When the Texas Railroad Commission inspector arrived at the scene of the latest toxic drilling waste spill at Tim and Christine Ruggiero’s home, he arrived with the Aruba Petroleum representative.
Synchronicity? Coincidence? Set up?
Two hours later, a bulldozer showed up in the Ruggiero’s pasture to spread the contents of the drilling waste pit across their pasture. Prior to the latest complaint about the latest spill, the Ruggiero’s were told the pit contents would be completely removed from their property for disposal.
Ineptitude? Retaliation? Punishment?
“This is the remains of Aruba Petroleum’s waste pit. The liner is torn, and some of the contents have been pulled out and spread around on our surface. They spilled oil, dumped sewage and who knows what else in this mud.”
The pit contents spread on the pasture:
Aruba Petroleum has lied……again. I sent a letter to their president demanding that this waste pit and contents be removed. It has sewage, oil and who knows what else in it. It’s been removed, all right – and spread around the surface of the pasture. You can still smell the hydrocarbons and sewage. They lied to me and to the TRRC because they told both of us it was going to be “Hauled Away”. It’s been ‘Hauled” about 200 feet away from the pit.
This is what the pit looked like a couple of weeks ago. 
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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I'm not sure, but did Tim know when he bought their property it did or did not include the mineral rights? Dude, that's a mess, you have got to get your family out of their. Get to a safe place and then fight the fight….that's a horror story…..
He was told that the mineral rights did not convey and that he would not received any money if they drilled. He was never told that they might take almost 1/2 his land under eminent domain and drill a well a few hundred feet from his back door. If that had been disclosed–it never, ever is–then, of course, he wouldn't have purchased the property.
Since there are over 900 acres in the mineral lease, most of it empty pasture. Who would ever think they would pick a spot in someone's back yard with all that vacant space?
Is this acceptable disposal of pit waste to the EPA?
Just curious.
I know that the most recent time that I spoke with the EPA a few months ago, they stated it had to affect an actual physical body of water for them to get involved.
Is our ground water (our sole source of drinking water when you live where we do) considered a physical body of water?
I know it is underground and all, but it is not still a body of water? An important body or water at that, yes??
I would think that this would seep into our drinking water at some point.
It may not be until my daughter has her children so I guess I should prepare her to test the water continually as a precaution when she starts a family.
What is the statute of limitations on proving water contamination? Is there a non-industry scientist out there that can project how long this will potentially take for this to reach our drinking water supply?
Private well water of course. We already know that there are "no proven" cases of "public" water contamination i.e. Alvord, Hudson Oaks etc.
That mess will affect the surface water from run-off long before it affects the ground water. Plus, it is evaporating toxins into the air.
The operator is allowed to do their own testing to determine if it's toxic. They will take it to their crony, Gilbow. Any idiot can look at it and know that it has hydrocarbons at the very least.
From the video, it looks like gas is leaking through that liquid in the pit.
So he did not get the mineral rights when he bought the property?
That's terrible, I'm not sure why if the lease is 900 acres they would want to put it next to his house. That's rude. Although, I don't think that a private company can use eminent domain to take private land for non-pubic use. The mineral owners are by law allowed access to their minerals. Usually they will negotiate surface rights with the owner. Was that not the case with them?
Aruba waited until the surface owners left for work then they dozed down the fence, letting their horses out. The neighbors called the owners at work and alerted them. No negotiations took place.
Yeah, the mineral owner can exercise eminent domain. We have a split estate in Texas.
WAJ that RRC! Don't waste you time calling them with a complaint.
I suppose Aruba would tell you that we came to an 'agreement' because (under duress) we signed a 'surface use' agreement. I would add that we signed this agreement while the bulldozers were tearing through the property, I was threatened with a restraining order if I didn't stop interfering, and it was 'take it or leave it, but we're going to be digging it up your personal property no matter what kind of 'agreement'. Oh, and by the way, no, I didn't have time to call you and let you know that we were coming, but I had plenty of time to get 6 bulldozers, 30 work men and other equipment together. That's how much we care about you 'surface owners'.
It's just extremely difficult for people to believe this can happen in America. As you well know, it requires a paradigm shift.
