Clean water has become a political issue where industry can wield it’s influence and elected officials side with them against landowners with no water. EnCana has a lot more “influence” than someone like Louis Meeks. Meeks is just a veteran who went to war, EnCana has billions.
Despite EnCana’s billions, they can’t muster up the decency to do the right thing and pay for delivery of water. The residents have to pay for their own delivery.
In Land of Gas Drilling, Battle for Water That Doesn’t Reek or Fizz
By DAN FROSCH
Published: June 2, 2012
Reading this part of story, I was reminded of the Parker County case.
“These are people that had good water,” said John Fenton, a barrel-chested farmer and chairman of the Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens group. “And it changed when there was this rush to come in here and develop the area when they didn’t understand the geology.”
Somewhere in the court transcript from the Plea to Jurisdiction hearing, you can hear the Range Resources attorney saying something like this:
… how “abundantly clear” it is that the area has “angular and nonconforming and unpredictable geology” with many natural pathways for gas to migrate.
So Range knew the geology was problematic yet according to court documents, they only cased to 400′ while the other wells in the area were cased to 600′. Source. Cutting corners in the fracking business never works.
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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I suggest everybody “hold their fire” until all the updated data from the EPA & State of WY DEQ is gathered & properly analyzed. There is a lot of history out here and a lot of information that the media and certain elements (on all sides) have chosen to overlook. Let’s get all the facts, the full context of the situation, use correct methodology and reach proper scientific conclusions. That is in everyone’s best interest…
Yeah, let’s stall around so industry can throw around their tremendous INFLUENCE. In the meantime good people are without water.
In the interest of getting all the facts and data needed, let’s start with the non disclosure agreement Fenton’s neighbor signed when industry settled with him before he moved away. In fact, let’s open all those NDAs and make the illegal. In the interest of getting facts and all…
I have spoken (directly) with a WY attorney involved with the original arbitration involved in this case. There are a LOT of discrepencies to go around. Apparently, good people have been without decent water in this area for MANY YEARS. Question is…what is the actual cause? Let the regulators do their JOB. If there is any credence to your claim, it will play out. I am interested in the updated scientific evidence & proper peer review. Then, we’ll have a definitive answer and IF the industry is responsible because of fracing, THEN you’ll have the ammo you’ve been looking for all along. Let the facts & the chips fall where they may, period. Like I suggested…Everybody hold your fire…
Release the data hidden in the NDAs.
I’m comforted to know that you are up there talking with and visiting with decision makers. /sarcasm
Well, since you want to be SARCASTIC, then you realize that many times non disclosure agreements are signed between parties in a dispute NOT as any admission of guilt, but as a practicality. Surely YOU know that. Why paint a picture that, somehow, is inscidious when, in fact, it may not be? I don’t have direct knowledge of the facts behind those NDA’s and NEITHER do YOU. I am not afraid of the scientific facts and ANY responsible party, on any side of this issue would see that as a rational position. Release the data in the NDA’s? Why not let’s focus on the science & proper peer review to obtain the proper conclusions & the TRUTH. Be as sarcastic as you like. Perhaps you’d get some better results with others if you try to be a little NICER. It’s your blog…Try a new trend. You might just surprise yourself.
The Industry likes to pretend the NDAs are mutual but that is not the case. The landowners sign because it is their only way out. There is a lot of science hidden away behind the NDAs. If you are not afraid of the truth, the release the NDAs.
Randy: I’ve suggested this many times, and the PR scum, frackers and their assorted mouthpieces and other fans of drilling at all costs NEVER respond. My suggestion is this: Let’s take a good look at all of the complaints about contaminated water, on every shale there is, and then let’s see where the complainant is in relation to the gas field. I’ll bet you anything the overwhelming majority of those complaints are coming from people that live within a half mile of a gas well.
And by the way, I’d love to know where you think regulation is actually working at. It has failed miserably in Texas and Pennsylvania that I know of for a fact. Regulation used to work in New Mexico, but that changed not too long ago when the politicians sold out the people.
Randy.
That’s an interesting take; I’d never really thought about it in those terms.
“HOLD YOUR FIRE” as a new industry slogan.
It will be interesting to see how that works out for you.
. . . out there in Wyoming, I mean.
One other thing: It’s absolutely preposterous to even suggest that there are people out there who have been drinking and bathing in contaminated, foul smelling and seriously discolored water for YEARS, and are just now taking advantage of those poor drillers to place the blame on them. How fracking convenient.
