Dear Friends, Texas is such a Great State but our Railroad Commission has been bought and sold to the industries it is suppose to regulate and the lobbyists that work for those industries. When I found out about the gas coupling explosions this year and last that killed and injured several Texans, I worked tirelessly to change the policy of the Texas Railroad Commission. Originally staffers at the Railroad Commission generated a letter that was to be sent to the gas companies with the outdated gas couplings. The gas companies were to repair almost 100,000 coupling which placed Texans in danger, but this letter was stopped and nothing was to be done and the matter forgotten. Through my efforts and a dedicated news station, I went to the Railroad Commission and filed an open records request and found several disturbing documents related to this matter. After numerous calls and letters to various news organizations, the Railroad Commissioners under pressure changed their policy and ordered the replacement of the gas coupling that were reported to have lead to numerous Texans deaths since the 1980’s.
Injection Well Fire in Johnson County
Two men were injured by a fire that burned two trucks and sent thick black smoke into the sky Monday at a salt water storage plant south of Fort Worth near Keene Texas. One person was taken by helicopter for burns and another worker had some minor burns and was treated on site. Reportedly the fire started when a small engine on a machine somehow sparked the fire as the machine was being used to clean a pit where salt water and oil are separated, authorities said.
This facility stores salt water, which is used in the natural gas extraction process. Later this waste water goes where, yes you guessed it back into the ground.
Poisonous oilfield waste water being pumped into the ground of North Texas
Soon Injection Wells could pump hundreds of thousands of gallons a day of oilfield waste into the ground. This waste is mostly oily saltwater used in drilling. But it also contains substances such as waste crude, sludge from storage pits and tank bottoms, glycol, amine, and hydrogen sulfide. There are also known carcinogens such as benzene. The Texas Railroad Commission doesn’t classify oil and gas waste as hazardous. Thereby the Texas Railroad Commission according to state law, can allow this water to be injected almost anywhere. Injection wells may have the potential to poison rural land and cities across the North Texas area and citizens are worried about their drinking water, much of it obtained from ground water sources. In rural areas injection wells are showing up without warning. These wells are the down-side of the Barnett Shale gas boom. Many people are getting rich off this gas money but at what cost to citizens health? Injection wells use high-pressure pumps to inject liquid wastes into under-ground geologic formations (e.g., sandstone or sedimentary rocks with high porosity ). Geologists believe that wastes may be isolated from drinking water aquifers when injected between impermeable rock strata. However, injection wells are still very controversial and many scientists are concerned that leaks from these wells may contaminate groundwater. But who will the Texas Railroad Commission listen to the people of Texas who want safe drinking water or the big oil and gas companies that contribute to their campaigns?
Gas pipeline explosions have killed Texans but nothing is being done.
Recently several pipeline gas leaks in North Texas have caused deaths and injuries and has exposed the explosive dangers of non-restraint compression couplings on over 100,000 Texas homes. Non-restraint compression couplings have been reported to be responsible for a least two deaths in Texas and a large number of fatal incidents nationwide which resulted in several prior NTSB investigations and advisories. As far back as 1980 in Keller Texas a non-restraint compression couplings reportedly failed due to soil expansion caused by a severe rain and later a drought. In Cleburne a recent explosion is also being investigated to what might be the cause of that incident. The energy pipeline corporations know where these non-restraint compression couplings are located since they must maintain cathodic protection records for such installations. Texas Railroad Commissioners Mike Williams, Victor Carrillo and Elizabeth Ames Jones have been unable or apparently refuse to move on this very serious safety issue, These Commissioners should have been more proactive to make sure gas providers maintain and monitor their pipelines and equipment and replace these, non-restraint compression couplings that are reported over and over again to be a serious danger to Texas Citizens.
As a candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner in 2008 I have been concerned about the lack of tough enforcement that the Texas Railroad Commission has had with energy corporations. The Texas Railroad Commission has been too friendly and has received too much money in campaign contributions from industries they are suppose to regulate. For many years the office of Texas Railroad Commissioner has been a patronage position for friends and supporters of powerful politicians in Texas. The Texas Railroad Commission needs reform. Therefore I urge that Commissioners Mike Williams, Victor Carrillo and Elizabeth Ames Jones resign their respective offices and return all campaign money from the energy corporations they regulate. Also I am asking Texas Governor Rick Perry to return all campaign money from theses energy corporations since he originally appointed two of these Commissioners.
