UPDATE: Meet Judge Trey Loftin who ruled in favor of the biggest bully in the Big Gas Mafia, Range Resources. He ruled that this video is deceptive.
According to court records…pertinent information was overlooked in this ruling.
I added annotations to the video to make what is already obvious even more obvious.
- Never once does the person speaking in the video claim to be lighting their water.
- He clearly shows the pipe where the water is flowing and the pipe where the gas vents.
- He is trying to demonstrate with the video that venting the gas is not decreasing the amount of gas in his water well.
Surely they will appeal this decision.
This headline is full of tragic irony: Owner of contaminated water well in Parker County loses in court
To learn what has happened to our judicial system I STRONGLY URGE you to watch
Hot Coffee.
If a judge wants to get re elected, they can’t rule against industry because industry will fund their opponents’ campaign. And the majority of judgments against industry are overturned at the Supreme Court level. It’s as simple as that.
UPDATE: It is important to note that the benzene and toluene were also found in the affected water wells. I’ve blogged about this case extensively. If you have a bunch of questions about this case, you can catch up very quickly by reading the information available below:
HERE is the entire EPA press release.
HERE is the EPA order.
HERE is the EPA letter to Range Resources.
A timeline constructed from the EPA order
There is a pattern. Shortly after drilling occurs, water is polluted. If you read the order you will see a timeline.
Domestic Well #1
- #8. lies approximately 120′ from the horizontal well bore
- #12. April 2005 water well was drilled and neither water well driller nor owner noticed any signs of gas in the water well.
- #5. August 2009, production began from the Range Resources well.
- #14. December 2009, water well begins to effervesce.
Domestic Well #2
- #9. lies approximately 470′ from the horizontal well bore.
- #34. August 2002 water well was drilled and neither water well driller nor owner noticed any signs of gas in the water well.
- #5. August 2009, production began from the Range Resources well.
- #36. May 2010, the owner of Domestic Well 2 first noticed that the water had begun to effervesce.
Texas Commission Defies EPA and Sides with Gas Company Accused of Water Contamination
Range Resources plea to jurisdiction with testimony from Lipsky expert, Wayman Travis Gore, Jr., who is with PGH engineers, a petroleum engineering firm.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Similar situation that happened to us in Booger County–in booger, big gas rules!
That whole 3rd branch of our gubment is rotten and corrupt to the core, especially in Tx. It is a big waste of our tax money. If you are just an ordinary citizen, expect NO help from the so-called “Justice” system.
“Hot Coffee” is a must see.
So let’s see if I got this right:
Range drills a well
neighbors get methane in their water well
the set up a venting thing to get methane out of the well
the owner shoots a video of methane venting from the well
the owner clearly says “look at all that gas burning off”
Range sues them for intimating that it’s water????
The judge hops into bed with the corporate masters
and the homeowners still have no water to drink
(but apparently plenty of free gas if they could figure out how to harness it.)
am I missing something?
Nice summation. Only, I’m pretty sure the judge is not actually in bed with Range but is merely wimping out and passing the decision on to the next level. I haven’t looked at when he is up for re election but I’m sure he is thinking about it and doesn’t want Range to finance his opponent.
The end result is the same though no matter what his motives. Justice was not served. It’s a travesty.
Hot Coffee Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBKRjxeQnT4
The vent line from the water well wasn’t in place before Range arrived? Do other water wells in the area have these same vent lines? I’m wondering if vent lines might have been needed on water wells in the area before the Barnett was productive?
Dear NIck:
The topic of this post is whether the landowner made a deceptive video. Clearly he did not because he never implied that he was lighting his water on fire. He made it “abundantly clear” that he was venting the gas. He even made a point to show the water coming from a different pipe and to state that it was “not just a hose.”
I have added additional information to the post so you can do your own reading. However, this case is of vital importance to all you frackers so you can stop pretending that you don’t already know the answers to the questions you planted here to create doubt.
For those who are new: Range Resources fracked their Barnett Shale gas wells then the water wells were contaminated with high levels of methane and benzene and toluene. Prior to Range’s activities, the wells had no methane, benzene or toluene in them. Now there is so much methane the wells require venting to prevent explosion.
BOTTOM LINE: The Lipskys’ had a water well with no gas in it. Now they have a gas well with water in it.
it is obvious what happened here. this explosive 🙂 case landed this country judge’s lap and he is treading water to keep from drowning. range resources can and will ruin his career if he rules against them. they are nothing but thugs. there will be no justice for the lipskys or for any of us as long as these thugs are allowed to run rough shod over us. they have control over our entire political system and the judicial system.
In Tx. if you are ruined by O&G, expect NO help from any part of our gubment–none of the 3 branches will help you. The only thing you can do is RUN. Spend the minimum abount of money on a residential homestead in Tx. Not only can you be ruined by O&G, you can be ruined by many other all-powerful corporate interests. Save your money!
What an ass.
http://parkercountyblog.com/2012/02/15/meet-greet/
http://weatherforddemocrat.com/local/x1155993320/Search-continues-for-insurance-claim-implicating-suspects-in-tractor-theft
Wow! Thanks.
