More than 30 days into a voluntary shut-in period for four saltwater disposal wells, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission is no closer to identifying the source of a produced water purge that is bubbling up in a field northwest of Omega.

OCC Spokesperson Matt Skinner told the Times & Free Press that saltwater continues to percolate to the surface at the rate of 68 barrels per day, despite the month-long shut-in of the four closest disposal wells and the operators of the wells have agreed to extend the period an additional 15 days from last Tuesday.

“I cannot speculate on possibilities,” Skinner responded, when asked for possible reasons why the flow hasn’t stopped or what will happen if it continues after the 15-day extension.

“What is certain is there has been no decrease in the purge as of this writing and the area remains the focus of active study,” he said.

The Corporation Commission has stopped permitting new disposal wells within an 11,000-square-mile area, Skinner said. (See related map on Page 1.)

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.

Skinner said all commercial disposal wells must undergo routine mechanical integrity tests to make sure their casings are intact and not subject to leaks and the four wells in the vicinity of the purge have all passed those tests.

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

The OCC has dug a trench to route the water from the field where it is surfacing to the borrow ditch, where it is hauled away via truck.

Skinner said the location of the saltwater appears to be well below the water table and data so far shows no contamination of drinking water, although samples will continue to be taken regularly until the situation is alleviated.

The purge is located about 50 yards south of the intersection of NS Road 2690 and EW 800.

Devon Energy voluntarily plugged in three vertical oil wells in closest proximity to the purge, but that had no impact on the volume of water coming to the surface, Skinner said.

State law requires that the purge be cleaned up and the soil restored to its original condition, a process paid for by the responsible party or by the state, if a responsible party is not identified.

But that won’t happen until the flow is finally stopped.