60,000 Gallons Of Drilling Fluids And Waste Spilled!!!

It has been reported that over 60,000 gallons of oil and gas related fluids were spilled due to the flooding in Colorado.

Pipelines, transportation and storage of oil, gas, frack water and  drilling waste is dangerous. How many permits and variances have been granted too close or in flood plains in Texas?

Some of you in Flower Mound may remember that the town almost let in a huge Centralized Collection Facility (CCF) that would allow the transportation of drilling waste via pipelines throughout the town. The waste would have been stored in multiple storage tanks called tank batteries. Just like the tanks we saw overturned or floating in the flood waters in Colorado. Thankfully the residents woke up and rallied to stop the CCF.
Here are a few past posts about the CCF:
Click here and here

We have heard that drilling seems to be starting up in neighboring towns again. In fact, it appears most of our concerned residents have quietly slipped back into a peaceful sleep when it comes to gas and oil production issues. Last time everyone was sleeping over 80 wells were permitted and close to 60 wells were drilled......

Williams Sells Off Assets In The Barnett Shale

WPX aka Williams Gulf Coast Production has sold off their assets in Flower Mound and across the Barnett Shale to KKR Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts and their partner Premier Natural Resources.

The sale includes approximately 27,000 acres in the Barnett shale in north Texas and eastern Oklahoma. The deal also includes approximately 66,000 acres in the Arkoma shale in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/02/3854910/kkr-natural-resources-buys-more.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/02/3854910/kkr-natural-resources-buys-more.html#storylink=cpy

Click here to read article in the Star Telegram.
Click here to read article at Yahoo Finance.

Click here for Premier Natural Resources website.

Gas and Oil shale drilling coming to a neighborhood near you?

Gas and Oil Shale drilling coming to a neighborhood near you? Click here for 3 good maps of shales in North America.

Thinking of moving off the Barnett Shale……..

We have put together a list States that currently have drilling activity, have had drilling activity in the past, about to have drilling, being looked at for drilling and have gas transmission pipelines running through them.


Why worry about the past? Communities sprout up all the time and some are in areas where some type of drilling or mining has happened many years before. Most people would want to know what went on before they got there.


Why worry about what is about to happen or what could happen? Just ask many of us in the Barnett Shale how important that question is. Most of us had no idea what was below us when we moved here.


List of States that currently have drilling or have had drilling:


Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming


States about to be hit by drilling


North Carolina.
http://reesenews.org/2011/06/06/nc-counties-could-face-natural-gas-drilling/16418/

South Carolina.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=227969367215560#!/

States with gas and oil leases signed and being looked at but no drilling activity


Oregon and Washington State. http://www.blm.gov/or/landsrealty/oilandgas.php
“Thick basalt flows overlay the potential reservoirs, making exploration and development costly. With rising gas prices, advances in technology, and the lack of previous development, there has been a dramatic interest in oil and gas leases in Oregon and Washington in the past few years. Half of the revenue derived from leasing and royalties is returned to the state where the leases are located. Currently there are more than 300 federal leases representing about 500,000 acres in Oregon and Washington. There are currently no active oil and gas drilling or exploration sites in Oregon or Washington.”


Minnesota and Wisconsin. http://www.geo.umn.edu/mgs/rift_gas/explore.htm
This u-tube video explains why this area of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa has potential for drilling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kmGZ4MTJE

Don’t count out under the Great Lakes. The United States largest fresh water resource. http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/GrtLakes/OilGas/info.html

You can add the following states that have transmission pipelines, which would include the above states. Remember, where there is a pipeline, there will compressor stations.


