I–MAC Petroleum Services Inc. of Muskogee applied for the permit July 22 and the notice of the permit application was published in Your TIMES July 26 and 30.
Those who want to object to the well have 30 days from the date of publication to write to the corporation commission. State Rep. Glen “Bud” Smithson (D-Sallisaw) said at least three Vian area residents have written to object to the well, and that will result in a public hearing, most likely in Sequoyah County.
Smithson said, “If residents want their voices heard they need to file a protest.”
Objections should be mailed to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Pollution Abatement Department, Jim Thorpe Building, P.O. Box 52000, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73152-2000.
According to the application I-MAC Petroleum Services intends to dispose of saltwater from oil and gas well drillings in the disposal well. The disposal will be into the Arbuckle Formation, which lies under western Sequoyah County.
Matt Skinner, the corporation commission’s public information officer, said the liquid the disposal application if for is the “exactly the same as saltwater from the ocean.”
Skinner said the commission enforces strict controls on those disposing of the liquids, and he added, “That saltwater is caustic and will kill anything it comes in contact with.”
Skinner said it is not believed that the saltwater will migrate through the Arbuckle formation, or will contaminate any dinking water wells. And the commission has guidelines to follow if contamination is suspected.
“We inspect and check regularly to see if there are any problems,” Skinner said. “We will shut it down at the slightest indication of any trouble.”
