Chesapeake Operating Inc. and Clarita Operating LLC both said before a hearing Friday in Little Rock by the state Oil and Gas Commission that they will comply with an emergency request to stop injections of used natural-gas drilling fluid in the two wells in Faulkner County.
The drillers made the announcement in a pre-meeting notice. Still, the commission voted 8-0 to approve an emergency order ceasing operations at that the two injection wells. Commission staff suspects that the wells may be linked to an outbreak of hundreds of small earthquakes in the Faulkner County area.
Commission Director Lawrence Bengal said both companies agreed ahead of the hearing to to cease operations until the next commission meeting in late March.
In agreeing to do so, the companies did not admit culpability.
There was no testimony at the short hearing.
The commission says there is likely a link between the injection wells and the repeated earthquakes in the area. On Sunday, a magnitude 4.7 quake rocked the area, the strongest Arkansas earthquake in 35 years.
The area of northern Faulkner County has had more than 800 earthquakes in the last six months.
The companies use the high-pressure wells to dispose of waste water from natural gas drilling.