"Five years ago, Oklahoma oil regulators took on a project with an impressive name: the Source of Truth. State officials wanted a comprehensive database capturing all vital information about the more than 11,000 wells in Oklahoma that shoot the toxic byproduct of oil production back underground."
"The project was supposed to clean up or fix state data regarding how much wastewater was being injected and the pressures at which it was being pushed underground. The agency's databases, many of which were based on decades-old paper records, were riddled with contradictory or missing information."
"But the Source of Truth found more than just messy data. It also allowed regulators to pinpoint nearly 600 wells that were operating illegally: injecting wastewater above their permitted pressure limits, exposing a pattern of rule violations by oil and gas companies that state regulators allowed to continue."
Oklahoma oil regulators created a comprehensive database project called the Source of Truth to track information about over 11,000 wells that inject toxic oil production byproducts underground. The project aimed to clean up state data regarding wastewater injection volumes and pressures, as existing databases contained contradictory or missing information accumulated from decades-old paper records. The initiative identified more than 1,300 data errors. Beyond data cleanup, the Source of Truth revealed approximately 600 wells operating illegally by injecting wastewater above their permitted pressure limits. This discovery exposed a pattern of rule violations by oil and gas companies that state regulators permitted to continue unchecked.
#oil-and-gas-regulation #environmental-violations #wastewater-injection #oklahoma-energy-industry #regulatory-oversight
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