Touching on hot-button issues such as triggered earthquakes and hydraulic fracturing, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said Wednesday states are best positioned to come up with solutions involving energy development and water usage.

Fallin, the incoming chairwoman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, said many good policy ideas start at the local level. She was the lunchtime keynote speaker at a joint meeting of the commission, the Ground Water Protection Council and the National Rural Water Association.

Fallin said energy and water interests worked together a few years ago when concerns were raised over the chemical contents of hydraulic fracturing fluid. The fluid is mostly water but can contain small or trace amounts of chemicals. The result was FracFocus.org, an online registry that is used in some form by 24 states.

“That was a solution that came from the states and spread throughout the country to make that information public,” Fallin said.

The Bureau of Land Management has a pending rule that would require FracFocus to be used for hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells on federal lands, although a judge blocked implementation of that rule Wednesday.

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and the Ground Water Protection Council, which jointly run FracFocus, are expected to unveil an update later this year. It will include options to download the entire database rather than searching for hydraulic fracturing fluid composition by specific well or operator.

Fallin also mentioned Oklahoma’s increase in earthquakes, which has been linked to wastewater disposal wells used in energy production. While some have criticized Oklahoma regulators for their slow response, Fallin said officials wanted to take action based on sound science.

“It has been a concern for industry, a concern for consumers and families and businesses,” Fallin said. “We know as we gathered information and statistics that science can be ever-evolving, but we want to get fact-based information as we make policy. We also can’t ignore the issue and (have to) look at anything that might be contributing to that rise in earthquakes.”

Council Formed

The governor last year established the Coordinating Council on Seismic Activity to bring together regulators, industry, researchers and other parties to look at the issues of induced seismicity in Oklahoma.

“We want to do it wisely without harming the economic activity we certainly enjoy and the revenue, quite frankly, we certainly enjoy,” Fallin said. “The council has worked very hard to ensure the energy sector, state agencies, environmentalists and academia are all talking and sharing that data and we have a scientific-based approach to reducing seismicity in our state.”

Fallin praised the Oklahoma Corporation Commission for its “traffic light” system for permitting wastewater disposal wells in areas of increased seismicity. Among other actions, the commission has directed companies to reduce volumes, cut disposal well depths or shut in some wells.

Like other state agencies, the commission had its budget cut in the last round of appropriations. To make up part of the shortfall, Fallin directed the state’s energy and environment secretary to send $250,000 in grants to the commission for work on induced seismicity issues.