A Barnett Shale Sludge Pit Looks Like This

Another set of Sludge Pit pictures HERE (Notice in the comments the threat I received from “Big Oil” for posting these pictures.)

The Barnett Shale Energy Education EdUkAsHuN Council wants you to know believe that they care about our environment. I thought you might like to see some pictures of sludge pits. These are lined but most aren’t.

Operators are not required to line sludge pits unless it’s written into the lease agreement. Lining the ponds is no sure cure for protecting the environment but it’s better than nothing. Left with the choice, the operator will do nothing because it’s the least expensive.

If operators really cared about the environment, they would line ALL the pits.

Even when the ponds are lined they give off fumes and toxins escape into the air. Do we really want that water evaporating into our environment?

There’s no fence around this pit. Children, wildlife or domestic animals could easily fall into it. But, fences cost more and the oil and gas industry is only making hundreds of billions every year.

The liners often get torn or punctured.

Unless it’s prohibited by the lease, the operator can just bury this crap right on your land.

This spring when we had heavy rains the sludge pits overflowed and ran into Denton Creek.

They aren’t too careful installing liners so the gunk leaks out.

The oil and gas industry is exempt from the Clean Air and the Clean Water Acts. If they really want to protect our environment, they should help us lobby to remove those exemptions.