FLIR video shows EagleRidge emissions in Denton, Texas

It’s hard to tell young mothers, retirees, teachers, nurses and workers that they are going to be poisoned. But that’s what I had to do tonight at a packed community meeting in Denton.

Here is a photo I snapped of the EagleRidge rig as I was leaving. Notice the porch lights on the home where a regular family lives on an October night with an industrial process happening in their backyard. They probably have a pumpkin on their porch.

I had some ShaleTest FLIR GasfindIR videos embedded in my presentation but they wouldn’t work in the Firehouse #7 computer so I passed around my laptop and promised to provide them here along with my presentation and handouts.

This first video is of the EagleRidge Paddock Unit. Notice the cattle grazing. The head of Texas A&M toxicology department, E. Murl Bailey, Jr, D.V.M, Ph.D., wrote in a letter that the toxins will magnify up the food chain in meat and milk. Also note that he says the individual pollutants might not be a problem by themselves, “but in combination there is no way to predict what might occur. He also mentions that exhaust fumes (like diesel fumes) can interfere with reproductive processes.

This next video is from EagleRidge’s appropriately named Mayday unit. Notice the pipe sticking up on top of the tank, It’s appropriately named the “vent pipe.” Guess what it does.

I will update this post with more informaton and videos tomorrow. I’m tired now.

MORE:

• HERE is the presentation I gave last night.
• HERE is the handout on who to call and how to document.
• HERE (LINK FIXED) is the TCEQ odor log. It is important to keep this log filled out because the TCEQ will verify the information provided and use it to issue violations.
• HERE is the list of chemicals detected in just one of many releases in the Argyle-Bartonville community with the health impacts felt by the community during that release. The health impacts are correlate to the chemicals.

The following is an incomplete list of peer-reviewed health studies.

• Theo Colborn, Kim Schultz, et al, “An Exploratory Study of Air Quality near Natural Gas Operations.” The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) released this study in November 2012; it’s been accepted for publication in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment.
• Theo Colborn, Carol Kwiatkowski, et al., “Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective,” published in September 2011 in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: an International Journal.
• L. M. McKenzie, Roxana Witter, et al., “Human Health Risk Assessment of Air Emissions from Development of Unconventional Natural Gas Resources,” published in May 2012 in Science of the Total Environment.
• Michelle Bamberger and Robert E. Oswald, “Impacts of Gas Drilling on Human and Animal Health,” published in March 2012 in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy.
• L. N. Vandenberg, Theo Colborn, et al., “Hormones and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Low-Dose Effects and Nonmonotonic Dose Responses,” published in March 2012 in Endocrine Reviews.
• Nadia Steinzor, Wilma Subra, and Lisa Sumi Investigating Links between Shale Gas Development and Health Impacts Through a Community Survey Project in Pennsylvania,” published NEW SOLUTIONS
• A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy Volume 23, No. 1 — 2013
• Also see: Study: Co-exposures of two chemicals at safe levels doubles chances of cancer

Intimidation and psyops are favorite tactics of this industry. The following will help you deal with those.

Here is some excellent advice on how to deal with intimidation from WORC:

If you are being intimidated, never forget why it is happening. It means you are doing good work, and that your opponents are desperate. It is a sign that you are taking actions which challenge the existing power relationships in your community, and that those with power want you to back off.

Here are some of the common intimidation tactics:

1. Threatening individuals – They do this to weaken our groups. I have received threats of job loss, bodily harm, community respect and law suits. I still have a job, I haven’t been harmed, no one has sued me and I now get flown places to talk to government officials and advocate for you
2. Refuse to deal with leaders – They like to call us “tree huggers” and radicals so the other people in the group will loose respect. (Go ask your children the difference between words and sticks and stones.)
3. Isolate the group – They get others to attack your group and your group’s actions orthey get your YouTube channel taken down in the hopes you will be too busy defending yourself to expose their dirty tricks.
4. Divide and conquer – They like to buy off one member of the group and have that person work on the others. They do this all the time in neighborhoods.
5. Group infighting – They try to get different groups to fight with each other. Sometimes this happens with no help from industry. It’s a big time suck.

I concur with this advice from WORC:

Shine a bright light on it.
The meanest and nastiest acts of intimidation, like cockroaches, are usually seen only in the dark. When exposed to public scrutiny, an opponent will usually stop – and may even apologize, or disavow the tactic.

I understand that intimidation can be scary and some of the recent tricks have been despicable. But, don’t give in.