Energy and the Environment

Published on: March 31, 2010

Strauss Charges Texas Legislature to Look at Local Ordinances Governing Surface Use in Barnett Shale

Speaker of the House Joe Strauss has charged the House Committee on Energy Resources as follows for the next legislative session:

“Survey current local ordinances governing surface use of property in oil and gas development. Recommend changes, if any, to the authority of the Railroad Commission to regulate the operation of oil and gas industries in urban areas of the state, particularly the Barnett Shale.”

It seems evident from this charge that operators in the Barnett Shale will be asking the Texas Legislature to curtail the authority of municipalities to issue drilling permits for areas within their jurisdiction, or at least to limit what conditions they can place in those permits. Drilling ordinances such as those in Fort Worth and surrounding cities are becoming quite sophisticated, and place significant conditions on the granting of permits, including distances from houses and other structures, sound limits, handling of frac water, produced water and other wastes, safety requirements, traffic, and damage to surrounding streets. The City of Grapevine has revised its drilling ordinance to require an 8-foot masonry wall around the wellsite and shrubbery between 3 and 5 feet high along the wall. The City of Flower Mound is considering revision of its drilling ordinance to require companies to report their airbrorne emissions and use vapor recovery technology. In some cases, municipal ordinances are so stringent that as a practical matter they prevent drilling within city limits. I expect that eventually constitutional takings claims will be made against cities whose restrictions prevent any mineral development within their limits.

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Published on: February 8, 2010

More Contoversy Over Hydraulic Fracturing

By John McFarland

The debate over the safety of hydraulic fracturing continues. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based non-profit environmental advocacy organization, has issued a white paper, “Drilling Around the Law,” calling for fracking to be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act and to require public disclosure of chemicals used in frac fluid. The EWG claims that “companies that drill for natural gas and oil are skirting federal law and injecting toxic petroleum distillates into thousands of wells, threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming.” EWG claims that fracking has been linked to drinking water contamination and proeprty damage in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and other states, citing articles written by Abrahm Lustgarten in ProPublica, another non-profit organization.

Meanwhile, Chesapeake has published on its website a “Fact Sheet” listing the chemicals used in its frac fluids in the Barnett Shale. The list includes “petroleum distillate,” which Chesapeake describes as a “friction reducer,” describing it as a product “used in cosmetics including hair, make-up, nail and skin products.” The website shows that 99.5% of frac fluid is made up of water and sand, and only .5% is made up of additives, including “petroleum distillate.” But the site does not show what percentage or volume of “petroleum distillate” or other additives are used in the frac fluid, or what kind of petroleum distillate is being used.

Another energy organization, Energy In Depth, has published a response to the EWG’s white paper on fracking, “When Gummy Bears Attack.” its author, Chris Tucker, cites data from the U.S. Department of Energy to show that “petroleum distillate” represents .088% of the volume of frack fluid. He says that petroleum distillates are used in lip gloss, sunscreen and gummy bears.

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Published on: January 22, 2010

Dish Mayor Calvin Tilman Testifies at Railroad Commission

By John McFarland

The Mayor of tiny Dish, Texas, north of Fort Worth, continues to stir up controversy with his claims of air pollution from oil and gas activities causing health concerns in his community. The mayor appeared at the RRC’s January 12 open hearing. You can watch his testimony here (go to item 17 on the agenda). The mayor’s appearance was prompted by an item placed on the agenda by Commissioner Michael Williams, which in turn had been prompted by a letter sent to the Commissioners by State Rep. Ron Burnam. Rep. Burnam’s letter asked the RRC to place a moratorium on permits for wells in the Barnett Shale around Fort Worth until the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has finished its investigation of air quality in the area. In response, Commissioner Williams proposed that the Commissioners write a letter to the Texas Attorney General asking for a formal opinion whether the RRC has authority to issue such a moratorium. (Rep. Burnam has also asked the City of Fort Worth to issue a similar moratorium on well permits in the city limits.) I have written about the controversy concerning the town of Dish in a previous post.

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Published on: January 8, 2010

Exxon Mobil’s Proposed Acquisition of XTO Energy Revives Questions about Hydraulic Fracturing

By John McFarland

Exxon Mobil announced that it would acquire XTO Energy in an all-stock deal worth $41 billion. The acquisition is viewed as Exxon’s decision to enter the domestic onshore gas shale play, which to date has been developed almost exclusively by independent producers. But the deal includes an exit clause in the event Congress passes legislation that would make hydraulic fracturing illegal or “commercially impracticable.” Shale gas development would be impossible without hydraulic fracturing technology. Bills are pending in Congress (known as the FRAC Act) to subject fracturing to federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The bills would require companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in frac fluids. And U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, Dem. Massachusetts, said he would hold hearings in the House Energy and Commerce Committee to review the Exxon-XTO deal and to address environmental concerns about hydraulic fracturing.

Published on: December 31, 2009

Tiny Town of Dish, Texas Stirs Up Hornet’s Nest Over Air Pollution in Barnett Shale

By John McFarland

Dish is a town of about 200 residents north of Fort Worth, Texas. The mayor and town council have recently become concerned about emissions from gas compressors in and around the town, from the Barnett Shale gas development. Large compressor stations are located near Dish; these stations have big internal combustion engines that compress gas to move it through gas transmission lines in the area. The town hired an environmental firm, Wolf Eagle Environmental, to conduct air quality tests and has complained to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The small community has now become the focus of the larger debate over the impact of Barnett Shale wells on air quality in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the impact of oil and gas drilling and production activity on the environment generally.

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Published on: December 18, 2009

TCEQ Answers Rep. Lon Burnam’s Questions on Investigations of Air Quality

By John McFarland

State Representative Lon Burnam, Dem. Fort Worth, asked nine questions of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concerning its investigations of emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds from oil and gas operations in the Barnett Shale area and in Texas in general. Recent air quality tests by private companies for local towns in the Fort Worth area have created a stir and caused some to call for increased monitoring and additional testing of emissions from oil and gas operations. Rep. Burnam has also called for the City of Fort Worth to place a moratorium on issuing permits for drilling until additional testing has been done. A group of concerned citizens has formed the North Central Texas Communities Alliance, to press for a moratorium in the DFW area until environnmental and other concerns are addressed.

The TCEQ’s response to Rep. Burnam’s questions provides some interesting data.

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