About 22 landowners, citizens and business owners met just outside of Keota in Haskell County Wednesday to discuss the application, construction and operation of a commercial soil farm, also known as a land farm, by an Arkansas company.

Soil/land farms are facilities that process water-based drilling fluids from natural gas or oil drilling operations and dispose of it by applying it to farm or ranch land. These farms are only allowed to accept fresh-water-based fluids, which must be stored in lined holding ponds or lagoons.

O&G Disposal Solutions LLC of Searcy, Ark., applied for the farming facility through the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) on Nov. 12 after they revealed through their studies that 82.8 acres out of the 175 acres at the site were suitable for soil farming. The company purchased the property for the purpose of disposing of drilling wastes that will be generated in north central Arkansas.

OCC hydrologist Mike Moore spoke to those present along with attorneys and representatives from O&G, and addressed any issues or concerns anyone had about the facility before conducting an inspection of the proposed area.

“A decision has not been made yet as to whether or not this facility will go in,” Moore said. “We are just here to give information and give everyone an idea of what’s going in here.”

Moore was bombarded with questions from area chicken farmers and ranchers who had concerns about pollution, why the site had been selected, the company’s compliances, regulations and monitoring issues, and many other matters concerning commercial soil farming.

Moore said no one could conduct commercial soil farming without an order of the OCC and an approved permit.

Site restrictions listed by the OCC for operating the facility include a maximum slope of 5 percent; depth to bedrock no less than 20 inches; soil profile containing at least 12 inches of one of the following U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil textures: loam, which is a fertile soil consisting of a mixture of clay, sand and silt and sometimes an organic matter, silt loam, silt, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay or clay; no flooding potential; slight salinity; an exchangeable sodium percentage less than 15; a water table deeper than 25 feet from the soil surface, excluding perched water tables, a minimum distance of 100 feet from any stream designated by Oklahoma Water Quality Standards or any fresh water pond, lake, or wetland, and the site shall not be located within three miles upstream within the watershed for any lake used for public water supply.

Most felt that O&G purposely failed to notify other property owners about the proposed site before applying for the permit.

Property Owner Speaks Out

Sallisaw resident Doy D. Wilkins, whose property adjoins the proposed site, is protesting the facility. He presented a petition to the OCC containing over 200 signatures that were gathered over the past week on behalf of others living in the area before expressing his own concerns.

Wilkins, who said he also attended the public meeting and outlined concerns about a proposed injection well site in Vian, said he believed O&G is associated with and is probably owned by the same group of investors who operate in Arkansas under other names, who are now wanting to bring their water-based drilling fluids to Oklahoma for disposal.

“My property adjoins the described site with a common boundary of three-quarters of a mile direction north and south. A large portion of this acreage belonging to O&G is the watershed for a major source of water for my calf/cow operation. The water from this O&G disposal property flows from an elevation 550 feet above sea level to 490 feet above sea level into a reservoir that I own and use for watering cattle,” Wilkins said. “There is inadequate sub surface water to furnish enough for my operation.”

Wilkins said that after this water passes through his property, it flows into Kerr Lake.

“I’m concerned that dangerous wastes will contaminate this water supply and my land,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins, like many others, is concerned about the odor that would come from the facility once it’s in operation and the devaluation of their properties, home sites and cabin retreats because of it.

“The water source for my cattle operations will be depleted if contaminated,” Wilkins said, “and the result will be to dispose of the water and restore it to natural elevation and surface levels at the cost of the landowner.

“Oklahoma has become a dumping site for Arkansas, and the construction of this farm to accommodate an abundance of water-based drilling fluid from Arkansas is not an emergency. Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has injection wells in place to receive these fluids, and it is my desire and for safety reasons that the OCC deny this application and all future commercial soil farm sites in Oklahoma,” Wilkins said.



Landowners Say Farm Presents Hazards

Environmental opposition continues to grow where drilling has been occurring, such as in the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. After hydraulic fracturing is completed, the water and fluids used in the process must be stored in a land farm. Arkansas news releases report that the state has 13 drill-water storage and disposal operations in the Fayetteville Shale area, and the state recently found that all 13 were in violation of required permits. Some were hit with hefty fines while other permits were only suspended.

Contaminated water flowing from leaks in unlined, non-permitted waste treatment reservoirs can kill fish and livestock and produce high levels of chloride.

“If a waste is exempt, it does not mean that these wastes could not present a hazard to human health and the environment, as well as damaging property or others if improperly managed,” Wilkins stated in a protest letter to the OCC. “Sensible waste management begins with good housekeeping. The operator of a commercial soil farm should make every effort to choose the proper management and disposal procedures for a particular waste to avoid the need for later clean up action.”

One farmer said, “As a landowner, I feel chicken farmers are more regulated by the OCC than these sites. We don’t want this (soil farm) here.”

OCC Outlines Regulations

Moore told the crowd that Oklahoma is not allowed to keep waste out that is coming from Arkansas.

“The components found in these fluids are not considered hazardous waste and can be found in everyday items such as kitty litter and makeup,” Moore said. “They are also not allowed to bring in chicken or hog wastes. These sites are monitored and tested by the OCC and trucks hauling wastes are inspected. We do test every load for salt, and the company is responsible for taking out a bond of $10,000 for every 40-acre tract.”

Moore said that 120 tests were conducted on the soil in the proposed site by digging holes with a track hoe and they far exceeded the OCC’s requirements. He also said that trucks were not allowed to dump their loads when it was raining but could unload the waste and leave it at the site.

“When they exceed 60 percent, they’re at their load limit,” Moore said.

State regulations provided by the OCC confirm that soil samples be analyzed by a laboratory operated by the State of Oklahoma or certified by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and that sampling shall begin prior to the first soil farming application. Samples then must be done once every six months, in January and in July, after operations commence until one year after the last application is made, then once every year for three years according to items listed in their regulations.

Matt Skinner, public information manager for the OCC said, “The commission doesn’t make law. The legislature does. Oklahoma law allows these sites, within, of course, required specifications and limitations. The commission must uphold the law.”

When Skinner was asked why Oklahoma doesn’t have laws to protect the state from these disposal sites/farms, Skinner said, “It does. That’s why there are strict rules regarding such sites. But if people think there should be a change in this or any other law, they need to let their state legislators know and work to change it. Again, only the legislature makes law.”