State orders injection well shut down after northwestern Oklahoma earthquake (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by Theresa , Wednesday, February 04, 2015, 11:50

Staff at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission directed that an injection well operated by SandRidge Energy be shut down Tuesday due to continuing earthquakes in Alfalfa County near the Kansas border.

The well is the second active wastewater injection well directed to “shut in” or halt operations by the agency since it began a new monitoring system in 2013.

Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the commission, said agency staff issued the directive Tuesday morning due to a magnitude-4.1 earthquake recorded in the area Friday. The well is just west of the Alfalfa County town of Cherokee.

“They were operating under a ‘yellow light’ permit with language that said shut in if there’s any seismic activity,” Skinner said.

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