During a very engaging debate tonight held at the Denton City Council Chambers, the three Congressional candidates expressed their views on issues from the economy to gas drilling environmental issues.

Congressman Burgess again avoided the true issue for addressing environmental and health concerns around gas drilling in the Barnett Shale.  He blames the Democrats for not recently passing the Frac Act.

1. Burgess however did not mention that he will specifically not support the Frac Act if it comes to a vote.   At the Senate level, bills now require 60 votes to pass, so the bill would require Republican support as well even if Democrats voted for the bill.

2. Burgess also failed to mention that he voted in favor of the Halliburton Loophole as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  The Loophole exempts hydraulic fracturing from the Clean Drinking Water Act and enables companies not to disclose the water and air pollutants in frac fluid.

Neil Durrance would support the enforcement of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts for the gas drilling process.  Durrance would also make it a priority to speed up the EPA study on hydraulic fracturing. Burgess dismissed this possibility.  Although Burgress states he is concerned about this issue and is pushing for better oversight by the TCEQ,  he dodges the fact that he was part of the original problem that has only gotten worse since 2005.

On October 6, 2010,  a panel of activists and environmental experts joined Jeff Weems, candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner, and Neil Durrance, candidate for Congress in District 26,  for an informative discussion on gas drilling impacting the Town of Flower Mound and Denton County.

Several residents expressed concerns about what can be done by the local, state, and federal government to preserve the Town’s quality of life, protect health, and curtail increasing impacts from gas drilling on air and water quality.  One man, a lifelong Republican from Bartonville, said he will be a “poster boy” for Durrance and Weems because the incumbents in Congress and the Railroad Commission  have not provided adequate protection for land owners with drilling next door to their property.

Neil Durrance responded that as a Congressman he can take a very active role in promoting investigations and oversight of the gas drilling industry to promote best practices in their operations.

He outlines what he would do to coordinate the local, state, Railroad Commission, and EPA response to this issue. Video shows (left to right) Neil Durrance, Ginger Simonson, Mayor Calvin Tillman, Cherelle Blazer, Jeff Weems, and Deborah Rogers)

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He also has a YouTube video on the four steps for addressing issues in the Barnett Shale (see below).  He would support the Frac Act (that reverses hydraulic fracturing loopholes from clean air and clean water regulations) and promote rules to hold gas drilling companies accountable when they pollute nearby properties from their drilling operations.  Jeff Weems reiterated that as Railroad Commissioner, he would create a RRC District just for the Barnett Shale, and be hands-on in responding to permitting and oversight concerns. He would take a tougher stance as Railroad Commissioner in protecting the health, safety, and property values during urban drilling operations.  Until now, the RRC has divided the Barnett Shale into three regulatory districts overseen by three different field offices.

Ginger Simonson, organizer of Flower Mound Cares, provided a litany of issues that the local citizens have faced in getting improved oversight and permitting of gas wells in the Town.  She had moved to the “bedroom community” to escape the industrial activity of other areas, but instead found that the industrial activity had followed her there, as gas drilling significantly impacts land uses in the community.   She noted that property values in Flower Mound decline up to 14% near wells, the increased incidence of leukemia and breast cancer versus the national average, and the continued impacts on the environment.  The Town of Flower Mound does not require a Specific Use Permit for gas drilling as is required in many other municipalities.  Instead, the permits are approved administratively and variances are heard by a quasi-judicial body.

As in the gas forum held in Denton two weeks ago, Deborah Rogers provided the background on continued drilling despite considerable reserves.  She also discussed her own experience in air sampling to provide scientific evidence of air contamination on her property and reiterated that anyone with gas drilling issues should spend the money for private testing of air whenever possible.  Scientific evidence is the best argument for getting best practices and oversight of drilling.

Mayor Calvin Tillman showed the audience a clear plastic bottle with contaminated, murky water from a water well in Dish, Texas.   He pointed out that in Pennsylvania, the gas drilling company would be assumed responsible for such contamination and would have to truck in potable water.  The panel noted, however, that without clean, running water a property would be extremely difficult to sell, even with trucked in water.  During his tenure as mayor in  Dish, Texas, the city has done what they could to regulate gas drilling, and implemented a 1000-foot rule from homes.  He has also help bring national attention to the issue with his participation in the movie, Gasland.

Cherelle Blazer of the Environmental Defense Fund again showed their extensive air quality study of the DFW area and highlighted the significant impact of air pollutants in Denton County as related to gas drilling. EDF Denton County VOC Analysis Draft 10_14 Condensate production,  along with the drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes, leads to significantly higher levels pollution from hydrocarbons than the rest of the DFW area.

 

Condensate Production for Denton County Shown in Purple

 

 

EDF Denton County VOC Analysis as Related to Condensate (hydrocarbon liquid left over from wet gas production, gases are collected at top and condensate is stored in on-site storage tanks)