Last night there was an emergency at an Aruba Petroleum gas well site in Wise County. It was not the first time.
Video One
Video Two
There is a video on Facebook you can watch to get the general idea of how frightening this event would be for those living nearby. I have additional video and maybe I’ll post it on YouTube at some point.
It sounded like a jet engine and smelled of natural gas and chemicals. The people living nearby didn’t know if the well might blow up or suffocate them in their sleep.
An online complaint was made to the TCEQ at about 10:00 PM last night. They showed up 13 hours later at the Ruggiero’s house and I just happened to be there. The jet engine noise stopped at about 10:00 AM, an hour before the TCEQ arrived and 12 hours after the noise first started. Neighbors listened to the noise and breathed the fumes all night long.
We learned from the TCEQ investigators that they came to the area about 1:00 AM but were unable to locate the well. This, despite the fact that all well site locations are on the TCEQ website with GPS coordinates.
When they didn’t find the site last night, they went home and came back this morning. The Ruggieros gave them a map and a printout from the TCEQ website with the location information.
If you watch the video, you will notice the compressor fan is not turning. Aruba does not have a permit for a compressor at this site. They have a permit for a compressor at a nearby site that has no compressor. When Christine explained this to the TCEQ inspector, he informed us that the Texas Railroad Commission permits compressors. It’s not their fault they have not had proper training.
In the past two years, I have received several calls late at night when there were emergency situations in the Barnett Shale. I am not equipped to deal with gas well emergencies but, it seems, there is no one else to call.
I have personally called the Texas Railroad Commission emergency number only to hear it ring endlessly.
I’m tired and so are most of the people who live in the gas patch. Could some investigative reporter please take on this issue? It’s really not my job.
Thanks.
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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Back in January in a Mansfield City Council meeting there was this council member who kind of hinted that he likened a drill site on every corner. I suggest he be the on-call person if anything goes wrong in that town or on properties in the area.
The problem a lot of face is two-fold, especially when it comes to dealing with companies like ARUBA PETROLEUM: First, we have to become our own natural gas experts and learn every possible aspect of it. We have to educate ourselves on how all these different pieces of equipment operate and what they are supposed to do-and aside from a major gas leak, fire, explosion or something obvious, we are the ones who are forced to monitor the wells and other equipment.
Second, since Aruba Petroleum does not list any phone numbers on their signage, even the RRC#, it makes it difficult to identify the location when reporting any issues.
I think in the future, since the TCEQ drove past this site twice and didn't even know it (in spite of directions and raod names provided) that I'll just call 911 instead. Maybe the fire deprtment will grow weary of having to respond to problems and they can force something to happen.
We called the fire dept, police dept, and sheriff dept when we has a problem at the Razyor Ranch site and they damn sure got in touch with Range and told them to handle it because they were sick of all the 911 calls.
Yep, calling the local Fire Dept. each incident *will* eventually get their attention.
We also had and 'incident' here on gaswell A. I reported it on Tuesday, May 3, to the Encana emergency site. Judy, the answering service operator in Wyoming took my message and promised someone would get back to me….still waiting. Apparently, according to our own patrol, the water value for the fraked water blew 2-3 weeks ago. Someone turned it off eventually and the gate has been left open every since. A neighbor reported the 'incident'. This appears to be our only warning system. We don't know who turned off the value.
Interesting post. Just like in Booger county, the WCEQ can't see anything, hear anything, smell anything nor find anything! Ha. Call them only for entertainment purposes–it's cheaper than going to the movies! Results is the same, NOTHING, except entertainment.