Missouri and Georgia. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/US-Transmission/Pipeline-Assets/Texas-Eastern-Transmission/

Virginia. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/US-Transmission/Pipeline-Assets/East-Tennessee-Natural-Gas/

Watch where you move if you’re going to New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/US-Transmission/Pipeline-Assets/Algonquin-Gas-Transmission/

Include Maryland, New Hampshire and Maine. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/US-Transmission/Pipeline-Assets/Maritimes-Northeast-Pipeline/

Add Illinois. Keystone brings hot, corrosive crude from the Tar Sands of Canada. This map also includes the new proposed Keystone XL route. http://www.transcanada.com/images/content/Pipeline_Projects/KeystoneXL_Map_hd.jpg

Plans for more pipelines. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/New-Projects/

Natural Gas Storage


Natural gas is stored in two basic ways – compressed in tanks as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or in large underground storage facilities such as depleted gas wells, salt caverns or rock caverns, abandoned mines, and aquifers.


This map was as of 12/2007. The amount of gas storage has increased since this map. Texas alone has added gas storage facilities. http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/undrgrndstor_map.html

This is a good map of Williams Transco pipelines which shows gas storage areas as well. http://www.williams.com/docs/assetmap_gp.pdf

I think that leaves Vermont, who currently gets their natural gas from Canada and others. And Hawaii. I couldn’t find a map with their gas transmission pipelines but we have to assume they are present.

Josh Fox, Gasland Director, talks about whats fracking up our towns.

Thanks Josh for opening the eyes of many across the country.

Are chemicals from the oil and gas industry affecting the health of some Americans?
Read about it at TXSharon's post BP spill workers, Barnett Shale residents same chemicals in blood

Gas Drilling Near Cowboy Stadium?

On any given Sunday, over 100,000 (110,000 including the party pass area) people attend Cowboy Stadium. The city of Arlington may decide to allow drilling within a few blocks of the site.

In addition to bad air quality, this will put a strain on an already bad traffic situation in this area. What about the pipelines, tank batteries and compressors associated with gas drilling pad sites? With the Superbowl fast approaching, what in the world are they thinking!!!

The Star Telegram reported that Arlington council members boxes' were "flooded thousands of petitions from across the country". Yet one council member, Mel LeBlanc, is not listening. He plans on voting to allow the well. Mr. LeBlanc claims it has nothing to do with the stadium.

When is this guy up for re-election?

click here to sign the petition and "say no to gas drilling near cowboy stadium"

Substandard pipe steel pipe used for U.S. pipeline companies

Pipe mills produced substandard steel pipe during 2007 and 2009 for some United States pipeline companies. Some question whether or not all that defective pipe has been found. Here is a paragraph in a report from plainsjustice.org

Even though the documents released show that certain pipe mills provided most of the defective pipe, none of the documents describe any systematic approach to defining the scope of this problem or identify the final disposition of pipe provided by these mills during this time period. Thus, it is not clear that PHMSA has tracked down all of the potentially defective pipe joints and confirmed that they have been tested and, where necessary, replaced. Accordingly, this report provides recommended actions, accomplishment of which would assure the public that PHMSA has responded fully to the threat created by low-strength steel.

Click here for a report from plainsjustice.org

In the late spring of 2009, the government issued a warning about the defective pipe.
Click here and here to read a report on the warning.

In Shale Country, miles and miles of pipeline is used at high pressure. It is frightening to think that some of the pipes may not have been tracked down.

Gas Glut. Where does all that "abundant" gas go?

We are experiencing a "Natural Gas Glut" here in the United States. Demand for natural gas has dropped and so have the prices. Do you ever wonder where all that extra gas is stored?

Most of the natural gas extracted is stored underground. This U.S. Government report is from 2007. It shows all the gas storage facilities by region. Very interesting info. Since this report came out, many new underground facilities have popped up.

Click here for more info on gas storage.

If you are interested in how the gas is moved across the United States, or just looking for a place to move to get away from this, click here for a map of compressor stations and here for a map of shales.

An Explosive Week for Gas Drilling!

In a five day span, there have been at least 3 natural gas related explosions!

June 3rd, 2010 Clearfield County, PA gas well blowout that spewed natural gas and over 35,000 gallons of drilling wastewater for over 16 hours. This explosion and natural gas leak was so bad, FAA prohibited planes within a 3 mile radius of the area!!

