I received this great news this morning and could hardly wait to post it.
Wise County will have one less injection well for Barnett Shall drilling waste thanks to Jim Popp and his group, Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water. THIS IS A FIRST.
TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-07-00025-CV
Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water and Mr. James G. Popp,
Appellants
v.
Railroad Commission of Texas and Pioneer Exploration, Ltd., Appellees
They won the appeal which sets a precedence that the RRC will now have to consider the people living in the vicinity of the well and their health.
We WON our appeals case and made NEW LAW, GOOD LAW, for ALL Texas Citizens! ~~Jim Popp
WAY TO GO!
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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TXsharon – Why don’t you put your mouth where your blog is and attend the RRC Conference 12-18-07 and voice your concerns during the Public Imput period (Item 74). Oh, you may want to contact the RRC’s Personal Office in advanced for auxiliary aids for your disability (mental)!
Hi Tracy.
I’m so glad I’m not you. It must suck to be you.
The RRC cannot do anything about road congestion, location relevant to residences, smell, dust, beautification enhancement, proximity to rest homes, water shortages, etc. The statues do not give them this power. I suspect that the appeal process will work in the RRC’s favor. Unless the Legislature enhances their power & gives them the power to consider these factors, the RRC can only look at the mechanical integrity of the well & isolation of the injected fluids. The RRC has initiated recycling of the semi-fresh frac water (2000PPM) and several operators are using this. As Rodney King said appropriately ” Can’t we all just get along”?
Hi Green Peace Pipe, Wise County has 27 commercial injection wells and 3 more (including this one) have been permitted. I think that’s more than our share. Don’t you? That’s why people living in the area are so excited about this court decision.
I’m all about the RRC looking at the mechanical integrity of the well and all that but, up until recently, they haven’t done a very good job of that generally (I’m sure you have seen the pictures I took of the injection well near me. That one was inspected a few days before those pictures were taken.) Granted the RRC is underfunded and understaffed like most state agencies so I don’t blame the people who work for the RRC. They are just people, like me, who are trying to make a living and they worry about water and pollution just like I do. I do blame the greedy, lying oil and gas companies, the RRC commissioners and our other elected officials.
Recycling the frac water is essential but, I’m not aware of any operators that are currently using this process to any significant degree. If they are, it would make me giddy with excitement so please let me know. However, I have recently been in touch with some Ph.D’s who are doing research on the water recycling and why operators aren’t using it so I’m pretty sure it’s not really happening much. =( Bummer, eh?