Even mineral owners are not safe. They gave me a take it or leave it deal and I felt I needed to protect my surface owners and my own surface.
We don't really own anything unless you are extremely wealthy. They never do this to extremely wealthy or in wealthy neighborhoods.
The new face of environmental injustice.
just fyi. shiloh chris is a mineral owner in flower mound who has leased to big gas and is trying to justify her position by only reporting part of the story on her blog that i will not link to
That's interesting, Anon 10:51. Shiloh Chris is incredibly naive and she/he is also flat out wrong. (S)he must have swallowed everything the landman said.
"Although, I don't think that a private company can use eminent domain to take private land for non-pubic use."
This is completely false! The mineral owner can exercise the right of eminent domain to develop the minerals and the surface owner has no rights what-so-ever. Once the mineral lease is signed, the company that leased the minerals has control over the property even if it's not a split estate. So mineral owners who are naive and uninformed like Shiloh Chris have leased their minerals and ended up just like Tim. I've seen it happen hundreds of time. Once you sign, you have NO CONTROL other than the provisions listed in your lease.
Also, pipeline companies, which are private companies, can exercise eminent domain. I realize that is hard to believe but it's true.
"Usually they will negotiate surface rights with the owner.
Wow! NOT SO! They don't have to do anything and there is no "usually."
Could the Riggerio's plant a garden on that land? Hell no. I hope justice is served and that Aruba gets sued and is forced to compensate with big penalties.
Yes I know, when our neighborhood was approached to lease our minerals we were lucky. Several of my neighbors are ex-oil and gas engineers and we formed a neighborhood group to negotiate for the whole group. And just one of the provision in our lease is they do not have any surface rights at all period. We also along with the town don't allow open pit drilling. And we got them to agree to build a waster water collection facility (which was one our are # 1 demands)that would pipe the waste water to the Bunn Wilson Lease where their already exist a compression station. We felt this would lessen the surface impact to the environment, reduce truck traffic next to our homes, and the potential number of spills. I do feel for those who have been wronged by the industry. And the rotten operators. But as with all things, there are good one too.
Miss Sharon is correct. You need to get the surface use agreements worked out in the lease. And P.S. read your lease before you sign it.
Oh. So, you won't have any disturbance of your surface! That's wonderful for you but terrible for whomever they ruin to access your minerals. They will use eminent domain on someone else to develop YOUR minerals!!! Unless that person welcomes a toxic facility on their property, you will profit from their misery.
Not allowing open pits is a good start but that waste still requires disposal. It does not just disappear! Once again someone else will suffer so that you can profit.
And the waste collection facility !!! Well, it won't bother you one bit however it will certainly impact all the people who live near the collection facility. Not to mention the eminent domain to install pipelines through OTHER people's yards.
Wonderful that you reduced the truck traffic next to YOUR homes but other people will surely suffer. What about the waste facility where all this waste will be disposed of??? It won't bother you one bit because it won't be in your backyard.
You feel for those who have been wronged by industry but your actions have and will wrong the less fortunate.
I know you believe that Williams is a good operator because that's what they want you to believe. The reality is quite different.
wow! some people have the ability to justify just about anything.
Sharon, again you are right on. We have had to listen to Shiloh Chris and the rest of her neighborhood cry about the safety of their neighborhood. Why is her neighborhood more important than the others in Flower Mound? Of course they don't want this in their backyards. She fails to see the danger of this facility being 1 to 2 miles of 5000 homes and 5 schools. The problem is, she and the rest of her group haven't had the ability to see what they are imposing on the rest of Flower Mound and the neighboring towns of Bartonville and Argyle because they have their heads so far up Williams' ass.
They saying the opposition is jealous about the "money" the Shiloh group will make off of their royalties. But I own my mineral rights and could care less about the money. I'll choose people over money anyday.
it's typical of psychopaths to make everything about money because they are incapable of empathy, guilt or remorse and they have no conscience. as long as they get to exercise their "right" to develop their minerals, who cares about anyone else or their children or the environment.
one problem with their thinking in this case is that they will also suffer from the environmental damage. maybe they believe the smoke williams blew up their asses so they think they will get rich and move to costa rica. hahaha williams is the only one getting rich off this deal.
Here's how the pipeline process worked for us.