PennDOT and the Federal Aviation Administration are prohibiting planes below 1,000 feet in a three-mile radius around the site. The big concern was fire because the natural gas is flammable, Spadoni said. Any spark could ignite a forest fire in any of the gas-soaked areas.
Click here for info.

June 7th, 2010 Morgantown, West Virginia explosion at a natural gas well. Seven workers injured.
Click here for info.

June 7th, 2010 Johnson County, Texas a natural gas pipeline explodes killing one and injuring eight. One resident living 1/2 mile away said the heat was scorching as she walked out onto her porch!!
Click here for more info.

She was watching TV when the blast rattled her windows. A wall of heat met her at the front porch.
"It felt like it was just scorching me," she said.

After reading about these explosions, it is clear that 1000 feet is not enough distance from homes, schools, hospitals, parks, churches or any habitable buildings!

Protesters near Argyle temporarily block gas well site

This morning 30 or more Argyle and Bartonville residents blocked the entrance to a Williams Gas Production site for a short time. Many of the protesters were moms from the area. Here is some information on the situation.

One of the protesters said a Williams spokesperson said that they will be putting in 32 tanks (they had previously been told 11, I believe, which is tragedy enough).

Kelly Swan, PR guy from Williams, was out there this morning and he was not happy that the moms were standing in front of the gate blocking access to Williams’ trucks until the Sheriff came out and made them move. After the Sheriff left, they remained near the entrance and protested throughout the day.

The Centralized Collection Facility, a fancy name for a Toxic Waste Water Tank Farm, site is on 7 acres, beautifully wooded before this morning.

It's in a flood plain.

There's a creek flowing through the property that's about 50 feet from where they're working.

The site is right in the middle of a neighborhood. There are homes all around. Yes, the lots are big but there are two homes abutting the site, several across the street, and more homes in the neighborhood. There are many people living near the site.

Williams originally wanted to put the CCF (Toxic Waste Water Tank Farm) on some property inside the city limits of Argyle, but some members of the Argyle town council helped Williams find other property in an unincorporated area. Some of the Argyle Town Council members are mineral lease holders. Fishy?

Many Dogs in the area have died from cancer or currently have cancer.

Williams' contractor, Vaquero, bulldozed oak trees. Some of the trees may have been 100-200 years old. The site is butted up to the back yard of a house on about 2 acres.

Read the recent article in the Denton Record Chronicle. Click here

Click here for a video of the destruction of the trees and property from this morning.

For more info go to: http://txsharon.blogspot.com/

Gas Wells Near Grapevine High School?

XTO proposed site for natural gas wells may be in Southlake but it is only 850 feet from Grapevine High School.

There was a meeting Tuesday night at Southlake Town Hall where residents could ask questions. There will be two more meetings tomorrow night 4/1 and Monday Night 4/5.

Grapevine does not allow drilling within 1000 feet of schools. Grapevine and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD may not be able to stop the well from being drilled since the site is actually in Southlake.

There are many concerns about the health and safety of the students attending the school. Highway 26 is the where the students and faculty enter and exit the campus.

Click here for the News 8 report.

A Whole Lotta Shaken Going On in Arlington Neighborhood

Our friend Jeana Cole has been complaining about the constant shaking going on under her Arlington home. Dishes and windows rattle, her pool has small waves and strange bubbles. She isn't the only resident in this neighborhood experiencing these strange events. All this is because of the construction of a natural gas pipeline behind her home.

In addition to the noise and vibration, many residents are worried about the safety of the pipeline. The residents said no to the pipeline but eminent domain allowed DFW Midstream to come through their neighborhood.

Click here for the News 8 story.
Click here for the CBS 11 story.

Flower Mound files appeal for eminent domain suit

The Dallas Morning News had a brief article on the Mockingbird/Williams Barnett Gathering System vs Town of Flower Mound eminent domain case Friday. The town has filed an appeal with the Texas Court of Appeals. This will be a closely watched case. Read below.


The Town of Flower Mound is seeking a Texas Court of Appeals ruling on whether a natural gas pipeline company can acquire an easement on municipal property through eminent domain.

Williams Barnett Gathering System began condemnation proceedings last month after the Flower Mound Town Council turned down the company's request for a 30-foot pipeline easement at a fire station located at FM 1171 and Shiloh Road.

The town filed an appeal Friday after Denton County Probate Judge Don Windle ruled that his court has jurisdiction to hear the case.

While pipeline companies have used the eminent domain to acquire easements on private property, Flower Mound contends that it has immunity from lawsuits. The case may set a legal precedent in Texas.

"We believe it eventually will have far-reaching consequences around Texas," said attorney Robert Brown, who is representing Flower Mound in the case

Cross Timbers Gazette also had a great article on the court case. Click here to read.

House explosion in Minnesota may be related to horizontal drilling

Crews from Centerpoint Energy were installing a telephone cable using the method of horizontal directional drilling. The problem is with so many pipelines and changes in the earth (settling and erosion) it is hard to be 100% sure of where the pipelines are.

The more pipelines the more difficult the process is. Here are a few paragraphs from the Minnesota Public Radio article.

It's known as horizontal directional drilling. Crews use small tractors with hydraulic rams to shove steel pipe through the ground -- instead of digging down from above with a shovel. It's a method cheaper and faster than other tactics.

But as good as the technology is, there's still no way to see what else is underground that might be in the way of their drilling. Sunderland's crew had to thread their way through gas lines, telephone wires, TV cable, sewer connections and even a sprinkler system.

Experts say there may be several such collisions -- called crossbores -- in every mile of underground pipe installation. Inspectors have found them in pipes leading to hospitals and schools.

Carter Avenue Rescue Operation

For almost two years, homeowners on Carter Avenue in Fort Worth have been fighting to keep a 16-inch un-odorized, highly corrosive, high pressure natural gas pipeline from being installed under their yards.

This cause is called CARO. CARTER AVENUE RESCUE OPERATION.

Please join CARO the new Facebook page to save Carter Avenue.

Who is policing gas transmission pipelines?

Gas transmission pipelines are everywhere. In fact 2 million miles of pipelines run throughout the United States. Click here to read an article about the gas industry is charged with policing itself. Pipeline operators perform their own inspections and file reports for federal officials to review.
This paragraph is alarming.

"There are so many pipelines, not all of them can be done at one time," said Damon Hill, spokesman with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal agency that inspects interstate pipelines.
The types of inspection include operation, maintenance and new construction. Some pipelines are tested for internal corrosion.
But there are very few independent inspectors in the field looking at pipes.
"It's more so looking at the records the operators are required to keep," Hill said
PHMSA requires pipeline owners to monitor their pipes for standards set by state and federal laws then file reports on what those self-inspections find.
It's a self-policing world.

IMPORTANT INFO ON TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ!!!
This explains what is going on at the meeting tomorrow
Mockingbird/Williams v. Town of Flower Mound

Mockingbird Pipeline/Williams Gas is suing the Town of Flower Mound in order to obtain eminent domain authority over land at Fire Station No.2 on Shiloh and 1171. They want to complete the pipeline that they are putting in for a gas transmission line and to complete that leg of the Central Collection Facility pipeline.


Williams and the town were in court all afternoon on Tuesday in Denton County Probate Court. The key argument on the side of Williams, through a Rule 12 motion, was that our Town Attorney and his law office did not have the authority to even represent the town against this land grab because the Council voted 2-2, Dixon and Wallace FOR and Filidoro and Hayden Against, to accept Williams offer of approx. $35,000 to take our land to complete their CCF pipeline.

Flower Mound’s Town Attorney, Terrence Welch, testified that, in his capacity, he has standing orders to vigorously defend our town in ALL lawsuits filed against the town. Those orders go back over 19 years that he has been Town Attorney.

In an extraordinary ruling, the probate court judge ordered the Town Attorney to go back to Town Council and obtain a resolution authorizing him and his law firm to represent the town in this action. Court will resume next week whereby the Town Attorney will be required to prove that he does represent the town in this action.


This has caused the Town Council to hold a special council meeting this Saturday morning at 9:00 am to take up the resolution allowing the town to defend itself against this lawsuit. We expect Hayden and Filidoro to vote in favor of the Town Attorney defending the town. We are concerned that despite them not having enough votes to allow a land grab, Dixon and Wallace will use this technicality to thwart the town from defending itself against Williams and Mockingbird. If they do, when court resumes next week, the town will not have any legal representation and thereby be left defenseless.

The result will be that Williams will be granted a default judgment against the town. This will result in Williams automatically being granted eminent domain to will immediately run their pipeline across town land for their Centralized Collection Facility (CCF).

If they can easily take the town’s land, how difficult will it be to take yours?

The meeting to decide this will be behind closed doors tomorrow at 9:00am. No public hearing is planned. However, after executive session, council will convene into open session in order to vote on this resolution.


Come to the meeting in green. Our presence will make it clear that we will not tolerate politicians who manipulate the process to gain favor for their gas company cohorts.

Who Benefits from Gas Drilling in Flower Mound?

Here is another great article by Ladd Biro. It is so good we just posted the whole article.
Enjoy
On August 10, 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation imposed a $952,500 fine on Williams Gas Pipeline following a September 2008 natural gas pipeline rupture and subsequent fire in Appomattox, Virginia. Five people were injured, 23 families were evacuated and two homes were destroyed in the incident.

Last September, Cabot Oil & Gas was fined $56,650 and forced to suspend its hydraulic fracturing operations in Dimock Township, Pa., after spilling more than 8,000 gallons of a hazardous water/liquid gel mixture over nine days. Two months later, the state of Pennsylvania fined Cabot another $120,000 for contaminating 13 homeowner water wells. One of the wells blew up.

In the early morning hours of November 5, 2009, a pipeline owned by El Paso Natural Gas exploded in Bushland, Texas, destroying one home, damaging two others, and sending three people to the hospital. The explosion produced a 10-story fireball and a massive blaze visible from 20 miles away.

Other incidents tied to gas drilling, especially the fracturing process used to extract natural gas from shale formations, have been reported in Colorado, Wyoming, New York and elsewhere. In fact, over the past half-dozen years, more than 1,000 documented incidences of water contamination in the western U.S. have been linked to hydraulic fracturing.

Accidents happen. Even to Williams Production, the company at the epicenter of the drilling controversy now roiling the Town of Flower Mound.

Calling these catastrophic incidents to your attention doesn’t make me a fear-monger, an alarmist, a Communist, a tree hugger, unpatriotic or, worst of all ‘round these parts, a liberal.

Yet these and other less-savory epithets have been hurled at my fellow drilling opponents and me by the friendly folks who are relentlessly expanding their drilling operations closer and closer to our homes, schools and waterways.

Williams Production’s apologists – the vast majority of whom appear to be retired empty-nesters with substantial acreage on the west side of town – are fond of lecturing their younger neighbors about the many benefits drilling offers to “everyone.”

It’s funny how greed can cloud one’s perception.

Many of these same folks who years ago argued against the development of Bridlewood, Wellington and other higher-density neighborhoods in their beloved Flower Mound now get positively misty-eyed about the many blessings afforded by the drilling rigs, tanker trucks, storage tanks and compression facilities on or near their properties. They stand on their mineral rights soapboxes, draped in the U.S. Constitution, wagging their fingers at those who would dare keep them from exploiting the full value of their property.

But here’s the thing. Nobody I know would object to a landowner’s right to profit from his mineral rights so long as doing so does not encroach upon the rights of others. Want to allow Williams to use a controversial drilling method known as fracking hundreds of feet from your home? Have at it, my friend! Just don’t ask to build a massive collection facility across town to store the millions of gallons of toxic water produced by those wells. Don’t ask to run pipelines across my property to transport that toxic wastewater, either. Don’t expect the homeowners who abut your land to compromise their personal safety when Williams seeks to violate the town’s 1,000-foot setback ordinance by drilling within a few hundred feet of their back yards.
You may not be overly concerned about open gas valves, pipeline ruptures, storage tank explosions or other accidents that could threaten the health and safety of your fellow Flower Mound residents. It’s easy to gamble when you’re receiving hefty royalty checks from Williams each month.

Pardon us if we don’t pledge our allegiance to your sugar daddy.

The sad truth is Williams’ duty is to its shareholders. Your personal welfare and Flower Mound’s long-term survival are not their concern. Sure, you’re getting paid handsomely for your trouble. After all, you deserve to be compensated for permanently spoiling your beautiful land.

All the while, the robber barons from Tulsa will smile and tell you exactly what you want to hear, because they’re desperate to get to the huge deposits of natural gas that lie a mile beneath your property.

Ever wonder what their rush is? After all, the gas has been there for thousands of years, and it’s not going anywhere.

Here are just a few reasons:

1. Natural gas futures prices are trending up. Given the unpredictability of the markets, Williams needs to cash in while times are good. If gas prices suddenly plunge, as they did in mid-2008, drilling in the Barnett Shale may no longer be profitable. The pressure is surely intensifying at Williams headquarters after the company disappointed Wall Street with its fourth-quarter results.

2. Regulatory pressures are mounting. The U.S. Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency have recently begun re-thinking the wisdom of the "Halliburton Loophole," which exempts oil and gas companies from having to comply with the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and a host of other laws designed to protect public health. In addition, a bill known as the “FRAC Act,” now pending in Congress, would lift the veil of secrecy on the contents of the wastewater produced by the fracking process. Williams knows that being forced to reveal the 250-plus toxic chemicals it uses to frack its wells would be a public relations nightmare. Having to post “hazardous materials” placards on dozens of trucks rumbling down Flower Mound’s neighborhood roads might stoke the natives’ outrage even more.

3. The citizens have woken up, and they’re organizing quickly. While the vast majority of Flower Mound residents weren’t paying attention, Williams convinced the town’s Oil & Gas Board of Appeals to approve variances on all but one of the 32 wells it has drilled, according to recent public testimony. In other words, the “exemplary” restrictions our Town Council put in place to protect its citizens, trumpeted at every opportunity by Mayor Jody Smith and her fellow drilling advocates on the Council, have been waived to accommodate nearly every well Williams has drilled in Flower Mound! It makes you wonder what good it is to have regulations in the first place. It also raises questions as to why these variances are so routinely granted, at least for Williams.

It’s been well-publicized that Mayor Smith and Mayor Pro Tem Jean Levenick have leased their mineral rights to Williams. So has Carlos Cabre, a member of the Oil & Gas Board of Appeals who was dismissed from his position earlier this week after failing to recuse himself from votes concerning Williams.

Meanwhile, attorney Jeff Tasker, a member of the Town Council from 2005 to 2009, has been retained as a representative by Williams and is regularly seen at public sessions of the council alongside his deep-pocketed clients. Well now, isn’t that special?

Is Tasker now assisting Williams in its pending lawsuit against the town he formerly served? Is Cabre about to be invited into the Williams fraternity? Inquiring minds want to know.

Something stinks in Flower Mound, and it’s not just the toxic emissions coming from the wells.
It’s gotten so bad that even some homeowners who signed contracts with Williams have begun speaking out in opposition to the company’s proposals. They complain about misrepresentations, errors of omission, and outright lies told by representatives of the company.
They’ve done the calculations and figured out that the checks they receive from Williams amount to chump change when compared to the decline in their homes’ market values. They worry about reports of hazardous levels of cancer-causing benzene detected at sites across the Barnett Shale. They’ve met many of the five kids and two adults in Flower Mound who’ve been diagnosed with leukemia since 2005.

They’ve heard that Texas has 273,600 wells and only 106 regulators to oversee them. Each well is inspected just once every three years, on average, according to the Texas Railroad Commission. That means the gas industry is, for all practical purposes, responsible for policing itself.

That’s all well and good when they’re drilling in the middle of nowhere. But when the wells come within a few hundred feet of homes, schools and parks, the margin for error is unacceptably thin.

As we’ve seen, accidents happen. Even to Williams, as the fine folks in Appomattox, Va., can attest.

Nobody wants the next catastrophic natural gas accident to occur in Flower Mound. Nobody wants another child to be diagnosed with leukemia.

That’s why the concerned citizens of Flower Mound are banding together in a battle for the town’s future. This weekend, the Flower Mound Cares Petition Association, a non-profit civic organization, officially kicks off a petition drive seeking a temporary moratorium on the approval of permits for new pipelines and centralized collection facilities. We want to be certain that before Williams goes any further, proper safeguards are in place to protect public health and safety. Signatures from roughly 5,600 registered voters are needed within 45 days to force the Town Council to enact the moratorium or put the issue up for popular vote.

Volunteers will be manning information booths and petition-signing stations at sites across town between 10 AM and 6 PM Saturday and Sunday. Those interested in more detail, as well as a list of petition-signing locations, may visit http://mysite.verizon.net/fmcares or join the Flower Mound Cares Facebook group at: http://www.flowermoundcares.com/.

Drilling is enriching a few property owners in Flower Mound, along with an Oklahoma-based gas conglomerate and its legion of lawyers, consultants and lobbyists. For all its efforts, the Town of Flower Mound earned a paltry $521,000 in fees and incremental property taxes in 2009. The rest of us are left with a plethora of short- and long-term risks, both known and unknown.
It’s not worth it.

It’s time to make a stand.

Ladd Biro is a marketing agency owner by day, and syndicated sports columnist by night, who has lived in Flower Mound since 2002. He can be reached at lbiro@championmgt.com.

Special Flower Mound Town Council Meeting, Sat, 2/20, 9:00am

The Flower Mound has called a special meeting for Saturday, 2/20, 9:00 am.

Click here for the agenda.

Williams recently filed a law suit over access to Town property for a pipeline. This meeting is to set a resolution to allow the Town Attorney to represent Flower Mound in a law suit over eminent domain.

Why don't tanker trucks carrying drilling waste water have to display "hazardous" placards?

Oil and gas drilling waste is exempt so they don't have to consider it as hazardous.

Earthworks has put together a great brochure called The Oil and Gas Industry’s Exclusions and Exemptions to Major Environmental Statutes. It goes through each act and the exemptions that the industry receives.

The answer to the question above lies in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 is currentlydivided into 10 subchapters: I through X, comprising four interrelatedprograms for the management of hazardous waste and solid waste found atSubchapters III, IV, IX, and X. Subchapter III, commonly referred to asSubtitle C, creates a federal “cradle-to-grave” hazardous waste managementprogram. Subchapter IV, commonly referred to as Subtitle D, encouragesstates to develop comprehensive plans to manage primarily nonhazardoussolid wastes (e.g., household waste). Subchapter IX, commonly referred toas Subtitle I, regulates the use and monitoring of underground storage tanks.Subchapter X, commonly referred to as Subtitle J, establishes regulations formedical waste from the time it is generated until the time it is disposed.

Congress defined hazardous waste in RCRA § 1004(5), but left the EPA todecide through a Regulatory Determination the specific characteristics ofhazardous waste and to promulgate lists of wastes meeting thosecharacteristics.9 The definition of a hazardous waste under RCRA § 1004(5)is as follows:

[A] solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of itsquantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristicsmay-

A. cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or anincrease in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or

B. pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or theenvironment when improperly treated, stored, transported, ordisposed of, or otherwise managed.10

In 1978, the EPA issued proposed hazardous waste guidelines andregulations as requested by Congress. At this time, the agency was poisedto consider oil field wastes as “special wastes” under Subtitle C. However,Congress responded to these proposed regulations with the Solid WasteDisposal Act (SWDA) in 1980, which exempted oil field wastes from SubtitleC entirely until the EPA could prove these wastes were a danger to humanhealth and the environment. In 1988, the EPA's Regulatory Determinationultimately agreed with Congress’ decision to exempt oil field wastes due tothe “adequate” state and federal regulations already in place and the costsand economic impacts to the petroleum industry should it be regulated underSubtitle C.11

Despite the considerable regulatory changes by EPA regarding the regulationof oil field waste in determining that it was not hazardous enough to beregulated under Subtitle C, the 1988 Regulatory Determination provides acomprehensive list of wastes excluded from and included within the scope ofthe oil field waste exemption. A helpful article from the Director and SeniorStaff Attorney at the Railroad Commission of Texas summarizes these lists.Oil field wastes typically fall into the following categories:

1) Produced waters-mineralized waters produced with and then separatedfrom oil and gas.
2) Drilling fluids-mixtures of water, clay, barite, and other additivesused in drilling wells.
3) Associated wastes-other wastes uniquely associated with drilling andproduction operations, such as crude oil tank bottoms (e.g., oil,sediment, and water).12

In addition, the Regulatory Determination clarifies the meaning of RCRA §3001(b)(2)(A)'s exemption for “other wastes associated with the exploration,development or production of crude oil or natural gas” by stating that such“other wastes” include “rigwash, drill cuttings, and wastes created by agentsused in facilitating the extraction, development, and production of theresource, and wastes produced by removing contaminants prior to thetransportation or refining of the resource.”13

Further clarification by the EPA in 1993 provides a rule of thumb fordetermining if certain oil field wastes fall within the RCRA exemption. Itstates, “Since 1987, the terms uniquely associated and intrinsic have beenused as interchangeable synonyms in various documents in reference to oiland gas wastes qualifying for the exemption from Subtitle C regulation…Asimple rule of thumb for determining the scope of the exemption is whetherthe waste in question has come from down-hole (i.e., brought to the surfaceduring oil and gas E & P operations), or has otherwise been generated bycontact with the oil and gas production stream during the removal ofproduced water or other contaminants from the product (e.g., wasteemulsifiers, spent iron sponge). If the answer to either question is yes, the waste is most likely considered exempt.”14

In many cases, these “other” wastes contain known carcinogens such asbenzene, toluene, and xylene. The effect of the RCRA exemption is to allowthese deadly chemicals that are otherwise considered hazardous within thesame statute to permeate the earth and water sources poisoning the publicand the environment. For example, waterfowl, wildlife, and livestock may beattracted to open pits and tanks used to store and/or dispose of oil, producedwater, or separate oil from produced water. The risks posed to wildlife havebeen documented in numerous studies. In Wyoming, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service has found deer, pronghorn, waterfowl, songbirds, and rabbitsin these open pits and tanks. Even if the animals are not killed in theseareas, the oil and chemicals can have debilitating health effects.15 Despite afew state regulations pertaining to oil and gas field wastes, it is typical forthe oil and gas industry to dispose of these wastes in earthen pits and on-siteburial.16 The potential for migration of contaminants in the soil and watersources in these areas is at the very least concerning to those who live in theoil and gas patches.

Relying on 1985 data, the EPA estimated that 70,000 oil and gas wells and800,000 active production sites generated 361 million barrels of drillingwaste, 20.9 billion barrels of produced waters, and 11 million barrels ofassociated wastes, such as workover fluids and tank bottoms.17 Considering the exponential growth of the oil and gas industry over the past 20 years, itis time regulators focus on the adequacy of existing regulations to protecthuman health and the environment from the real and potential dangers ofthe oil and gas industry’s waste.

To protect human health and the environment, oil field wastes must beregulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in orderto ensure the proper handling and disposal of hazardous andcarcinogenic wastes generated by oil and gas development.Otherwise, the petroleum industry will continue to dispose of oil fieldwaste in ways that can pollute soil, surface and groundwater.