The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 21, 2007 Page: 3 of 20
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I
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The Clifton Record
• INJECTION
WELL
Continued From Page One
Citizen concerns with one of
these controversial wells com-
ing into Bosque County are
twofold: the risk of migration of
injected materials into the well,
eventually contaminating
ground water supplies and ul-
timately reaching area lakes;
and traffic dangers associated
with hundreds of semi-trucks
traveling the surrounding
roads.
The 1984 amendments to the
RCRA — Resource Conserva-
tion and Recovery Act — pro-
hibited land disposal, including
underground injection, of cer-
tain types of hazardous waste
without pre-treatment. How-
ever, if an operator of the injec-
tion well can prove the waste
will not migrate from the injec-
tion zone for 10,000 years, the
company can inject hazardous
wastes into wells without first
treating the waste.
The well owner says he plans
to inject only salt water into the
well. The rating, should the well
be permitted in Bosque County,
will be a Class II.
Once the well is operational,
it will be opened for commercial
dumping, allowing for products
to be snipped in from any-
where.
These wells are for oil and
gas production brine (salt wa-
ter) disposal and other related
products. Operators inject flu-
ids associated with oil and natu-
ral gas production.
Bosque
County
kimhvll Me ml
Park
t Indian Lodge
Mm* Grand*
When the petition for the local
option election was sent around our
town, almost 400 registered voters
signed it That means the supporters
have a head start on us. We are
already 385 votes behind in keeping
Clifton safe for our families and our
businesses. Round up your church
members, your fellow parents and
your friends. We MUST act in force if
we are to save our community.
11
111
iM
VOTE Nu
TO ALCOHOL
SALES MAY 12
Political advertising paid for by Bosque Valley
Baptist Church, Gene Creamer, Pastor/Treasurer
90141 Hwy. 219, Clifton, TX 76634.
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Texas regulates the injection
of hazardous waste through
permits. About 200 permits to
operate injection wells dispos-
ing of hazardous or nonhazard-
ous wastes have been granted
in Texas since 1961. Currently,
there are 102 Class I injection
wells permitted and operating
in Texas.
Permitting an injection well
requires professional scien-
tists, geologists,
hydrogeologists, and engineers
who are experienced with the
sumably TNT—that is lowered
to a “sand substance” area
down the hole and then shot off.
This technique, a torpedo shot,
is meant to fracture the strata
where the blast is set.
The method of determining
the area to blast in the 1920s
was by examining the contents
of what was being extracted
from a hole a different depths.
The abandoned well is lo-
cated .31 miles from the new
drill site.
Further speculation about
the current state of the
different regulatory processes
associated with all types of in-
jection wells.
According to published infor-
mation, the purpose of the
Texas Railroad Commission’s
Underground Injection Control
Program’s permitting process,
well monitoring process and
field inspections is to prevent
pollution. Proper well comple-
tion, injection procedures, and
monitoring are designed to
ensur that fresh water sources
are not impacted by saltwater.
To protect groundwater, the
Railroad Commission’s rules
for the construction of disposal
wells are specially designed to
require multiple layers of ce-
ment and steel to ensure that
shallow, usable quality water is
not impacted. Disposal wells
inject saltwater into under-
ground formations, sometimes
over a mile in depth.
In addition to construction
standards, the permitting pro-
cess for saltwater disposal
wells involves numerous re-
quirements and safeguards in-
cluding: notice to the public;
hearing opportunities; a review
of area geology; and required
areas of review near the pro-
posed wells to determine if
there are other wells penetrat-
ing the same geologic horizon
proposed for disposal.
Specifically, a disposal well’s
construction standards require
three layers of casing to ensure
groundwater is protected: sur-
face casing, production casing,
and injection tubing string and
packer.
According to Railroad Com-
mission material, with this well
construction, all three protec-
tion layers must fail at the
same time to impact ground-
water. '
A significant problem with
the proposed well, according to
attorney Bradley, is the lack of
information surrounding an
abandoned 1920s-era well.
According to information ob-
tained through more than 60
hours of research, Bradley ex-
plained to Commissioners that
there is simply no way of know-
ing what dropping 140 quarts of
explosives down a well-hole in
the 1920s did to the ground.
Fracturing may or may not
have occurred.
In Railroad Commission
records, Bradley found a state-
ment of the condition of the
well after “shooting” that read:
“shot made a little showing of
oil.”
The “shot,” in this case, is
140 quarts of explosives — pre-
was, but Burns family mem-
bers recall the removal of the
casing pipe from the well.
Pictures exist of members of
the family, still living, standing
next to the well. One member
of the family recalls that her fa-
ther had to back-fill the site of
the well after it was abandoned,
asking the question of whether
the torpedo shot may have
caused significant fracturing or
possibly a cave-in of sorts.
