Literally. ExxonMobil is the like the Godfather of the Big Gas Mafia. They can do anything and no one holds them accountable. Ever.
Look at this mess!
This gunk is right in the middle of ExxonMobil’s lease where they drilled about 500 wells back in the 1980s. Mrs. Burns has the maps to prove it is ExxonMobil’s mess but still they say it wasn’t them. You can see the letter from XOM and the laboratory testing results on Mrs. Burns’ site.
ExxonMobil is like the guest who pees in your pool and who doesn’t flush when they use your toilet…only a lot worse.
There is no accountability. Think about that Dallas, before you let XOM swim in your pool.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Gycols and other random stuff, you know last summer when I held a match to my kitchen sink the water smelled like burning rubber/melting plastic, and left thin clear-ish plastic stuff in my glass.
That was after XTO/Braden’s Red Hot well’s gas went to market, our water turned bubbly and really slippery.
Such a shame, what a beautiful ranch, what beautiful Texas.
I thought Texans loved Texas.
If Texans loved Texas as much as they say they do, this $hit wouldn’t fly, they wouldn’t let this happen to the beautiful, awesome state of Texas.
Seems to me that Mrs. Burns should be very careful around this site. For one thing, before picking up any of this residue, seems like wearing protective gloves would be highly recommended. Plus a hazmat mask might not be a bad idea. Toxic substances could be evaporating from the “gunk”, but be odorless, as they sometimes are. No point risking your life when it isn’t necessary to make the point. Also, I would think it highly advisable that a good chemist or scientist like Dr.Neil Carman of the Sierra Club, or a petroleum engineer who is not at present associated with any active oil or gas company, or even a university scientist with upper level chemistry students might be willing to take on an analysis of this site to identify just what this “gunk” is. Important to know and document. Are any of these efforts being made?
Seems to me the trc would be all over this and letting local residents know of the hazards so Mrs. Burns didn’t feel forced to place herself in harms way to protect her family. But apparently that is what has been and will ever be required of Citizens living in texas.
Get to know how to submit public information requests to state agencies if you want to know what your family is being exposed to, because I doubt the state will make it public on their own.
In one county in texas, a public information request submitted in 2011 revealed the following trc records regarding a water well contamination complaint filed in October of 2005.
“commission records indicate that the subject water well, previously identified as the ….. water well, was involved in a commission study of gas contamination of water wells within this area in 1977. This water well was found to be actively producing gas at that time and state funds were utilized to conduct re-entry and re-plugging of abandoned wells within the study area.”
Really? How many folks living in the “study area” know a study was even conducted? Was it in the media in any form? Why were state funds used to re-enter and re-plug? Did the operators not do a good enough job of entering and plugging the first time? If so, why not, and what were the ramifications of not doing so?
The trc felt the need in 1977 to conduct a “study” and then the need to re-enter and re-plug wells utilizing state fund (your tax dollars).
I’m sure XOM entered and plugged their wells just fine. No need for the state to re-enter and re-plug long after they’re gone. That is unless someone pays attention. At that point, It must be someone else’s fault. “we followed trc rules” and the trc is all to wiling to make tax-payers pay for their mistakes and clean up their messes.
It’s the new american way. breathe on.
The duct tape to repair leaks on the produced water pipeline there is an all time classic of cheapskate! And, they did that more than once. And, those were NOT “temporary” fixes.
I DID report this to the RRC, the TCEQ, and the EPA on multiple occasions. Nothing happens. Just keeps filling up and draining. I have heard there is another identical scenario about four miles south of this caliche pit. I have not seen it with my own eyes, so I don’t know for sure.