The North Lake Oologah Phase of the Lake Oologah Oil Spill project is located in an approximately 26 square mile oil fields adjacent to and east, northeast, and northwest of Lake Oologah in Rogers and Nowata counties, Oklahoma. The site encompasses approximately 16,640 acres divided in two distinctive areas with one that is 1 mile wide in an east-west direction and 7 miles long in a north-south direction on the east side of the lake. The other area is approximately 8 miles east-west by 2 to 4 miles north-south on the NE and NW side of the lake. This area includes all or parts of 25 sections in one township and two ranges of the public land survey system. This project is a continuation of three previous phases that concentrated on sections adjacent to the east side of the lake. This project area focuses on areas that are adjacent to creeks that drain directly into Lake Oologah as well as areas on the north side of Lake Oologah that had previously not been addressed.
The Lake Oologah Oil Spill site is part of a large, mature and declining oil field. The field is reported to be up to 100 years old. Historical information indicates that drilling and production activities began shortly before 1900, and continued through the 1990's. Wells within the project area are typically shallow, with a total depth of less than 500 feet below ground surface. Most wells are reported to be completed in, and produce from, the Bartlesville Sand formation at depths ranging from 400 feet to 725 feet. A more detailed site description, is included in Polrep No. 1
This is the Final POLREP for the North Oologah Phase of the EPA Lake Oologah Oil Spill Project. Although the Plugging and Abandoned (P&A) activities for this phase were completed in November 2009, the site remained active or on standby while the final phase of the overall Oologah project was completed. This decision was made in case additional wells started leaking or discharging oil while the team completed the final phase. The final phase, Winganon Spill Project was completed in June 2011.
There are no ongoing activities. As mentioned, P&A activities were completed in Nov 2009 although the site remained on standby in case additional wells started leaking. The last well was to be P&A in May 2009 but the initial plug had to be drill and the well re-cemented because of continue gassing after the first try. Still, after the second try it appeared that some gassing continued and the team decided to leave the well under pressure for an extended time. By then, the landowner planted a seasonal garden near the well site preventing the equipment to be repositioned and the team decided to return in the fall and leave the plug under pressure while working on other Oologah project areas. In November, the valve was removed with no gassing noted and the well was finally P&A.
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As with other phases of the Oologah Project, completion was delayed due to several factors, such as extreme wet or winter weather and other major incidents within EPA Region 6 that required resources to be mobilized to the incidents. One delay was caused by a potential operator trying to re-activate a lease within the project area. The OSC agreed to let the potential operator negotiate with another investor to secure or fix the leaking wells and start producing. After no progress was made due to potential litigation between the potential operator and investor, the OSC decided to resume P&A activities within the lease in question.
Apparently, the potential operator acquired the lease without a proper legal transfer and obtained capital from another party to fix and operate the lease. Then the potential operator transferred the lease to the investor without their knowledge, keeping the invested capital. At the beginning of negotiations between the potential operator and the investor and at the OSC direction to both parties, work was done on some of the leaking wells to secure them but the litigation between the parties halted the progress. The counsel for the investor advised them not to proceed with any work since all the transactions were transferred improperly and the lease was never legally theirs.
No well was ever produced by the potential operator or the investor but at that point and without concern as who was a viable RP, the OSC sent Notice of Federal Assumption to both parties and resumed P&A activities.
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