Many steps to Safer Drilling
I live at ground zero for urban drilling.
We have about 60 pad sites in our 99 sq mile town here in Arlington TX.Our state and local government will not enforce these two laws….
1) TEX LG. CODE ANN. A§ 253.005 : Texas Statutes – Section 253.005: LEASE OF OIL, GAS, OR MINERAL LAND
“(c) A well may not be drilled in the thickly settled part of the municipality..”2. Texas Administrative Code, Title 30, Part 1, Chapter 101, Subchapter A,
Rule 101.4, Environmental Quality, NuisanceNo person shall discharge from any source whatsoever one or more
air contaminants or combinations thereof, in such concentration and
of such duration as are or may tend to be injurious to or to adversely affect human health or welfare, animal life, vegetation, or property, or as to interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of animal life, vegetation, or property.
———————————We had a drill spill in Lake Arlington, our drinking source, back in 2010. We also have about 100 drilling laterals under our lake that are at migration risk for seismic events and or cement failures.
We have had over a dozen gas release emission events that the general public knows about. On September 10th 2018, Arlington Fire Department’s Sergeant Crowsen said at a Frown Hall meeting (due to a fracking accident) that they respond to about 10-15 gas well complaints a year. Per our 2019 budget on page 120, it will cost us almost $500,000 in 2019 for gas well emergency response readiness.
The following are the items lacking in our URBAN oil and gas drilling ordinance………………..
1. ELECTRIC mandate:a. Mandate electric drilling rigs.b. Mandate electric frac pumps Evolution Well Services – Innovation Not Imitation.Evolution Well Services – Innovation Not Imitation
Innovation Not Imitation
c. Do not use diesel or NG fired lift compressors that use dirty field gas, rather use electric submersible pumps,Wellbore Compressor, Natural Gas Recovery, Artificial Lift, Well Head, Electric Submersible Pumps, ESPs, Plunger Lift, Sucker Rod Pumps, Gas Lift Systems, Hydraulic Pumping Systems, Progressive Cavity Pumps, Oil Recovery, Convert Natural Gas, Liquefi
Wellbore Compressor, Natural Gas Recovery, Artificial Lift, Well Head, E…
Application page
d. Mandate electric compressor stations, but have back up power in the event of electric outages. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/april-11-2011-two-padsites-spewed-on-arlington-residents/
e. Replace gas-assisted glycol pumps with electric pumps.https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/ll_glycol_pumps3.pdf2. Video tape ALL cement casing pours when the cement comes back up to the top through the annulus so that there is proof of an even pour and ensure all wells have electric bond log tests. Wireline Electric Logs tell an important geological story…to file or not to file that is the Q!Wireline Electric Logs tell an important geological story…to file or not…
Update….Joe Stasulli at the RRC said in an email dated 10/29/2015 that…”Many operators opted not to spend money …
3. All drilling mud farming and brine “road spraying” should have application sites’ soil & groundwater tested for toxins and NORM. Transition Lancaster Visits PA Gasland
Transition Lancaster Visits PA Gasland
Concerned citizens from Lancaster, Pa trek up to Northern PA to witness natural gas rigs, well pads, storage fac…
4. During fracking where the radioactive silica dust is flying around, we need the industry to contain the dust to OSHA 2016 standards at 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air averaged during an 8-hour shift. Currently, the oil & gas industry is getting preferential treatment to not have to be in compliance until June 23 2021. There is no entity looking out for the residential silica exposures, only worker exposures. Here is a video of what the silica exposures during fracking look like at our Bruder drill site, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWw8U40Q4Sk4. Ban the use of Hydrofluoric and Hydrochloric Acid for less caustic treatments such as chelates. https://chelates.nouryon.com/siteassets/Brochure-dissolvine-stimwell.pdf5. