State hearing set on alleged oil-field violations

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — An Iowa man is facing possible penalties for allegations that he committed illegal acts when he temporarily abandoned several oil wells and a saltwater disposal well in Custer County, South Dakota without permission.

The South Dakota Minerals and Environment Board has scheduled an enforcement hearing on Thursday, October 24 for the listed operator of the wells, Thomas L. Sunde of Armstrong, Iowa.

The board could revoke the permits for the wells and seize the $100,000 surety that South Dakota law required Sunde to post. The board could also impose civil or other administrative remedies.

A state administrative rule requires that written approval must be obtained from the secretary of the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the temporary abandonment of a well.

The complaint alleges that Sunde violated that rule when he failed to plug and abandon, produce or temporarily abandon five of the wells.

According to the notice of violation , two of the oil wells have been idle since July 2022; another has been idle since October 2022; a fourth has been idle since December 2022; and the disposal well has been idle since December 2022.

The department on October 30, 2023, ordered Sunde as the permitted operator to bring the wells back on production and injection by December 31, 2023, but didn’t receive any response. The department next ordered Sunde to submit a plan for plugging and abandoning the wells by May 10, 2024, but again received no response.

The department then petitioned the state board to revoke the permits for five wells and collect on the $100,000 surety. The department also wants the board to revoke Sunde’s permit for a sixth well because there wouldn’t be surety in place to cover it.

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