Alva Review-Courier -

PAWHUSKA, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has requested oil producers stop injecting wastewater in seven well sites in northeast Oklahoma to halt saltwater contamination in the area.

The EPA's request comes nearly a year after the Bird Creek saltwater contamination first was reported.

EPA Region Six Administrator Sam Coleman tells the Tulsa World the agency's goal "is to make sure that anything injected stays in the formation in which it's injected." Coleman says brine contamination in the drainage is a long-standing problem.

Coleman says at least seven wells near the cre...