A request to the City of Newcastle for a Use Permitted on Review on a permit for a commercial disposal well for Charter Oak Production Company may have been premature. The commercial disposal well is before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission currently and several individuals including the Chickasaw Nation have filed protests.
Chickasaw Nation Secretary of Health Dr. Charles Grim said, “We have raised an objection to the proposed development of a commercial saltwater disposal operation approximately 1,300 feet from the site of our planned hospital. Operation of such a disposal facility includes a significant risk of catastrophic consequences for our hospital, including potential earthquakes, water impacts and environmental damage.
“Rezoning to allow operation of a commercial saltwater disposal operation in such close proximity to the planned site would raise serious concerns and require a reevaluation of our plans. The City of Newcastle and the Chickasaw Nation have enjoyed a long history of collaboration resulting in development and growth benefitting all area residents, and we expect that spirit of cooperation to continue as we work to resolve this issue.”
The City Council had on its May regular meeting agenda to discuss and either approve or disapprove the request, but the item was continued to the June meeting. Newcastle Mayor Karl Nail said the City Council continued the agenda item because there currently is not an approved Oklahoma Corporation Commission permit for the well.
“We’re not in a position to move forward with it unless they receive a permit approval from OCC,” Nail said. “It has been continued until our June meeting, but it depends on the outcome of a hearing at the OCC.”
Newcastle’s Planning Commission had already heard the request for conversion of the existing well known as the Juanita SWD #1 to a Commercial Disposal Well, but the agenda item failed on a 2-2 vote with one commission member being absent. Because of no majority, the commission sent the request to the City Council with no recommendation.
The well request was scheduled for an April 3 trial at the OCC, but a call to the OCC could not determine whether the start of the trial was delayed or whether it was continuing.
Letters of protest were sent to the OCC by the following local residents: Troy Hale of Newcastle; Aaron and Brandi Young of Newcastle; Brent Logsdon of Newcastle; Jeff Goad of Norman; Teresa Smith of Newcastle; Patricia Schuringa of Newcastle; Krystal Bonsall of Newcastle; Bob and Naomi Culp of Newcastle; and Laura Schuringa of Newcastle.
The reasons listed in the letters of protest include the
PROTEST on page 3 following: the potential for groundwater contamination, loss of water wells, seismic activity and inability to get earthquake coverage through their current insurance carrier, inability to file protests by the deadline, improper notification due to the Chickasaw Nation not being notified of the proposed well and that the proposed site is 1,000 feet from the planned Chickasaw Nation Health Center, a concern of potential pollution for several fresh water sources near the well site, and publication of the legal notice in the Purcell Register instead of Newcastle’s legal newspaper, the Newcastle Pacer.
A letter to the OCC on May 5 from the law firm of Charney Brown LLC on behalf of the Chickasaw Nation stated, “This letter shall serve as notice of the protest by the Chickasaw Nation of the ‘Application for Administrative Approval’ of a Commercial Disposal Well for the Juanita SWD #1 in the lands above.”
If the Commercial Disposal Well were approved during the trial at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Newcastle City Council would again take the matter back up for a vote.
