Oklahoma Earthquake Class Action Settled for $2.6M
A $2.6 million class action settlement has been reached in a lawsuit concerning earthquakes in Oklahoma. The suit alleged that certain companies operated wastewater disposal wells that contributed to seismic activity causing property damage between 2019 and the present.
This recent settlement involves four companies: Freedom Energy, Montclair, New Dominion, and H&P. The companies were accused of operating wastewater disposal wells that contributed to seismic activity, including a 5.1 magnitude earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma, on February 2, 2024. This is not the first time energy companies have settled with Oklahomans over induced earthquakes. In 2023, a $7.5 million settlement was reached with several oil companies concerning a 5.8 magnitude earthquake near Pawnee and a 5.0 magnitude quake near Cushing, both in 2016. The Pawnee earthquake was the strongest in the state's history. Another settlement in 2022 saw Eagle Road Oil LLC agree to pay $850,000 for damages from earthquakes that occurred between 2014 and 2016. That lawsuit was also tied to the major earthquakes in Pawnee and Cushing. Legal battles over seismic activity in the state date back even further. In 2018, Spess Oil Co., Equal Energy US Inc., and Fairfield Oil and Gas Corp. settled for $925,000 in a lawsuit connected to a magnitude 5.7 earthquake near Prague in 2011 that damaged over 170 homes. The link between wastewater disposal and earthquakes has been a contentious issue in Oklahoma for over a decade. The disposal process involves injecting wastewater from oil and gas extraction deep underground, which can increase pressure on fault lines. Following the historic 2016 Pawnee earthquake, state and federal regulators took action. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency ordered the shutdown of 32 disposal wells and placed restrictions on 35 others in the vicinity of the quake. Property owners in the latest settlement are divided into zones based on their proximity to the seismic events, a common practice in these cases. For instance, a previous settlement allocated 90% of funds to Zone A, which included counties like Lincoln, Payne, and Pottawatomie, deemed to have the strongest link to the induced seismicity. Those affected by the seismic events between January 2019 and the effective date must file a claim by July 28, 2026, to be eligible for a payment from the $2.6 million fund.
