Drilling waste feud

A feud has developed between Doug "Hump" Humphreys and some of his neighbors after he put in a soil farm, known as Maverick Energy Services, two years ago. The land is adjacent to the Olivo cattle farm, which has been operating for decades about four miles east of Holdenville. Soil farms feature pits where drilling fluid waste is stored and then later applied to the land. The waste had historically been disposed of in commercial pits. Humphreys said he's given the Oklahoma Corporation Commission the key to his gate to inspect his operation any time. The possible chemical build-up is what worries cattle ranchers. "We don't know the long-term affect on livestock," said John Stirman, a cattle rancher who lives nearby. Neighbors are also concerned about water contamination and land spoilage over time. "There's nothing farm' about it," said cattle rancher Donald Hardwick. "It's just one big slush pit." The Corporation Commission regulates eight soil farms, and two pending applications in Haskell and Love counties have received protests. The farms have become popular in the last 10 years with the introduction of horizontal wells to increase drilling activity, and hydraulic fracturing to generate drilling mud, said Tim Baker, manager of pollution abatement for the Corporation Commission's oil and gas conservation division. Landowners are compensated by oil and gas companies to allow the spreading of drilling fluids on their farm land. Baker said the Corporation Commission has processed 15,507 permits during the past 15 years. "They make it worth the landowners while to do that. If it were harmful, they wouldn't do it," Baker said...read more