On April 9, 2009, an uncontrolled, abandoned oil well was noted releasing crude oil about 2500 yards from the flood plain of the east shore of Lake Oologah. The well is located about 3 miles northeast of Winganon, Rogers County, OK, on the SW/4 NE/4 SW/4 of Section 4, T24N, R17E.
The well is located in the north bank of Plumb Creek, which flows directly into Lake Oologah. The well is currently discharging a substantial amount of oil into the creek and the sheen is visible for over 300 yards downstream. Oil carried by the runoff from the rainy season will continue impacting Plumb Creek and Lake Oologah.
The well was originally assessed by EPA in during Phase III of the Lake Oologah Oil Spill Project in June 2006. At the time, the well was part of an active oil lease. Due to the close location of the well to the creek and the lake, EPA OSC Bernier has determined that the released oil had and could continue impacting navigable waters of the U.S. if not addressed promptly. EPA determined to use ERRS personnel and equipment to secure the well by using the available means already on site working on plugging activities related to the Lake Oologah Oil Spill Project.
On April 13, 2009, ERRS personnel used a mini excavator to raise a protecting berm around the pooled oil discharging from the well to prevent anymore oil from entering Plumb Creek. Also, an underflow dam system was installed since more rain was expected for the area. This measure was needed because it was not logistically possible to move the plugging heavy equipment right away into the heavily wooded area where the well is located. Also, there was a possibility that the well was part of an active lease with a potential responsible party (PRP).
The prevention measures used by EPA proved to be successful by preventing more crude oil to discharge into the creek, even with heavy rains in the area. EPA decided to delay any plugging activities while a records search for a PRP was performed. The search showed the possibility of one PRP having the Oil & Gas rights for the well and a Notice of Federal Interest (NOFI) was sent to the PRP. After no response, more research indicated the PRP has changed the mailing address. A copy was immediately resent and also hand delivered on May 23 when the PRP visited the site. At that point the PRP indicated that he was not the owner and/or operator of the well and provided contact information for another PRP he apparently transferred the rights to.
EPA contacted the other PRP, which indicated they were interested on the lease that no transfer or sale of the rights has been completed; corroborating EPA’s initial search result that only one PRP existed. The initial PRP responded to our NOFI and continued to indicate that he was not responsible and that if that was the case, he could not proceed with correcting the leaking well because of litigation and bankruptcy.
Later information obtained from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (State oil & gas agency) and from the property owners indicated that who it was believed to be the potential RP was actually operating illegally, without a bond with the State, or a contract with the mineral owners. The filed O&G assigment was fraudulent and invalid. This practice was not uncommon in the area and the State and county authorities have worked extensibly to stop the practice. At this point it was determined that the well was truly abandoned and no viable RP existed.
On June 17, 2009 plugging activities began, but ERRS quickly noticed that due to unknown work done previously on the well, specialized equipment was needed to drill obstructions inside the well casing. As of June 22, ERRS has drilled 85 feet into the well bore to remove obstructions trying to reach the required depth below the base of treatable water (technical specification).
On July 06, 2009 drilling reached about 100 ft below the base of treatable water for the area and the well was Plugged and Abandoned (P&A) by cementing the entire depth under pressure and when set cutting the top to 3 ft below grade and capping with a steel plate. Also, the small area was restored to original grade and seeded with local grasses.
None, site completed.
None.
Again, information obtained from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the property owners indicated that who it was believed to be a potential RP was actually operating illegally, without a bond with the State, or a contract with the mineral owners. The filed O&G assigment was fraudulent and invalid. This practice was not uncommon in the area and the State and county authorities have worked extensibly to stop the practice. The well was determined to be abandoned with no viable RP.
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