A subcontractor of Aruba told us that they were going to put a pipeline across the front of our driveway. He said they were going pay us $10 a foot. We said "NO" we don't want a pipeline running across our driveway yards from our home. It is not safe.
The Aruba subcontractor said he only had to pay us .50 cents a foot because that is what the lease called for. I guess that was supposed to make us feel like we were getting a really good deal.
We said it had nothing to do with the money and refused again. We didn't want a pipeline running across our driveway yards from our home.
We signed nothing and accepted nothing. To this day, we have signed nothing and accepted nothing.
Guess what happened? About a month ago they knocked down our fence and put in the pipeline across our driveway yards from our home. Our home is now literally surrounded by pipeline. All four sides.
Miss Sharon, you need to get out a map. This well is in the middle of a large agricultural plot of land. They are not going to have to ruin anyone's property to develop this well. All of the lines in the neighborhoods are the lateral wells drilled 8,000 feet below. And as of yet, the Argyle site is still not approved. And if you again will look at your map, the pipeline if it were to be built would go west, then north. Away from Flower Mound. 99% of that property is rural. The facts are, as I see them, the folks in Wellington just don't like this business even though they are over 2 miles away from it's activity. And in no way is it coming to them. You can't make the set backs to drill there. All gas operations in Flower Mound are going to be generally at least 2 miles west of Wellington and Bridlewood. I personally have not seen the site plans, nor am I familiar with the geology of the Argyle proposed well site. I might not agree with Williams that the site is acceptable, and it's is up to the town of Argyle to decide that issue. I do see their point.
Dear SC, Someone owns that agricultural plot of land! Unless they are a mineral owner and will profit from this well, then their agricultural land will be spoiled for your benefit!
YIPPEE! The pipeline will go away from Flower Mound oh Flower Mound. Do you think Flower Mound is the only place on this earth where people live? The pipeline will still cross OTHER people's property.
Dear, Dear SC, I LIVE IN RURAL WISE COUNTY AND SO DO TIM AND CHRISTINE. WE DO NOT LIKE PIPELINES ON OUR PROPERTY EITHER. NOR DO WE APPRECIATE ALL THE DRILLING WASTE FROM YOU CITY FOLKS!
Dear, Dear, Dear SC, the waste from your well will be deposited right next to my dear friend's home. She is a widow raising 3 children on her own.
FACE it! Other people will suffer because of YOU.
Wow! Shiloh Chris has bought the propaganda completely! She doesn't care what happens to other people as a result of her actions.
One of my neighbors works for Williams Petroleum. He tells me things and he would shit if they tried to put a well on his property.
Miss Sharon, Dr Bob Smith owns the ranch in question, and he was the one who got the whole thing started. He was the first one to make a deal with Williams. So, I am assuming he was OK with it. Second, again, the central waste water collection facility is going to be located on the Wilson lease (Bunn) compressor site which is another large track of agg land. They are right next to each other. They do not have to cross any private or residential property to get to it. And if they do end up piping it up to Argyle, the majority of it will be piggy backed on an existing Atmos easement that is located primarily in state & local right of ways.
Good that Dr. Smith doesn't mind having his property spoiled.
Still, the waste water collection site will have toxic emissions that will negatively impact others and there will be pipelines.
Also the Atmos easement is not enough? Add insult to injury by piping corrosive material.
Still, Dear SC, the site for disposal of this waste water and compressor station is right next door to my friend and a very sweet young couple. Too bad that YOUR drilling waste will cause their property to be worthless and possibly contaminate other people's water.
There are so many other issues with this facility but I can tell that you don't really care.
This is that same lady who tried to discredit the article about NORM that was in the Denton Paper.
That NORM information was later confirmed by the Railroad Commission.
Janet, where do you live? My neighbor also works for Williams. You should have seen his face when he thought they were going to do seismic on his property. Fortunately for him, I was able to keep them off his property. He was terrified that they might put a well on him but I kept them off.
I know how to solve this problem!
Let Shiloh Chris have the disposal well on her property. Then they won't have to pipe or truck the stuff to some other unlucky folks. Let the ones who profit from the waste dispose of their own waste.