Information that can be
found in the original well
records are depths penetrated.
Combining that Information
with the depth listed on the cur-
rent well permit, it can be de-
termined that there is a 4.200
“injection zone” open to receive
waste products.
These early measurements
also make clear the proximity
of the injection zone to the
Barnett Shale as being within
300 feet — Barnett Shale is the
largest onshore natural gas
field in the United States. The
field is proven to have 2.1 tril-
lion cubic feet (59 km3) of natu-
ral gas, and is widely estimated
to contain as much as 30 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas re-
sources. Oil'has also been
found in lesser quantities, but
sufficient (with recent high oil
prices) to be commercially vi-
able.
Disposal wells must be dem-
onstrated to meet strict regu-
latory requirements regarding
the migration of the injected
fluids. Local officials ques-
tioned how that burden of proof
could be met.
“The concerns now should be
the safety of our children on the
roads and their health,” said
Christian. “We need to go for-
ward.”
County Judge Cole Word
pointed out that according to
his estimations, one truck ev-
ery 10 minutes is the necessary
traffic to make a well economi-
cally feasible.
The average daily injection
volume of an injection well is
25,000 barrels per day. Trucks
can carry 160 barrels and the
cost of disposal per barrel is $1,
allowing for a potential gain of
$25,000 per day.
“If we limit the number of
trucks that can get to the well,
we hit where it hurts,” said
Judge Word. “If they can’t make
any money, it’s no good for
them.”
With the new ordinance, the
limit on trucks at 25 per 24-
hours will reduce potential
profits from $25,000 to $4,000.
Bradley reminded the Com-
missioners about the impor-
tance of protest letters. He
explained that he had previ-
ously been informed that none
had been received by the Rail-
road Commission, but following
inquiries by other Burns fam-
ily attorneys, more than 200
protest letters turned up.
The county, as a governmen-
tal body, can also object to the
permitting of the injection well,
explained Bradley. Judge Word
and County Attorney Christian
plan to draft the County’s pro-
test letter to be submitted to
the Railroad Commission.
The first ordinance adopted
says:
“It shall be unlawful to locate
an industrial facility motor ve-
hicle entrance or entrances,
which access or accesses the
same county road, within 500-
feet of a designated or existing
school bus stop if the industrial
facility motor vehicle entrance
or entrances are cumulatively
utilized or are anticipated to be
cumulatively utilized by more
than 25 vehicles during any
consecutive 24-hour period.
“For purposes of this ordi-
nance an industrial facility is
defined as any location, site, or
business with no direct or nec-
essary contact with the general
public and includes any pro-
cessing, .manufacturing, or
waste disposal facility, includ-
ing but not limited to solid
waste, petroleum waste, or pe-
troleum bi-product waste.”
The second ordinance that
Commissioners adopted in-
cluded the same information
about placement, but allowed
for the possibility of 50 vehicles
in a 24-hour span.
Questions were then raised
about the problems with en-
forcing the ordinance. Citizens
demonstrated their resolve to
keeping the well out of the
county by saying that they were
willing to sit at the entrances to
the facility and count trucks.
Commissioners examined
the possibility of installing web-
cameras to monitor the vehicle
activity, should the well be
granted its permit to inject.
“Today is not the end of this,”
said Christian. “They’re not go-
ing to quit because of the
amount of money that’s in-
volved. In all likelihood, we’ll
end up in a courtroom over
this.”
He continued to say, “Without
preaching, I have to say that
when we’re looking at a profit-
making venture that jeopar-
dizes the health of our children
and the safety on our roads, we
have a social responsibility to
look hard at what’s going on.”
Bradley described instances
where truck drivers have been
caught dumping their loads in
creeks when getting to the des-
ignated injection site took too
much time.
He added that concern to the
growing list of risks associated
with the injection well.
Commissioner Kent
Harbison said, “If we cut into
this guy’s profit (by issuing ci-
tations for trucking violations),
we’ll get his attention.”
Existing ordinances call for
specific punishments for viola-
tions of the regulations of up to
$50 for a first offense, up to $200
for a second offense; and up to
$500 and up to 60 days in jail for
subsequent offenses.
Commissioners discussed
with citizens the limits of the
court’s power in preventing the
well, but promised to do all that
their positions allowed to stop
the drilling.
The law requires a public
hearing on the matter. The date
of the hearing, to be held in Aus-
tin, has not yet been an-
nounced, but Commissioner
Jimmy Schmidt encouraged
residents to attend that meet-
ing.
He said, “When we stand to-
gether, we make a stronger
stand.”
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 21, 2007, newspaper, March 21, 2007; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth790673/m1/3/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.