Calling this judge an ass is being too nice to him. He’s crooked as a dog’s hind leg. Just like most of these Tx judges–they all go to the same deer camp! ha.
Thanks for putting the pieces together, Sharon. How do these people sleep at night? They should be required to spend a week living under these conditions. And drink the water!
Trey Loftin was never elected to his position. He asked Governor Perry to appoint him. If you email Governor Perry’s office and ask for Trey Loftin’s application to be appointed the 43rd Judicial District Judge the governor’s office will send you his application within 24 hours. Some information is his application is interesting. Judge Loftin’s entire family, father, brothers and sisters are attorneys. In his application for the position he told the governor he thanks his family for helping get to where he is today. But on the Parker County Blog he tells the citizens of Parker County he did not get help from his family. Trey did not go to a prestigious Texas law School. To get into law school you have to take a test. Instead Trey went to an out of state law school. You have to wonder why! Trey then became a licensed attorney in Kansas or some state near there. Then Trey returned to Texas to take the bar exam. He failed. He was offered a chance to practice if he would serve an area of the state that had few lawyers and lots of poor people who needed legal help. He declined and passed the bar on the second try. His father had been an assistant district attorney in Tarrant County and guess what, that was Trey’s first job. He was a Tarrant county prosecutor for several years. He must have realized he would go no higher in that organization so he opened a law practice that was short lived. He says he had a successful practice and took a large cut in pay when he was appointed the 43rd District Court Judge. However he will not make his income tax records public so the citizens of Parker County can see for themselves if his claims are true. Trey Loftin says he took a large cut in pay because he has a calling to serve the citizens of Parker County. In his application to Governor Perry for the position he said the case he is most proud of was one he had during private practice and LOST. He says it is his proudest case because the judge allowed him to build a record for the appellant court. Where he LOST. I wonder if his client is proud of Trey’s performance. Maybe we can ask him when he gets released from prison. This man’s name is provided in Trey’s application to the governor. If you go in Trey’s courtroom and try to watch hearings, his bailiff will come to you and ask you what business you have with the court. If your answer is you simply want to watch, the bailiff makes you leave the courtroom. Am I the only one that thinks this is weird? The courts should be open to all citizens. FORT WORTH – When state District Judge Elizabeth Berry was accused of writing a racist e-mail this year, lawyers and friends offered support as the allegations made their way through court.
Many of those supporters followed her from Tarrant County to a Dallas courtroom, where she was vindicated after all sides conceded that the e-mail was a fake. It was from Judge Berry’s computer but she denied sending the email. Therefore no charges followed.
But now the popular criminal judge has found herself awash in another public relations debacle, this one with possible career-threatening consequences.
Alvarado police said they clocked Judge Berry last Saturday driving her gray Volvo SUV at 92 mph in a 65-mph zone. When she was pulled over, an officer detected the odor of alcohol on her breath and saw beer cans – some of them empty – in her car.
She refused to cooperate on a field sobriety test and was taken into custody under suspicion of driving while intoxicated, said Alvarado Police Chief John Allen. She refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test, so authorities obtained a warrant to take a blood sample, Chief Allen said
Parker County District Judge Trey Loftin said Judge Berry, a former Tarrant County prosecutor and defense attorney, should continue to enjoy her reputation as a fair-minded jurist. Trey Loftin was also a Tarrant County Prosecutor and knows her personally.
Judge Loftin went on to say to the Dallas morning news that “Elizabeth Berry has the capacity to separate herself from her personal turmoil including her DWI and continue to be a judge,” he said. “DWI is not a crime of moral turpitude. DWIs are quasi-crimes in that there is no intent. This will not disqualify her to sit as a judge or to practice law.”
The charges against Judge Berry were dropped when a prosecutor signed the wrong paperwork causing a technicality in the law.
Judge Loftin has gone on to put several people in jail for long term sentences for DUI and I am not aware that he told a single one that the crime he was sending them to jail for was only a quasi– crime. Is this evidence of a dual system where attorneys and judges receive considerations different from regular honest taxpaying citizens who are not lawyers or judges? Trey Loftin recently made a speech in his courtroom that no one but attorneys can brings cases. No citizen may bring their cases. I have watched an elderly couple come to court with an adult female child. They were obviously family. The Older couple wanted to adopt the young lady. Judge Loftin told them to get an attorney and come back. This should have been a very simple legal matter. In Louisiana an adult adoption is done by a simple notarial act. This is an example where Loftin is not serving the citizens of Parker County. But he does serve the elite judges and attorneys who are his friends and supporters. I am not an attorney, I have never claimed to be an attorney, nor have I played an attorney on TV. Nothing I have written should be considered legal advice. I have been ordered by Judge Loftin to put this in any statements I make against him.
There is a person running against Trey Loftin in the upcoming republican primary. There are no democratic candidates. The winner of the primary will be our next district judge. If you look in the Weatherford Democrat in the public notice section you will see an ad that says:
Vote against Trey Loftin
Paid for by Chuck Bayne
And citizens against Trey
If you live in Parker County please vote against Trey Loftin in the upcoming election. Vote for the other guy, it can only be a better choice.
