Several years ago I attended a Barnett Shale Symposium in Fort Worth. I asked the Devon Energy representative if there was any sour gas—deadly hydrogen sulfide or H2S–in the Barnett Shale. His hasty and emphatic reply was “No, there is no sour gas in the Barnett Shale.” It seems that was not true.
In a Star-Telegram article we learn that not only has gas been seeping into Barnett Shale water for a decade or more and that the Texas Supreme Court gave industry a pass on their pollution but that industry has known all along that the Barnett Shale does have deadly hydrogen sulfide gas.
Texas Supreme Court ruling discouraged suits against gas drillers
By MIKE LEE
The first time that Jim Bartlett realized something was wrong with his new place in Wise County was when he filled up an Igloo cooler with water from his newly drilled well.
“We were sitting in there watching TV, and the lid blew off,” he said.
Bartlett and his wife, Pat, had just bought 2 acres at the end of a dirt road outside Boyd. It turned out that the water in their newly drilled well was shot full of natural gas. It also contained hydrogen sulfide, a corrosive gas that is sometimes produced along with natural gas. When they put the water in a closed container, it tended to pop the lid off. The hydrogen sulfide built up enough that it darkened silver coins inside the house.
Some may find it shocking to see in print that gas has been leaking into our water for at least a decade but Boyd has always had water problems. People complain often that it smells like rotten eggs but they refuse to believe it could be drilling related.
Surely no one who has paid even a teeny bit of attention could be shocked by Carter Burdett’s DEEP and obvious conflict of issues. That seems to be a requirement for leadership on top of the shale with the only exclusion being leaders in DISH, Texas.
Industry started pumping money into the judicial races over a decade ago, so I’m not at all surprised about the Texas Supreme Court.
But I’m shocked and dismayed to learn that after all this time of believing we had dodged the H2s hollow-point bullet there is actually enough H2S gas in our water to blow the lid off a cooler.
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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that guy pissing more than likley was employed by Aruba look to me that he was a flow back hand and really thats not all that public it is out on location way out where sounds to me that youd like for the barnett to be shut down and every one have no FUCKING JOBS SO THE WE CAN ALL GO GET ON WELLFARE AND YOU CAN SUPPORT ALL US OILFIELD HANDS YOUR A STUPID ASS LEAVE IT ALONE YOU WILL NEVER WIN I MEAN NEVER HAHAHA AND VIDEO TAPING THAT MAN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION IS AGAINST THE LAW
shawn, please catch up. that man was standing in the backyard and on the playground of a little girl. he was filmed on private property.
Shawn: I would strongly encourage you to find out who this guy is and suggest that he either contact the police for my violating his civil rights, or maybe you can help him find an attorney to sue me.
He was on my PRIVATE PROPERTY, less than 50 yards from my neighbor's house, and about 75 yards from my house, standing what used to be my daughter's horse pasture until those assholes from Aruba stole it. Most importantly, he was urinating right outside of a trailer that has a toilet in it. He was standing less than 20 feet from where two porta-potties are. His urinating on my property is indicative of the mentality of the gas company. Like you, they simply don't care about anyone or anything except themselves and how much money they can make off of somebody else.
I, for one, do not want to shut down the Barnett Shale. I don not want to shut down drilling. I don want companies like Aruba to be responsible and behave with respect to other people, especially those who are immediately impacted by their drilling activities.
There are millions of jobs to be had, and millions of opportunities to be successful that doesn't involve gas well drilling. If you've limited yourself to only digging holes in the ground on other people's property, then that's your problem.
So before you go shooting your mouth off again, get your facts straight.