Attn: Argyle and Bartonville residents.

A band of mothers is on a discovery mission in the Argyle and Bartonville areas. We would rather be doing something entirely different like, digging in our gardens or shopping for shoes but a mother’s instinct to protect her family cannot be mitigated.

Dog cancer seems to be alarmingly high in Argyle and Bartonville. Since dogs are outside often and drink water from puddles that collect in the area, dog health is a good indicator for the overall health of the local environment. (I didn’t make that up, more than one scientist has confirmed it.)

We are gathering as much data as possible about cancer rates in Argyle and Bartonville animals. If you would like to report animal cancer please contact me or Runner Susan. And, please help us spread the word about this effort.

Remember, the oil and gas industry enjoys broad exemptions from all our federal environmental statutes. There is no reason–other then decades of backroom deal-making–for these exemptions. Obviously, the industry can afford to follow the same rules other industries follow.

Oil and gas operations are allowed to store all kinds of toxic and dangerous chemicals on site and we already know that they aren’t particularly careful are reckless in their handling of the chemicals. Here are a few chemicals I pulled off a list at a Denton well site:

Antifreeze
Diesel
Caustic Soda (Lye)
Corrosion Inhibitor (…interesting that they give no other information here. CR6 is commonly used in the oil and gas industry.)
Ethylene Glycol
and so on…

If a few of these chemicals get spilled here and there, who’s to know with all those good neighborly walls surrounding the sites? Then it rains and snows and rains and rains and runoff happens. Like so (Photos submitted by anonymous, lunatic, cyclist reader):

Williams Petroleum N. Gibbons Road.

Notice the black hose in the drainage ditch. I don’t think it’s an intake hose. IJS

These photos of another Williams Petroleum operation, Blessing Unit, were submitted by a different reader:

Oil and gas operations are exempt from runoff and erosion controls that apply to other industry. The Bartonville mayor disputed that statement recently. Maybe he should check the Texas Health Code to see if there is some leverage he can use to stop some of the pollution occurring in his area.

UPDATE: Frogs, another indicator, are dying in Runner Susan’s yard. She estimates about a dozen so far but will keep more formal records going forward.

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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