Oops! I goofed up on that last post. Shiloh Chris is not being forthright here. Williams plans to use the tank battery for the waste from all or many of their FM wells PLUS they plan to charge other operators for bringing their waste to the battery. This will be a huge mess.
Miss Sharon, that's rude to say that I don't care about what happens to people. I'm not sure what site you are referring to, but if you are referring to the one in Argyle, I have already said that I'm not sure about that yet. I don't know that much about it. Other than it's somewhat close to Bartenville's city well. And believe me, I do have concerns about that. I have not seen the geoglogy data regarding that proposed injection well site. But, I can assure you of this, if it is not compatible with Bartenville's city well I will be the first one in line to argue against it. So please don't label me as one note.
I wonder how much they would pay me to be a disposal site? And believe me I would have some serious regulations, and my place would not look like a sh-t hole. I wouldn't allow trucks, just pipelines. That's not a bad idea. But I don't think the town will give me a permit.
Miss Chris, you shove your waste off on other people then call me rude? Interesting twist.
Why don't you get right on that idea to turn your own property into a disposal dump? That's a great idea. When the pipelines leak as they always do, you can send me pictures of your dead vegetation and I'll post them on my blog
Miss Sharon, I am not shoving my waste onto someone else. I am trying to have a civil conversation about a serious issue.
If we can do that, then perhaps we can make some progress. As I now understand it, the approved disposal sites are privately own? So, I am assuming they are running a business? In town where I live, the town picks up the garbage once a week and hauls it off. The landfill is in lewisville. That's the business of Flower Mound, and the Lewisville. What do you do with your trash?
Also; Miss Sharon, I forgot to mention that after Flower Mound shot down Williams request to do seismic surveys, several of my neighbors, including myself cut a deal with Williams to let them do the test on our property. I just have a little over an acre. They came out and did it, while I was working in my house and didn't feel a thing.
Miss Chris, I do not believe you are trying to have a serious conversation. This seems more like someone who is trying to justify her actions.
Are you seriously trying to compare my one bag a week of garbage to toxic drilling waste produced in the pursuit of profits? That's quite a stretch.
Are you seriously comparing the disposal of household trash to the MILLIONS of gallons of POISON that being pumped through our water tables? (not to mention the 6,000 gallon 'produced water' tanker trucks dumping it into Denton Creek, road ditches and streams)
I think what we're all trying to get you to understand is that there is no such thing as Good Operator. Instead of negotiating a better deal for you and your neighbors, you should be demanding that none of it gets installed anywhere. In HUNDREDS of examples, the gas companies do what they please, when they want to do it. Maybe they negotiate a little, give some charity $100 and set up shop as they like. The TRRC is CORRUPT. The TCEQ is inept. Permits get rubber stamped. There is no review of who lives where, what the environmental impact will be, nothing. If you really did give a damn about anyone except your oil and gas neighbors, you'd be protesting against it, not negotiating to have it moved somewhere else. Moving this shit over to an existing site doesn't lessen the dangers.
No Miss Sharon the point I am trying to make is that there is a proper safe authorized facility willing to take that produced waste water. It's not like their taking it to the neighbors yard and dumping it there. Just like there is a place to properly dispose of trash, there is a place to dispose of produced water. And for that matter, their are also places designated to accept and dispose of medical bio-hazardous, and radioactive medical waste.
Feeling seismic testing is the least of your issues. here's how this works: 1) Seismic testing. If you say no, they do it anyway. 2) If you're lucky, you'll then get a letter in the mail from their attorneys warning you not to interfere with their legal right to extract the minerals in a 'reasonable manner'. I'll let you figure out who defines 'reasonable'. Hint: It ISN'T you. 3) If you don't get the warning letter in the mail, they'll likely wait for you to leave for work. Maybe a stay home neighbor will call to let you know the gas company just knocked down your fence and let your horses run off. 4) The bible-toting LIAR from the gas company will tell you what a great deal he has for you and offer you a small pittance for the damages they are going to cause to your 'surface'. He'll also probably tell you how much trouble he's going to get in with his boss because they don't normally give people that much money before screwing them. 5) No matter what he tells you on that first day, nothing will happen after that like he's described. It'll be far worse, the damage more extensive than you can imagine, the noise nearly intolerable (hey, it's "Only a temporary nuisance", he'll say) and the diesel exhaust blowing 24/7 and the screeching of the brakes on the hoist will drive you nearly insane. 6) Complain to the TRRC. Hold hour breath waiting for them to give a shit. 7) Complain to the TCEQ. You'll have to file a FOIA to get any information from them. 8) Complain to the Good Operator and your now Good Neighbor. watch him smile and shrug his shoulders and hear him with his company line…We're (Williams, EnCana, Chesapeake, Aruba, etc.) and We Don't Care…Because We Don't Have To!
