Seismic exploration company fails to reclaim land damage

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Seismic exploration company, GeoKinetics, has been fined for failing to properly reclaim land damaged during work it did with Fidelity Exploration and Production Company in southeast Wyoming.

Last May, the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a fine for $20,000 for damages to ranchers’ land, but half of it was suspended pending successful reclamation. Now the remaining $10,000 has been re-imposed by the Commission.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Eric Easton, who sits on the Commission, said during a hearing Tuesday that while Fidelity did their part, GeoKinetics disappeared.  

“From our point of view, GeoKinetics dropped off the map. We didn’t hear from them on what reclamation was taking place,” Easton says. “We were hearing from Fidelity, we knew that Fidelity was kind of taking the lead on that. And it upset us that GeoKinetics had been so involved causing damages and then weren’t really reporting back to us.”

The Commissioners also noted that GeoKinetics has not paid the initial fine of $10,000 last spring.