News from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Jim Palmer, Director of Information

January 19, 2000

Joint Effort with OERB and EPA May Cap More Than 1,000 Abandoned Wells

OKLAHOMA CITY – After nearly four years of planning and preparation, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Division will start plugging some 250 abandoned and leaking oil and gas wells in a pilot project near Lake Oologah’s eastern shore.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established an on-site command post to oversee what has been designated as a pilot for a larger cleanup program that may eventually plug more than a thousand wells near the lake, Mike Battles, Corporation Commission Oil and Gas Division director, said.

The EPA’s Region 6 Administrator Gregg A. Cooke called it a "win-win situation." Cooke said "The agencies involved have formed a good partnership which will help the environment and the state of Oklahoma." In addition, Cooke said the Coast Guard’s three member Gulf Coast Strike Team from Mobile will assist with emergency responses, site safety and cost documentation.

Cooke adds that continuing inspection of a six section area believed to contain the largest concentration of old well sites has resulted in the discovery of more than 800 sites. The entire scope of the project covers land in 42 sections (42 square miles) east of the lake.

The EPA hired the Corporation Commission as the pilot project general contractor. Battles said "initially 81 wells will be plugged under supervision of the commission’s Oil and Gas Division and contractors to plug them have been determined." "Most of these wells are very shallow, about 500 feet deep, and we should be able to plug up to four wells a day," Battles said.

The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB) will handle site restoration, including removal of soil contaminated by crude oil leaks and old equipment left by operators at the well sites. "This is an unprecedented opportunity for our state and industry," said OERB Executive Director, Mike Terry. "This is a first for these three agencies and the largest project of its kind ever attempted. The OERB has

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restored more than 1,500 oilfield sites in 54 counties since 1995, but this may be our most important project ever."

The pilot project is divided into three phases. Simpco, Inc. of Nowata, Oklahoma submitted the winning bid for the first phase plugging. Costs have been estimated at about $2 per foot.

Most costs will be paid from the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard, because surface water runoff from the area of the leaking wells is considered a threat to Lake Oologah, a part of the U. S. navigable waters system.

Mike Schmidt, Oil and Gas division deputy director, said "Federal funds will pay only for plugging abandoned wells considered an environmental threat to Lake Oologah. But federal funds will also reimburse the Corporation Commission and the OERB for their services, and this may provide funds for plugging and restoration of some additional wells after the pilot project," Schmidt said.

Many of the wells in the project were drilled in the early 1900’s and produced from the Bartlesville Sand formation. Many are fewer than 165 feet apart on the surface. They were abandoned either unplugged or plugged with early-century technology, which consisted of dropping a log down the bore hole and filling the rest of the hole with mud.

Extensive preparation for the program was required because there are few records available concerning the location or condition of the nearly 100-year-old wells. The Corporation Commission has been assisting and supporting the EPA by conducting land and title searches in addition to well plugging and abandonment operations. The EPA hired and will fund the Commission staff for this assistance via the Pollution Removal Funding Authorization.

The Commission will pay for and conduct its own removal, plugging and abandonment at many wells that the EPA cannot address because of other public acts criteria.

The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board is also partnered with the EPA for funding from the Pollution Removal Funding Authorization for soil and equipment removal from abandoned well sites.

-OCC, EPA, OERB-