But Tim,
Randy talked to a lawyer, directly involved with the case. who told him is was so.
Who are you going to trust?
Yeah, nothing like talking to an attorney to speed things up-except for Range Resources, who will send an army of attorneys after you if you so much as think about posting a photo of one of their operations.
Randy is obviously the new guy on the block, and sounds like he still actually thinks the state regulatory agencies will actually work on the taxpayer’s behalf, and that they’ll react quickly and justly. Randy has also never even seen a drill site up close, or had drilling operations on his property.
That’s why he wants to ride this out, hear all of the ‘facts’, give everyone plenty of opportunity to figure things out before we judge too quickly or jump to any conclusions-because, as we all know, drilling chemicals in drinking water could come from anywhere, including ‘naturally occurring’, and I’m sure a lot of these affected people have always had orange/yellow/brown/black water that smelled like gasoline/diesel, and they always have been able to set it on fire, they are just unhappy they did not get any/enough money out the deal-and a lot of this is just made up.
Tim,
Randy has already disclosed to us, a few days back, that he works for an oil driller somewhere in the Bakken.
He works in compliance, apparently, and has invited us to ask him questions about Clean Water Act, and Underground Injection Wells, and the like. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to know too much about air pollution issues.
Randy,
If you actually think those ranchers out there in Wyoming are just trying to scam; I suggest you go out and investigate that situation for yourself. Meet some of those folks, look them dead in the eye when you listen to their stories. Drink some of their water, if you dare. Then report back to us.
Third-hand accounts of rumors spread by attorneys are not what the Bluedaze blog about.
I’m still with you on the “HOLD YOUR FIRE” slogan, though,
It has a certain ring to it.
I might have gone with “DON’T SHOOT”; but now we’re just arguing semantics.
You know what, I’m done here. All I have suggested in this case is that you (simply) let the regulatory authorities gather the scientific data and then subject it to appropriate peer review. Let the FACTS & actual EVIDENCE determine the outcome. Somehow, this has gotten twisted around into something else. I have tried (repeatedly) to make constructive comments and suggestions on this blog over the past few months and almost invariably, it gets twisted into a pretzel. There is a lot of background data involved at Pavillion along with extensive history. The proper state & federal agencies are looking at the data & testing in detail and will render appropriate reports. This is proper administrative procedure. Simply stating that one should WAIT for the full investigation & process to conclude before jumping to any conclusions (i.e. hold your fire) is a perfectly RATIONAL & SENSIBLE approach. We used to call it the scientific method, as I recall. That just does not seem to register with any of you folks.
The fact that I am an experienced regulatory professional DOES give me some insight in these matters. Believe it or not, I don’t have to qualify my credentials to ANY of you…I’m already qualified on several state commissions and have testified on numerous cases as an expert in my field. If anyone is suggesting that someone in this exchange is (somehow) a “scrub,” I’m quite confident that won’t be lighting up on my dashboard. So, you WIN. I won’t be commenting on this blog any more. If it was spirited, honest, open, intelligent debate I was looking for, obviously, I landed in the wrong place. I believe I’ve been pretty polite, but I’ll make a passing remark. Keep up the fight with folks like Range & Chesapeake. Based on what I know about them (as operators) and what I’ve observed here, looks like you all deserve each other…PEACE OUT
Randy,
Before you finally sign off, which I wish you wouldn’t, please check out the following link. It refers to a position statement released by the Oklahoma Geological Survey. I reproduced the statement in its entirety but added my own commentary throughout. It is a worthy read, especially as one approaches the bottom of the statement.
Please take the time to read it as it concerns the objectivity of studies. Especially notable is the last few paragraphs of the statement and the “Conclusions” section of the study cited therein. The very wording of the “Conclusions” section gives one a clue as to the likely outcome of all future studies done by the OGS.
Once again, it is worthy reading. The link is as follows:
http://thefrackingwall.com/2012/04/10/oklahoma-geological-survey-position-statement-on-triggered-or-induced-seismicity/
That’s it, Randy, run away, just all the others have before you. The only difference is, you actually left with a parting comment, while all the others simply disappeared.
There’s a landman out in PA that actually said he believes that regulations are in place to make sure ‘everyone’ follows the rules, and that the Good Operators already do. I asked him several times for that extensive list of Good Operators. He’s run his mouth a few times since, but still no list of Good Operators.
