loan from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). There are also three permanent seismic stations operated by the USGS and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. Data from this network are shared in real-time with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center.

An Oklahoma House Interim Study Committee will delve into the subject on October 28. The examination is a consolidation of studies requested by Rep. Murphey and state Rep. Cory Williams (D-Stillwater). Murphey proposed a study of the injection well data monitoring activities being performed by the OCC. Williams requested a study of the potential subterranean effects of oilfield activity, particularly whether "fracking" and high-volume wastewater disposal wells associated with oil and gas production are contributing to the tremors in central Oklahoma. "We will receive updated testimony from the Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Geological Survey regarding the ongoing implementation of the new rules and the analytics of the new data," said Murphey. He noted that Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy has shown a strong interest in this subject. "She attended the town hall meeting to hear the concerns of attendees, and plans to take part in the legislative hearing," Murphey noted.

The creation of the governor's council comes as various individuals and groups are pushing for a ban on oilfield activities including fracking and wastewater injection wells. One group, Clean Energy Future OK, started "The Ban Injection Wells for One Year in Oklahoma" online petition to Governor Mary Fallin. Supporters of the petition say it could take at least a year of no injection well operations to see if the quake occurrences stop, this they say would prove the connection between injection wells and earthquakes clustered near hydraulic fracturing sites for oil and natural gas.

If there is a connection between the oil and gas activities and the increase in tremors, some say that may actually be a good thing. According to some theories, those activities may precipatate the forces that cause earthquakes to be released at an earlier stage rather than building into a larger and more damaging event. Unless the swarm of tremors suddenly recedes, the subject is sure to remain an important topic for discussion.