Tribal nation lands present unique challenges. Oil and salt water have been detected in the Bird Creek and Black Bear Creek areas of Oklahoma, indicating contamination.

DEG members are invited to help solve the mystery of freshwater contamination in northern Oklahoma, share experiences at AAPG’s 2018 Annual Convention and Exhibition in Salt Lake City, and to help propose funded studies.

This special themed session at ACE 2018, 20-23 May 2018, will focus on the following areas of Northern Oklahoma:

Bird Creek, Osage County, Okla.

Oil and salt water contamination has been detected in Bird Creek, in Osage County (and in the Osage Nation). The Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Oklahoma have ordered operators to shut in their wells. Questions remain...

• What exactly is causing the contamination? Where are the wells? How old are they? What formations are they producing from, and at what depth?
• What is the mechanism of contamination?
• Could recent earthquakes have had an impact?
• What is the best way to set up a system for immediate detection of spills? Are there new technologies that can be employed?
• What is the best way to avoid surface casing cracked by seismicity?
• What are some of the remediation strategies?

Opportunities:

1. Panel discussion of the problem, issues, and solutions at ACE in Salt Lake City, May 2018.
2. Propose a funded study / grant to be funded by the EPA and other appropriate parties.
3. Present a paper and participate in a workshop / conference in Oklahoma in 2018 to discuss new technologies used for protecting the environment in oil and gas operations (unconventionals as well as mature conventional fields).

Black Bear Creek, Pawnee County, Okla.

Black Bear Creek has been showing signs of contamination, and local fishermen have noticed that the creek, which used to be filled with fish, turtles, snakes and other freshwater life, is now barren. What is the cause? What are the conditions?

Opportunities:

1. Propose a study to be funded by the Pawnee Nation, Pawnee County Economic Development Council, the Environmental Protection Agency, interested operators and solutions providers, and the State of Oklahoma.
2. Discuss the Black Bear Creek issue at ACE (May 2018) in Salt Lake City in a special panel.
3. Participate in a study.
4. Write a precis, summaries and progress reports to be published in blogs and AAPG Search and Discovery.

Session Structure:

Theme 8: Energy and Environment

Session:

• Introduction
• Presentation - Salt water / produced water solutions and new technologies
• Presentation - Bird Creek overview
• Panel discussion
• Presentation / background - Black Bear Creek and other "mysteries"
• Panel discussion
• Wrap-Up - New Solutions and Approaches: Protecting Aquifers / Oil and Gas Production