Oklahoma Earthquake Settlement Reached
A $2.6 million class-action settlement has been reached over earthquakes in Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleged that wastewater disposal wells operated by certain defendants contributed to causing seismic activity, and the settlement will compensate those who suffered property damage since 2019.
The recent settlement is part of a larger story of seismic shifts in Oklahoma. The state's earthquake rate surged from one or two magnitude 3+ events per year before 2009 to over 900 in 2015, a figure that at the time surpassed California's. This dramatic increase has been strongly linked by scientists to the underground injection of wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas production. The wastewater, often called "produced water," naturally coexists with oil and gas in reservoirs and is separated during extraction. Companies then inject this salty water deep underground into disposal wells. This practice can increase pressure on dormant fault lines, essentially lubricating them and causing them to slip, which results in earthquakes. Scientific studies have pinpointed the Arbuckle formation, a deep sedimentary layer, as a key area of concern. Injecting massive volumes of wastewater into or below this formation has been shown to have a high potential for triggering seismic events, sometimes miles away from the injection site and years after the pumping began. In response to the quake surge, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) implemented a "traffic light" system to manage disposal wells. State regulators have issued numerous directives, forcing hundreds of wells to shut down, reduce injection volumes, or alter their depth to avoid the most sensitive geological zones. These actions have been credited with a significant decrease in the number of earthquakes since their peak. This isn't the first time energy companies have settled earthquake-related lawsuits in the state. Previous class-action suits have targeted various oil and gas operators for their role in causing seismic events that led to property damage. For instance, a settlement was reached over the record-setting 5.8 magnitude Pawnee earthquake in 2016. The defendants in the latest $2.6 million settlement—Freedom Energy, Montclair, New Dominion, and H&P—were alleged to have contributed to a 5.1 magnitude earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma, in early 2024. While the companies do not admit wrongdoing, the settlement will compensate property owners for damages incurred since 2019.
