Former Oklahoma House of Representatives member Richard Morrissette is no stranger at the courthouse. The south Oklahoma City attorney is vocal and often speaks his mind.
Morrissette has been a courtroom observer at the Cleveland County trial involving a Lincoln County couple who filed sued in 2014 against two oil companies alleging damages and injuries associated with the 5.7 magnitude earthquake in Prague in 2011.
Oil companies facing litigation over earthquakes blamed on wastewater disposal wells will “use every legal tactic at their disposal to delay, delay, delay,” railed Morrissette.
“Collectively, these oil companies have deep pockets, so they can afford the legal fees,” said Morrissette.
Morrissette – a former Democratic candidate vying for the post of Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner before bowing out of the race last year – also had harsh criticism for the state regulatory body.
“No matter how much evidence is gathered, indicating that the Arbuckle is saturated, the Corporation Commission continues to allow oil and gas companies to inject their wastewater into that formation until yet another earthquake – or a cluster of earthquakes – shakes the entire surrounding area,” said Morrissette in a press release issued Tuesday. “The Arbuckle formation should be declared off-limits immediately and forthwith,” Morrissette suggested.
According to Corporation Commission records, nearly 1,000 disposal wells inject into the Arbuckle formation.
Taking direct aim, Morrissette calls the Commission “an ancient regulatory board that will do almost nothing to protect Oklahomans from Devon, Continental, Chesapeake” and other energy production companies, “because Larry Nichols and Harold Hamm control this state.” He believes the Commission is acting complicit with the rash of earthquakes that have shook Oklahomans during the past eight years.
Most recently, a pair of 3.1-magnitude tremors struck Tuesday night along the Oklahoma-Kansas state line. Earlier this month, a 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck Edmond during the night of August 2, leaving more than 1,900 residents without electric power.