A federal district court judge in Oklahoma City on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit against three oil and natural gas producers over the state's ongoing earthquake swarm.

Judge Stephen P. Friot said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the best venue to determine the "highly complex and technical issue" of how much disposed wastewater is acceptable to avoid seismic activity.

"The short of the matter is that the OCC, aided, if necessary, by other agencies (including the United States Geological Survey and Oklahoma Geological Survey) and researchers, is better equipped than the court to resolve the seismicity issues relating to disposal well activities, by specialization, by insight gained through experience, and by more flexible procedure,'" the judge wrote in his decision.

Public Justice filed the lawsuit in February 2016 on behalf of Sierra Club Oklahoma against Devon Energy Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., and New Dominion LLC. SandRidge Energy Inc. later was added to the lawsuit, but its involvement was stayed after the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization.