Disposal Well in Argyle May Mean More Pipelines for FM

We mentioned a disposal site just over the border in Argyle in previous posts. It seems Williams may pump excessive amounts of drilling waste from their proposed waste water facility to this new disposal site. This article in the Denton Record Chronicle talks about the new disposal site and compressor station.

Funny, Williams never mentioned pumping the waste FROM the Waste Water Collection Facility to a disposal site before. They just keep the surprises coming. What could this mean? MORE PIPELINES! Read below.

Officials with Williams and Bosque say the public would benefit from centralized locations for gas compression and wastewater disposal, for aesthetic and practical reasons. For example, Bosque plans to send wastewater to the disposal well through underground pipes, limiting the need for gas drillers to haul it by truck on public roads to other disposal sites, the company’s president said.

Williams hopes to drill 100 new gas wells in Flower Mound and is asking city leaders there to approve plans for a centralized compressor and wastewater collection facility, Swan said. That facility would pool wastewater from Flower Mound gas wells and store it in aboveground tanks for later disposal elsewhere — including, potentially, the proposed disposal well near Argyle, he said.

Bartonville Water Supply Corp. is protesting the disposal well and Argyle may follow suit. They will have this disposal site and underground pipelines carrying toxic drilling waste water through their communities. Many residents are protesting this facility as well. It will be interesting what position Flower Mound will take on this issue since we can assume most of their waste will be going to this disposal well via pipelines.

Again, the main concern is regulation of this type of facility. Texas leads the nation for the most drilling activity and the worst regulation. Even though there is no record of an accident concerning the companies involved, we all know that it is physically impossible for the Texas Railroad Commission to inspect all the drilling activity. In addition to the 50,000 permitted oil and gas injection and disposal wells, they are responsible for over 250,000 gas and oil wells. As of 2008, the TRC had less than 100 inspectors. Do the math!

In Texas, the railroad commission oversees more than 50,000 permitted oil and gas injection and disposal wells, including nine in Denton County. Other than brine, injected fluids can also include small amounts of drilling mud, fracturing and well treatment chemicals, and residual hydrocarbons from oil and natural gas, according to the railroad commission.