Thank you for the interesting comment. Please provide the date on Loftin’s application to Perry.
Everyone should know that when two parties appear at a trial or court hearing one side is going to lose. The Judge should set forth the legal reasons for the decision. In Lipsky v Ranger Resources the judge could have simply written in his opinion the legal reason for dismissing the suit. The legal reason was the lack of legal standing in the suit brought by Steve and Shyla Lipsky, contending that because the Texas Railroad Commission ruled that Range was not responsible for the contaminated well, the couple cannot sue the company. Case closed, the Lipsky’s had no standing.
But its election time in Parker County. This particular judge was not elected by the citizens of Parker County but sought the appointment from the governor. In my opinion he was not the most qualified applicant for the job. There were four applicants all together and one had previous judicial experience. But as politics often goes, it’s not your talent or ability; it is who you know that gets you the job. And sometimes your family’s political pull.
So this judge went further than simply dismissing the suit for lack of standing or jurisdiction. He wrote his opinion in such a manner that it had to put his name all over the national media and his picture on television. This judge has been in the paper and on television more in his one year on the bench than any other Parker County judge I can recall. In his opinion this judge went on the write:
The Lipsky’s created a “deceptive video” that was “calculated to alarm the public into believing the water was burning.”
In my opinion these words got the decision more publicity than it deserved. There is an election coming up in Parker County and I urge everyone to vote for the other guy. It is a much better decision.
This Judge wants me to tell you I am not an attorney at law. I will not tell you I have never claimed to be an attorney at law nor have I ever played on television. This information is my opinion which I think I am still entitled to.
Parker County needs a judge like this judge’s predecessor. I honor him by attaching a Weatherford democrat article about his retirement. We miss you Judge Chrestman.
***********************************************************************
One of Parker County’s long-time judges is stepping down from the bench in December.
District court Judge Don Chrestman announced his retirement from the 43rd district, effective Dec. 31.
Chrestman practiced law for 30 years and decided to take the bench in 2000.
He was appointed by then-Gov. George Bush, who was in the process of becoming president. Chrestman said he remembers the process as “interesting.”
After hearing Chrestman’s retirement announcement, public officials who have worked with the judge said a friendly farewell.
Jeff Swain, assistant district attorney for Parker County, said he remembers Chrestman’s first day at trial on the bench.
“Everything that could go wrong the first day did,“ Swain said.
The District Court building was in disarray with pipes broken and the sewer system not working correctly, he said.
Because of the mess, all the court officials had to go to city hall to set up shop and conduct jury selection.
“The building was not set up for that and it was kind of like Oprah Winfrey style jury selection,” Swain recalls. “Instead of being in the front we were walking down aisles trying to pick our jury out.”
One thing can be said of Chrestman, he is a fair judge who hears both sides of an argument and wants to understand everyone’s position clearly in the courtroom, Swain said.
“He wants to understand where everyone is coming from,” Swain said. “Sometimes, you’ll be making an argument to him and he’ll stop you and say ‘Hold on, let me make sure I’m understanding what you’re saying.’”
As a litigator, whether the judge agrees with a point made or not, it is important that the argument is understood completely, which is how Chrestman works, Swain said.
He also keeps his cool, Swain said.
On one occasion, while Chrestman was the sitting for a trial, a defendant began to act belligerent and flipped over a table, he said.
Four to five deputies had to control the man.
“What was interesting about it is that we look up and noticed how calm Judge Chrestman was up there,” Swain said. “He was just sitting up there, taking it all in.”
Fellow District Judge Graham Quisenberry said sharing the bench with Chrestman has been a pleasure.
“I’ve enjoyed a good working relationship with him during our time together,” said Quisenberry, judge of the 415th district. “Every person taking a retirement makes a personal decision and I certainly support him on that.”
Quisenberry, who has worked with Chrestman for more than 15 years, said his thoughts on retirement are to enjoy it as much as possible and Chrestman has earned his time as judge to do so.
“Judge Chrestman is a nice guy and is respected by the bar, and I personally know Judge Chrestman has a lot of the same friends for a lot of years,” he said. “He and his wife, Melinda, enjoy life and they’re probably going to have a good time with the retirement.”
Before Chrestman was appointed judge, he practiced law with Vick Chrestman and Carney from 1984 to 2000.
Chrestman was active in Weatherford Parker County civic and government organizations, including the Weatherford City Council, Weatherford Municipal Utility System Board, the Parker County United Way President, Weatherford Industrial Development Foundation Board and the Weatherford College Board of Trustees.
After retirement, Chrestman plans to serve as a visiting judge in the 8th Administrative Judicial Region, which consists of 18 counties in North Texas.
Chrestman also plans to have a mediation practice to help resolve disputes between family and civil litigants.
“I’m not retiring from anything other than the 43rd District Court,” he said. “I look forward to another phase of my life and career that will begin January 1, 2011.”