Carlsbad Sues New Mexico Company Over Brine Well

Carlsbad sues New Mexico company over brine well
The state of New Mexico and city of Carlsbad are legally pursuing an oilfield services company they said is responsible for a giant cavern that has formed a few hundred feet underground.

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

Associated Press Writer

SANTA FE, N.M. —
The state of New Mexico and city of Carlsbad are legally pursuing an oilfield services company they said is responsible for a giant cavern that has formed a few hundred feet underground.

The city filed a lawsuit in state district court against I&W Inc. on Thursday, alleging that the company's operation of a brine well at the site and its failure to mitigate a potential collapse of the well constitute a public nuisance that could result in irreparable harm.

The state Oil Conservation Division also issued a compliance order against the company on Thursday that spells out several violations - and demands more than $2.6 million in civil penalties.

"Between the state and the city, we are hoping that we will make more progress on getting I&W to devote resources to taking care of this," said Pete Domenici Jr., an Albuquerque attorney representing the city.

I&W owner Eugene Irby could not be reached for comment. The company halted operations at the site last year.

The Oil Conservation Division installed an elaborate monitoring system at the site last year, hoping to detect signs of a cave-in that could possibly take with it part of a highway, a church, a trailer park, businesses and a major irrigation canal. The city is currently paying for the monitoring and early warning systems.

The well caught the attention of state regulators after two brine wells collapsed north of Carlsbad during a four-month span in 2008.

Officials are concerned because the I&W well shares some characteristics with the collapsed wells. They were all about the same age, drilled to similar depths and produced between six million and eight million barrels of brine from salt layers deep underground. Brine is often used by the oil and natural gas industry.

Unlike the well in Carlsbad, the others were far from homes and businesses. They left behind sinkholes that spanned hundreds of feet and were at least 100 feet deep.

The city of Carlsbad and the Eddy County Commission declared a state of emergency last fall because of the potential danger. They also established committees of local leaders, scientists and experts to find a way to prevent or at least mitigate a possible collapse.

Domenici said some of the experts recommend that a well at the site be reopened and a sonar study done to establish the extent of the cavern.

"The committee thinks this is necessary to develop a strategy to mitigate this situation in a way that will avoid making it bigger," he said. More>>>