Here is a good example of how the fracking industry privatizes profits while passing the costs on to us.
Frackers in the Eagle Ford Shale are causing major damage to roads. Some are impassable in regular vehicles.
Eagle Ford Shale gas, oil companies fight back against road repair fees
Joe Conger / KENS 5
The video in this news report shows amazing road damage in Karnes County so please click through and watch it.
Many counties within the Eagle Ford Shale play receive “donations” from oil companies or have “gentleman agreements” to provide materials for road repair.
But officials in several South Texas counties estimate it will take hundreds of millions of dollars to fix the roads and bridges that are worn down, ground up, and spit out by 18-wheels of constant use from oil and gas trucks.
Residents and school buses are having a tough time traveling on the roads.
The county commissioners want to charge usage fees but they are afraid of lawsuits.
Here’s how the DeWitt County solved their road damage problems: DeWitt Leaders Propose Tax Rate to Help Fund Road Repairs.
Naismith Engineering studied the county roads and determined it could cost as much as $432 million for roads the public and the frackers can use.
The study revealed that 45 miles of annual road maintenance would cost $80,000 per mile with 187 miles of basic reconstruction at $920,000 per mile and 99 miles of major reconstruction at $1.9 million per mile.
The county judge also noted that Eagle Ford Shale play has not only resulted in the rapid deterioration of the county’s road system, but also an increase in administrative needs in the county clerk’s office, in civil and criminal court dockets and in law enforcement patrols.
DeWitt County residents can expect a 2012-13 tax rate of 50.203 cents per $100 of valuation. The rate is less than last year’s rate of 53.822 cents per $100 valuation because of the expanded tax base. Taxpayers could petition for an election to for the rollback rate of 32.617 cents per $100.
Anyway you slice it, taxpayers are paying more that our share of fracking road damage.
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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One big problem with the road in the video is that the contractor is not using the proper clay to caliche rate. TxDot requires a certain amount of clay when it’s a state road project – these are probably county roads so they aren’t regulated. However, the county could minimize the dust by adopting the TxDot standard for caliche-clay ratio.
***Not to say that oilfield trucks don’t wreck roads and cost the county money. Just that the road material is a big part of the problem in this example shown.
It doesn’t matter what the roads are made of. Heavy industrial trucks will tear up any road. I’ve seen good paved roads become destroyed and unpassable in a short time.
Who pays? I think this industry has cost taxpayers enough.