Frackquakes visit North Texas and Austin

Frackquakes visited North Texas this morning with a M3.1 in Irving and frackquakes are on the Energy Resources Committee agenda in Austin tomorrow morning.

Update: Another one! M2.5. Event page.

AND another one! M2.7. Event Page.

Another! M2.0 Event Page. I may have missed a couple because during testimony at the Lege today the Irving Mayor said there were 3 yesterday. So that make 5 so far and today is not over.

You can see the readings from a few earthquake monitors HERE. Scroll down to UD Dallas. Each day you will need to refresh to see what is new.

Earthquakes are serious business. The death toll in Nepal has risen to more than 7,000. No one knows the maximum magnitude of induced frackquakes.

Professor testifies saying that Texas is trending toward stronger quakes #txlege #TXHouseEnergyResources

— Lon Burnam (@LonBurnam) May 4, 2015

Too many Frackquakes in Irving

Today’s M3.1 Irving frackquake epicenter was on the Las Colinas Country Club Golf Course and happened during the Women’s PGA Golf Tournament. An Irving resident spoke with an NBC news man who said they thought someone was banging on their news trailer. Another Irving resident watching The Golf Channel said it was a topic of conversation on that channel.

Conversations in Irving Nextdoor Neighbor chat rooms are growing more hostile toward the oil and gas industry, the Railroad Commission of Texas and state government. You can only ignore and bully people for so long before they strike back.

Friday I had a very fun lunch with an Irving resident who has some substantial cracking in her still new home. A home is a person’s private property and Texas is supposed to respect private property rights. A home is normally the biggest investment a person makes. This private property should carry as much weight as mineral owners who often are absentee owners profiting from mineral wealth while they live out of the extraction zone. They receive 100% of the profits and 0% of the impacts.

Also on Friday I had a long conversation with an Azle resident who’s home is breaking apart. She only owns the surface.

Meanwhile in Austin

Shortly after Representative Drew Darby ignored all protests from Texas citizens and their city leaders and refused all amendments to HB 40 before it passed the House with the shameful help from 30 Democrats, SMU announced that the frackquakes in Azle and Reno were caused by fracking waste disposal and extraction of fluids from fracked wells. Egg, meet Face.

Darby quickly called for a hearing on land shifting and seismic activity but we the people don’t get to weigh in at this hearing because it’s invited testimony.

The Committee will meet to hear invited testimony on land shifting and seismic activity.

Unless you live in Austin like the oil and gas lobbyists you probably couldn’t make the hearing anyway because it starts at 8:00 am. Isn’t that convenient?

But after the hearing the committee will take public comments on the bills that are on the agenda. If you’re like most people who work for a living and can’t drop everything to rush to Austin, you need to call the committee members (contact information below) and let them know how you feel about these bills.

A partial list of the bills listed on the agenda:

HB 2932 – Relating to a study and report by the Bureau of Economic Geology on land shifting. – Bill Text.

Studying land shifting is a good idea given the fact that we have a lot of that happening in the form of sinkholes and frackquakes.

HB 2191 – Relating to the posting by the Railroad Commission of Texas on its Internet website of certain enforcement information. – Bill Text.

This is about forcing the RRC to be transparent and give taxpayers the information they need and deserve.

HB 3198 – Relating to permitting for injection wells in certain oil and gas producing counties. Bill Text

This is a strange bill. How did he arrive at the 315 number?  After listening to the layout of the bill: This seems like a good and necessary bill that will help areas like Karnes County where they have an excess of disposal wells. Several disposal wells in Karnes have exploded and burned, especially during lightning storms. There are also major traffic incidents due to increased truck traffic. First responder in Karnes wants some control in placement because these facilities should not be near residences. DUH!

HB 3480 – Relating to air quality permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for certain oil and gas facilities. Bill Text

Hell yes! Clean up our air

HB 4044 – Relating to the imposition of a fee on a holder of a permit for an oil and gas waste disposal well. Bill Text

This bill is so full of loopholes I can’t imagine it would ever amount to a hill of beans.

Rep.	Rafael	Anchia	rafael.anchia@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0746
Rep.	Terry	Canales	terry.canales@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0426
Rep.	Tom	Craddick	tom.craddick@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0500
Rep.	Tony	Dale	tony.dale@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0696
Rep.	Drew	Darby	drew.darby@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0331
Rep.	Jim	Keffer	jim.keffer@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0656
Rep.	Phil	King	phil.king@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0738
Rep.	Morgan	Meyer	morgan.meyer@house.state.tx.us	214-745-5768
Rep.	Christopher	Paddie	christopher.paddie@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0516
Rep.	Debbie	Riddle	debbie.riddle@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0572
Rep.	Gene	Wu	gene.wu@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0492
Rep.	Brooks	Landgraf	brooks.landgraf@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0546
Rep.	Abel	Herrero	abel.herrero@house.state.tx.us	512-463-0462