Good Lord, Woman ! Are you really that NAIVE or are just trying to piss me off!? How does one 'properly dispose of' Millions of Gallons of POISON?
Tell you what…since you need to obviously have your eyes open to REALITY….
Get your map out….look it up on Mapquest…..415 Star Shell Rd in Decatur. Take a look at this SHIT for yourself and tell me how it could even begin to be properly disposed of? There is SEWAGE, Chemicals, OIL and who knows what else in THEIR drilling mud that they have now dug up out of the waste pit and spread out all over OUR SURFACE. Right now, you can still see oil sheen across the surface of the water. The rain in the last few days is helping it leach further down into the ground, less than 300 feet from our back door.
If you come out before 6 tonight, maybe you can chat with the woman from the TCEQ who is responding to our complaint about the strong odor of propane. There's that Good Neighbor, Good Operator bullshit for you again.
Well, Miss Chris. Put that oh-so-extra-safe waste disposal onYOUR land not next to these other people. I happen to have VAST experience with injection wells and numerous friends who have been harmed by them. Just keep your to ic waste to yourself and stop trying to shove it off to ruin other people's property value and health.
All you are doing here is trying to justify you reprehensible actions of harming others for profit.
Miss Sharon, again, I'm trying to have a civil conversation about this issue. What would be your solution to the disposal of produced waste water?
And Tim, Texas Property Statutes Chapter 21, Sections 21.0112, added by Acts 2007, Chapter 1201, Section 3, Sub Section 402.031, para b(2) does give you the right of notice, and to bona fide negations, as well as judicial appeal. I don't know if it will help.
I am not naive, nor am I inexperienced. I know when someone is being sincere and when they aren't.
However, all that aside, the waste should be recycled preferably and anything that can't be recycled should be disposed of on site NOT hauled to where someone else is trying to have a life!
I can assure you that Tim is highly intelligent and well aware of the Texas Property Statutes. As with everything else, the regulation is after the fact. Tim is now forced to hire a lawyer and fight the deep pockets of Big Gas. After the fact regulation is way too late. How do you clean water that is contaminated? How do you clean an aquifer?
It's easy to see that you have done some light reading on this subject and it obvious that you have no first hand experience.
I happen to live in the county where the Barnett Shale was born so I've been at this for a while. And, Tim, has been completely through the wringer.
Amen to your last post Sharon. I have to tell you that Chris is one of many out in the Shiloh area that are convinced that this is the best way to get rid of the waste. They are convinced because Williams told them so. The waste water collection facility was not "their" idea. Williams has these facilities in other places. I have seen one. My friend lives by one and is not happy about it. They are a mess with pipelines everywhere. Williams doesn't even want to talk about recycling and reuse on site. They just say it is cost prohibited. No one has seen a cost analysis as of yet. Here is the real deal. Williams is going to make a ton of money on this CCF. They will take waste from all over Flower Mound and other communities and charge for the service then they will send up to our neighbors in Argyle. They will make money on both sites. Shiloh Chris, you are flattering yourself if you think Williams is doing this for you and your friends. They are doing it for PROFIT pure and simple. They just used you to help fight their fight. When you are no longer needed, you better watch out.
Wow. This post has generated quite the heated debate-ish convo. ^_^ Aruba is really just pissing me off. I mean, so much so that I would like to go spread toxic sludge all over their lawns and maybe drop a couple of beakers worth of some chemical soup (my own concoction of course — it'll only be "safe" chemicals like the ones in their fracking fluids!) into their water. I don't understand why/how a company can be so negligent. Do they not realize that if they keep killing people that maybe there won't be anyone left to supply those companies with money??? Okay, maybe that was just a little apocalyptic, but still. It's ridiculous. And reading this whole comments section has just proven that O&G propaganda is, in fact, working. Hopefully though, O&G will go the way of big tobacco? I mean, it has taken forEVER but there is certainly a lot more regulation on tobacco and such. And they have to at least print warnings. Also, they're even similar–addictive, slow-killing tyrants! You know, for the EPA being based in Dallas, they sure are doing a shit-ass job of patrolling Texas air and water. Weren't they supposed to be suing Texas for non-compliance with EPA guidelines or something like that? What happened!?
