The shut-in period for four saltwater disposal wells in the vicinity of an ongoing purge southwest of Omega has been extended indefinitely and four additional disposal wells were shut in as of Saturday, by directive of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

High salinity saltwater is still bubbling to the surface at an average rate of about 125 barrels per day in a wheatfield belonging to brothers Donald and Ronald Schweitzer, even though the four disposal wells in closest proximity to the site have been shut in for more than six weeks so far.

The complete list of now shut-in wells, seven commercial and one noncommercial, are operated by five companies and include the following:

•Lagoon Water Logistics LLC – Deak Rohling 1-26 SWD.

•H2OK LLC – Omega SWD 1.

•Devon Energy Production Co. LP – Safari 1-15N-9W 1 SWD (noncommercial).

•Overflow Energy Stack LLC – Alpha SWD 1.

•S&S Star Operating LLC – Cowboy SWD 1 and 2 and Salt Lick SWD 1 and 2 (four wells).

(See related map for well locations).

Another action taken by the OCC on Friday will limit injection pressure on another nine commercial and three noncommercial disposal wells continuing to operate in the Watonga area to no more than 1,000 pounds per square inch (PSI), OCC spokesperson Matt Skinner said.

Those wells include:

•Lagoon Water Logistics LLC – Jackal 1-16 SWD; Barton 1-25 SWD, Barton 2 and Diamond SWD 1-8 (four wells).

•Overflow Energy Stack LLC – Watonga East SWD 1.

•Fullspike Energy LLC – Faris-Schneider 1 (noncommercial).

•Rimrock Resource Operating LLC – B.C. Smith 1D (noncommercial).

•Continental Resources Inc. – Wolfe SWD 1-30 (noncommercial).

•Complete Energy Services Inc. – Watonga SWD 1-29.

•D&J Oil Co. Inc. – Fox 1-8.

•Bostick Services Corp. – Violet 1-31.

•S&S Star Operating LLC – Watonga South SWD 1.

Meanwhile, a working group consisting of a consulting geophysicist, an engineer, OCC staffers and members of industry is studying the problem, Skinner said.

“Our overall goal is still to stop the purge and we’re trying to do that by reducing the pressure within the fi eld,” he said.

A trench has been dug on the Schweitzer property to divert the flow to the borrow ditch, where it is being siphoned off regularly and trucked away, but that measure is stopgap at best.

Donald Schweitzer told the Times & Free Press that heavy rains frequently push the water out of the ditch and across the road into adjacent fi elds.

The investigation is focusing on the Permian formation and the OCC has stopped permitting new disposal into the Permian within an 11,000-square-mile area, Skinner said.

A statewide policy also has been adopted restricting any new disposal wells injecting into the Pennsylvanian geologic subsystem to 10,000 barrels per day.

“New commercial disposal wells wishing to inject an amount between 5,000 barrels per day and the 10,000-barrel limit will have to go to hearing in the OCC court system,” Skinner said.

The saltwater purge just west of the Blaine County line, so named because the water is coming up from underground as opposed to an above ground spill, was reported by the Schweitzers after they noticed trees dying along the opposite roadside early last summer and then discovered a soft spot in their field during wheat harvest.

Saltwater has been bubbling to the surface unabated since that time.