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Today’s lead story comes from The Frontier for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, and is co-published with Grist, the result of a yearlong investigation. There is also a lot of SNAP-related content in Thursday’s ‘Memo’, as we approach the Saturday deadline.

If today’s newsletter catches you up on the news and saves you a little bit of time, spread the word about ‘Oklahoma Memo!’

By Nick Bowlin, The Frontier
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In January 2020, Danny Ray started a complicated job with the Oklahoma agency that regulates oil and gas. The petroleum engineer who’d spent more than 40 years in the oil fields had been hired to help address a spreading problem, one that state regulators did not fully understand. 

The year prior, toxic water had poured out of the ground — thousands of gallons per day — for months near the small town of Kingfisher, spreading across acres of farmland, killing crops and trees. 

Such pollution events were not new, but they were occurring with increasing frequency across the state. By the time Ray joined the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the incidents had grown common enough to earn a nickname — purges. 

When oil and gas are pumped from the ground, they come up with briny fluid called “produced water,” many times saltier than the sea and laden with chemicals, including some that cause cancer. Most of this toxic water is shot back underground using what are known as injection wells.

Wastewater injection had been happening in Oklahoma for 80 years, but something was driving the growing number of purges. Ray and his colleagues in the oil division set out to find the cause. As they scoured well records and years of data, they zeroed in on a significant clue: The purges were occurring near wells where companies were injecting oil field wastewater at excessively high pressure, high enough to crack rock deep underground and allow the waste to travel uncontrolled for miles.

By November 2020, at least 10 sites were expelling polluted water, according to internal agency emails obtained through public records requests.

The number of purges has grown steadily since. A Frontier and ProPublica analysis of pollution complaints submitted to the agency found more than 150 reports of purges in the past five years. Throughout that time, state officials were aware of the environmental and public health crisis as Ray and others at the agency investigated the proliferating purges and uncovered a complex stew of causes. 

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By Sarah Liese (Twilla), KOSU
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are going to expire Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans without food assistance. The Cherokee Nation is declaring a state of emergency and calling on state leaders to step up.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the tribe is dedicated to caring for its community amid the SNAP suspension, and will use $6.75 million in emergency relief funding.

“First, for every member of a federally recognized tribe within our reservation who's eligible, we will expedite approval of their application for our food distribution program,” Hoskin Jr. said. “Our food distribution program is an alternative to SNAP, where participants get monthly groceries at no cost at one of our eight sites.”

He said current SNAP recipients who are Cherokee Nation citizens and live within the reservation will receive a one-time payment of $185 — totaling $4.5 million in direct payments. He also said the tribe will invest $1.25 million toward regional food banks and food security non-profit organizations to support the entire community — not just Cherokees.

“The federal government may be failing at this moment,” Hoskin Jr. said. “Cherokee Nation is not.”

Hoskin Jr. also called on state leaders in an X post to step up and look after all Oklahomans like the Cherokee Nation is doing for its community.

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By Phillip Jackson, Tulsa Flyer
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Nearly 100 people showed up Tuesday night to square off with the developer behind the Tulsa area’s latest data center proposal. Some residents came armed with protest signs when they walked into the open house at Coweta’s City Hall.

Project Atlas is a data center campus planned for 16192 Highway 51B, just south of Coweta and east of Highway 72. The developer — Beale Infrastructure — is also behind another data center planned for Owasso.

The City of Coweta sold 200 acres to Beale for the project, which the developer says will employ around 35 people during early operations. PSO will power the center, and Beale plans to source water from the Arkansas and Verdigris rivers.

“The noise, the traffic, the disturbance of electricity and water. We have problems with that anyway without them being there,” said Anne Cowles, a Coweta resident since 1976.

Cowles told the Flyer her family home is just a quarter mile away from the site of the planned data center. It’s been passed down from generations, and all of her family members are against the project.

Just a few days ago, Kathy Foster and Cathie Hogate started collecting signatures from other Coweta residents opposed to Project Atlas. By the start of Tuesday’s meeting, Foster said they had 260 signatures. That number has nearly doubled since the meeting. 

Hogate is worried about how the data center will directly impact residents in the area.

“More than likely we are going to get high (electric) rates,” Hogate said. “Plus it has a noise effect, which affects people, and these things put out a tremendous amount of light in the area.”

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A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• Shutdown double whammy: SNAP food benefits ending and federal workers go unpaid (Oklahoma Voice)

• Gov. Stitt 'not resorting' to using rainy day fund if SNAP benefits lapse (2 News Oklahoma)

• Food banks prepare to fill gap for Oklahomans (Oklahoma Voice)

• North Tulsa’s Oasis Fresh Market Answers the Call Amid SNAP Crisis (The Black Wall Street Times)

• Luther Pecan Festival announces food drive (The Luther Register)

• Lawmaker pushing sports betting still supportive despite NBA scandal (Public Radio Tulsa)

• Oklahoma lawmakers examine child custody law updates (KSWO)

• Supporters of Oklahoma open primaries begin collecting signatures (Oklahoma Voice)

• American Indian Exposition celebrates its rich history, 90th year in Anadarko (KOSU)

• As Freedmen file for contempt over delays, Muscogee citizenship board touts ‘necessary steps’ (NonDoc)

• Historic downtown Shawnee theater still standing after collapse of adjoining building (The Oklahoman)*

• Fire destroys business in downtown Davis (KTEN)

• ‘This is so wrong’: Misuse of funds case shakes up Edmond Memorial PACE group (NonDoc)

• What does daylight saving time mean for the weather? Tulsa meteorologist weighs in (Tulsa Flyer)

• Oklahomans stranded in Jamaica turn vacation into volunteer effort after Hurricane Melissa (KOCO)

• New state law reshapes food truck requirements. What does that mean for Tulsa vendors? (Tulsa Flyer)

• Mvskoke Tech Park draws concerns from citizens (Mvskoke Media)

• Norman businesses facing economic struggle: Owners speak on decreased sales, emphasize community (OU Daily)

• Novelty by Boomtown to close Nov. 2. What's next for sammies, nachos? (The Oklahoman)*

• Antlers school district proposes nearly $8 million bond for new middle school (KXII)

• Google Arts & Culture brings virtual Route 66 tour to life (KFOR)

Cool and sunny. Frost advisory through 8a for much of central and southern Oklahoma.

🌡️ Thursday's high in OKC 61°
🌡️ Thursday’s high in Tulsa 59°

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