An Oklahoma City attorney filed a lawsuit last Tuesday on behalf of Kingfisher and Blaine county property owners impacted by the saltwater purge still bubbling up nearly two years after it was first discovered southwest of Omega.

Included as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Ronald Schweitzer, Donald Schweitzer, the Kerr Living Trust, Kay Province (individually and as trustee of the Arthur L. Fry Revocable Trust, and Debra Fry, (individually and as personal representative of the estate of her late husband Ronnie Fry.)

Filed in Kingfisher County District Court by Oklahoma City attorney Justin T Hiersche, the lawsuit is filed against seven oilfield service companies which are identified as owners and/or operators of saltwater disposal wells in the vicinity of the plaintiffs’ properties.

Defendants named include Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Production Co. LP and six other entities described in the lawsuit as “midstream water logistics” companies, all headquartered in Oklahoma city: Bison Oilfield Services LLC, a midstream water logistics company headquartered in Oklahoma City; S&S Star Operating LLC; Lagoon Water Logistics LLC; Pride Energy Co. Inc. and Overflow Energy LLC.

Most of the property described in the lawsuit as being impacted by the purge is located in Kingfisher County, with the exception of property owned by the Schweitzer brothers which is located just over the county line.

The purge was discovered bubbling to the surface in the middle of a Schweitzer field since summer 2019, when the brothers noticed trees dying along the roadside and then discovered a soft spot in the field during harvest.

The spring is located about 50 yards south of the intersection of NS Road 2690 and EW 800, just west of the Blaine County line.

Steps taken by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to shut in some saltwater disposal wells and reduce injection volumes at others within a certain vicinity of the purge have appeared to reduce the flow, but it hasn’t stopped entirely.

The corporation commission also installed a containment system in an effort to mitigate damage from the briny water, including piping the flow into a lined borrow ditch and then into a storage tank, from which it is periodically trucked away.

Gov. Kevin Stitt sent correspondence to the corporation commission in November 2019, which is quoted in the lawsuit, describing the purge as “a serious threat to public health and safety” and “a serious risk to the environment if immediate action is not taken.”

The lawsuit alleges that the groundwater beneath the plaintiffs’ property “is and/or will be contaminated as a result of defendants’ acts and/or omissions and the plume of groundwater contamination continues to be an instrument of further pollution, as it moves beneath Plaintiffs’ Property.”

The lawsuit also alleges soil contamination on the named properties.

In addition to monetary and punitive damages, the lawsuit seeks an injunction against the named companies requiring them to remediate the soil on and under the plaintiffs’ properties.

Watch for updates to this story online and in Wednesday’s print and digital editions.