Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners will meet Thursday for a regular meeting to consider cases and one will focus on protection of water wells for the city of Enid.
The city wants the wells protected from the incursion of more oilfield disposal wells.
The request was made in April of 2024 by the city of Enid because of “more potential activity within and surrounding Enid’s public water supply wells for disposal wells.” Enid sought and won approval in 1985 of water rule changes to protect its zones of freshwater for its water supplies. The changes included “restrictions on the location of oil and gas surface operations, construction, operation, and closure requirements, and notice obligations.”
Now it’s doing the same thing, explaining, “As disposal wells are becoming more prevalent, Enid likewise needs a modification
of the general rule and the imposition of special field rules to protect the zones of freshwater within and in the potential water supplies, and its public water supply wells.”
Current law prohibits commercial disposal wells from being approved with one mile of any of the city’s public water supply wells and no other wells can be approved with one-half mile of the water supply wells unless there is a hearing and the operator can prove the well won’t pollute Enid’s water supply well.
The request made by Enid is for an amendment to the rule, “making it a prohibition against any disposal wells within ½ mile of
Enid’s public water supply well (rather than a burden shift with a hearing), with said location to be based on the surface location of the injection site into the earth.”
The city also requests approval of “special field rules to be imposed on all disposal wells within 1 mile of Enid’s public water
supply wells, both currently in existence and for future wells…”
AGENDA
1:30 p.m. start time
I. A. Call to order
B. Announcement concerning public notice
C. Determination of quorum
II. Consideration of and possible vote(s) on proposed or potential orders in cases on the daily signing agenda docket. The Commission may discuss and consider alterations, revisions,
or amendments to the proposed or potential orders. (Votes may be taken on individual cases, on the daily signing agenda docket as a whole, or both by individual cases and the remaining docket. The vote on daily signing agenda cases may be combined with the vote
on 24-hour signing agenda cases.)
III. Consideration of and possible vote(s) on proposed or potential orders in cases on attached 24-hour signing agenda docket. The Commission may discuss and consider alterations, revisions, or amendments to the proposed or potential orders. (Votes may be taken on individual cases on the 24-hour signing agenda docket as a whole, or both by individual cases and the remaining docket.)
IV. Consideration of and possible vote(s) on a proposed Interim Order Granting Motion for Discovery, and/or any alterations, revisions, or amendments thereto proposed at the meeting, in Case No. PD2024-000071, Application of the City of Enid and Enid Municipal Authority, Requesting Modification of General Rule and Imposition of Field Rules for Disposal Wells Within 1 Mile of Enid’s Public Water Supply Wells Covering the Below
Lands:
Sections 5 and 6, Township 20 North, Range 8 West, Sections 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33, Township 21 North, Range 8 West, Sections 1, 2, 11, and 12, Township 22 North, Range 7 West, Sections 5, 6, and 7, Township 22 North, Range 6 West, Sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32, Township 23 North, Range 6 West, Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, Township 23 North, Range 7 West, Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 24, Townships 23 North, Range 8 West, all in Garfield County, Oklahoma; Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, and 18, Township 20 North, Range 9 West, Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, Township 20 North, Range 10 West, Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, Township 21 North, Range 9 West, Sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 27, 34, 35, and 36, Township 21 North, Range 10 West,
Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, and 24, Township 21 North, Range 11 West, Sections 32, 33, 34, and 35, Township 22 North, Range 9 West, Sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, Township 22 North, Range 11 West, Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16, Township 22 North, Range 12 West, Sections 9, 10, 11, and 12, Township 22 North, Range 13 West, Sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, Township 23 North, Range 12 West, all in Major County, Oklahoma; Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12, Township 22 North, Range 13 West, Sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, and 36, Township 23 North, Range 13 West, all in Woods County, Oklahoma.
V. GD2025-000003, In re: Inquiry of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to Examine Motor Carrier Enforcement Practices and Efficiencies Under the Commission’s Jurisdiction, for a technical conference led by the Transportation Division.
