After a swarm of earthquakes around the Logan County town of Crescent, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has issued another directive against wastewater disposal wells.
Several of the quakes measured magnitude 4.0 or greater. The Commission on Wednesday issued the directive ordering some of the well operators to cease operations or make further reductions in the amount of wastewater being disposed.
Three wells were ordered shut down while a fourth will not be allowed to resume operations. The wells are within zero to three miles from the general location of the earthquakes.
The directive also ordered a 20 percent reduction in volumes of Arbuckle disposal wells operating within three to 10 miles of the location and have average daily volumes more than 500 barrels a day.
The OCC indicated the action will result in an overall additional reduction of Arbuckle disposal of 2,848 barrels a day.
This directive applies to 25 disposal wells in total. Twenty of these wells were operated within the last 30 days.
Researchers are in broad agreement that disposal into the Arbuckle formation in Oklahoma poses the largest potential risk for induced seismicity.