Miss Sharon, I know that you are not naive, nor are you inexperienced. By visiting your blog site I have learn a lot of new things. Certainly from a different perspective. And Tim and his family, I don't know where that went wrong but they have ended up with a disaster. My father is a mechanical engineer, and his parter is a geologist. He was with General American for like 30 some odd years until he retired. He and my Dad now have wells in Taft, California, mostly slant, and J wells. Roy was one of the guys of invented the process of squeezing oil out of shale rock. So I actually do know a little about the industry. Tim and his family have certainly had from what I can read and see nothing less than a horror story dealing with their operator. But we have not had that same experience with the operator we do business with. We leased them our mineral rights, but we also negotiated surface usage rights as well in a separate agreement. We also have remediation agreement with them as well. People need to do their homework and get good legal advice before signing or agreeing to anything. I truly do hope that Tim and his family will be make whole again. I know it looks bad now, but if he has an agreement with them, he can hold their feet to the fire.
Tammi 6:48 pm, not to be rude, but are you a officer, or executive, or have anything to do with the oil and gas industry? Because you seem to know alot about their profit structure. And if you not with an oil company, does the company you work for do it to loose money so it can't pay it's employees, or bill? Or are they like most companies in the US that actually try and make a profit?
Oh Pah-leeze! Ask "the operator" you do business with about the people in Grandview.
You are too blind to see.
No kidding, Grandview, TX. I have a lot of kin folks from there. My mother was born in Cleburne, TX. And my Great Grand Father Boss Garner was a black smith there.
Then you might want to ask "the operator" you do business with about the frack job that went bad down there and ruined the water wells of several families. One family lost EVERYTHING and now lives in a hovel in Burleson. The others are having to haul water to their homes in big tanks. Williams told them that they would never prove anything and they would keep the case tied up in court for ever.
Now there is a plume of toluene in the Trinity Aquifer and it can't be washed out.
Good luck with your wells.
That's a shame….pick it up with you tommrow……..sack time.
Do you not know that the RRC man David is "an old friend" of Aruba VP and with Gilbow of Gilbow Oilfield Services ( company that hauls off the water). They all go way back and David is in both of their back pockets. It will all blow up in RRC face someday whether it be a well site or a disposal well site. Gilbow has a disposal well on Aruba property in Greenwood Tx which is a total JOKE. Pressure head readings are way to high yet they just keep lying on reports and David just keeps turning his head.
"they do not have any surface rights at all period." – so how are they going to do seismic testing since that is now outlawed in Flower Mound? They have to do it on your property, is everyone going to be cool with that? Oddly enough, all of the signs about the centralized facility were stolen overnight from a FM neighborhood. So who's radical now, the people who put signs out, or the people who go around at 3am to steal them?
Yes, our stop the drilling signs go missing now and then too. These CCF signs were urging residents to go to the meeting on Thursday night.
Amazing. I just read this post and comments. It should be required reading for everyone facing this issue in the Barnett Shale and elsewhere since it impacts everyone on our planet. Thank you, Sharon.
….for job security reasons, I won't post my name…..
First, if anyone in Texas buys land without minerals, they are foolish. It is the only way to control what goes on, above and below the land.
Second, if I had a drilling pit on my land, the very least I would do is get samples of liquids and solids. Then have a 3rd party test for hydrocarbons. Measure TPH/BTEX loadings, if any.
Third, if you have a legitimate belief that the RRC inspector is "in the pocket". YOU go to the District Director and lodge a "formal complaint". Tell him the FACTS, not hear-say and also tell him you want your complaint taken to the Commissioners also, and you would want written confirmation.
-walt
Check a few spots for mercury. It’s a $25 test and the RRC can’t ok mercury spreading. They only check for a few things.