OKLAHOMA CITY – Central Oklahoma residents won’t get a trial in September in a case against an oil company that allegedly triggered earthquakes, damaging homes and buildings.
A Cleveland County judge outlined the rules for the class-action case brought by Jennifer Lin Cooper against New Dominion LLC. Judge Lori Walkley issued a journal entry on the limited class certification on July 13, allowing the defendant to begin the appeal process.
Surface and mineral owner attorney Terry Stowers, who is not affiliated with the case, said it’s a big deal any time a class is certified at trial court level. It shows the plaintiffs’ attorney Scott Poynter can establish liability against New Dominion and carry the burden of proof, Stowers said.
“A bunch of certified classes often settle because of the risk of liability and the risk of exposure,” he said.
Cooper’s house rattled and shook in early November 2011, as a swarm of strong earthquakes swept through nine counties over three days. The strongest was a magnitude 5.7 temblor with its epicenter in Prague, affecting 174 homes and destroying four.
That temblor series was the first sign of what would become a regular occurrence in a state not previously familiar with earthquakes.
Read more about Oklahoma earthquakes.
Cooper alleged New Dominion, Spess Oil and 25 John Does injected oil-field wastewater into underground disposal wells, causing the Prague temblor swarm. New Dominion’s wastewater disposal activities are ultra-hazardous and come with strict liability, court documents alleged. Disposing of wastewater and triggering quakes is a private nuisance that interferes with residents’ ability to enjoy their homes, businesses and land, according to her petition.
“Whether or not plaintiff ‘has the science’ to prove her case is a question of fact for the jury,” Walkley wrote in a summary order on May 18.
But if the jury agrees with New Dominion in the case’s first phase, then the trial is over, Stowers said. If they side with the plaintiffs, then individual plaintiffs can proceed with damage cases in a series of mini-trials. That’s fairly common procedure, he said.
Poynter negotiated a settlement with Spess Oil and several John Does before the class was certified. A representative from Spess Oil was not available for comment. New Dominion attorney Fred Buxton said he will appeal the certification, but otherwise declined to comment.
Oklahoma oil and gas operators rely on wastewater disposal wells as part of hydrocarbon production. Extremely salty water resides underground with oil and gas and is brought to the surface when those commodities are produced. Injecting that briny, toxic substance into deep disposal wells helps reduce the risk that the fluid will contaminate surface water or underground aquifers.
Scientists established in the early 1970s that injecting fluid into underground faults could lubricate those structures and trigger an earthquake. A series of strong temblors outside Denver in the late 1960s were the result of a Department of Defense project that injected waste chemicals into the Rocky Mountain Arsenal well.
Former Oklahoma Geological Survey scientist Austin Holland said in a 2017 deposition in the Cooper case that the cause of the Prague swarm was the result of wastewater disposal in the region. New Dominion operated high-volume disposal wells in the area. Oklahoma Corporation Commission staff members have directed changes since then, and the majority of the company’s wells in the area have been shut down or the approved injection volumes were lowered.
A trial in her case was initially scheduled for September. Poynter told Walkley in a hearing earlier this year that he would agree to remove the trial from the court’s calendar if it was certified. In his last case, the appeal took nine months.
He said he expected to finish the settlement agreement documents with Spess Oil and the other defendants soon.
Stowers is the executive director of the Coalition of Oklahoma Surface and Mineral Owners and has settled class-action lawsuits on royalty payment issues. His last class certification appeal lasted nearly two years. He said the plaintiffs are likely to keep the case certified, despite New Dominion’s expected appeal.