The problem I have with you, Randy is that you’re one of those guys who finally says, after much debate and argument “Well, we don’t drill that way here in …..” and the fact of the matter is, yes, you do. It’s all the same technology, the same methods, the same spills, leaks, emissions, PR spin, the same non-disclosure agreements being forced onto people that have been victimized, it’s all the same BS right across the board.
The Texas Railroad Commission hasn’t done a damn thing to help one single homeowner, ever. Hundreds and hundreds of complaints, and the painfully few enforcement actions took ages to get done, if at all. If you really do work in ‘compliance’, then I’d suggest you take a good hard look at the TRRC’s website-after all, it was designed for your use, not us peasants; Look at what is actually being reported and what the action taken was. (keep in mind, this is what is just being reported.)
Lastly, if you have any influence in this regard whatsoever, I’d like to see the reporting changed just a bit-In Texas, the operators work under a ‘self-reporting’ system. This means if they have a leak, spill, fire or accident, they are to report this to the TRRC IMMEDIATELY. The word ‘Immediately’ is in capital letters, bold and underlined in the state regulation under State Wide Rule #8, specifically.
What I’d like to see is a record of who is actually doing the reporting. I’ll give you a hint-it’s not the operators. The other thing I’d like to see changed is the operators getting pounded on with increasing amount of fines for failing to report when it would be obvious that they should have and didn’t. I’ll bet you didn’t know those jackasses at the TRRC are too stupid to connect the dots in the simple fact that operators are not reporting anywhere near the level they should be.
So, you can stop wasting your time with us fracking insurgents, and go back to checking out our Good Neighbors for ‘compliance’.
I was honestly hoping Randy could help us straighten out some of the confusion around the UIC wells, and the regulatory status of sour gas or acid gas injection wells. but I guess we lost him, oops.
Anyway, Randy
Good Luck, and please be safe out there.
To the Randy types–when you rant on about waiting to see what the so-called regulators decide means only one thing to me—the “regulators” are on the side of the regulated ones. Expect no results for the ordinary peasant who lives on the land.
You know, I happend to catch this on another link and I could not resist. Let me point out a couple items. FIRST, I actually use my name on any of the blogs I’ve commented on. Apparently, you can (now) cross reference me on any number of posts I’ve made on various issues in numerous publications. I am not embarrased by any of the comments I’ve made as a private citizen and long time industry rep. At least I have the COURAGE to put myself out there and not HIDE. See, it seems (to me) that if folks don’t agree with you and the anti-fossil fuel agenda many seem to promote, then it’s a RANT. On the other hand, the industries detractors can come up with any number of unsubstantiated accustions and if anyone challenges the critical thinking, then that person is a HATER. That is not intellegent debate. I learned a long time ago that when you “label” and generalize you probably don’t have a legitimate position. You have no more creditability about making blanket generalizations about the “regulators” than I have an opinion about open heart surgery. The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan said it nicely. You are always entitled to your own opinion. You are not entitled to your own facts…
I am humbled by your courage. ICYMI, industry calls us insurgents and uses PSYOPS against us. Some people have been intimidated and harassed. It might not be safe for them to use their real names.
Tell you what: Release all those non disclosure agreements that industry hides behind then come back and talk to us about critical thinking, courage and facts.
Randy thinks it’s just us, that we are unreasonable. But this is a huge movement of people who are tired of getting poisoned.
I think Randy’s problem is with his belief in his own job. If Randy were to show us how ‘regulation’ has actually been working-anywhere-I’ll gladly start having faith in the regulatory agencies that he seems to think are working hard on our best interests.
With the so-called regulatory system in place now–and if you are O&G or other polluter—life couldn’t be any better. Our tax money is funding these agencies that are pro-O&G/polluter and against us, the ordinary peasants.
Those dang pesky facts! That’s why industry keeps them hidden behind NDAs.
Randy, they are masters of confirmation bias.
One day they will tell you that a report’s validity is questionable because it is not technically a scientific study, and the next day they’ll tell you that you can’t wait around for a scientific study while innocent lives are being affected.
It doesn’t matter if they have been without water before fracking came to the area (if that indeed holds to be true), what does matter is these people are without water, they don’t like the fact that they are without water, fracking comes into the area, media stories start coming out that fracking is in the area and LOOK these people are without water. Environmentalists- It must be fracking. Media- It must be fracking because if it wasn’t we wouldn’t be able to write stories about an industry taking over and destroying people’s lives.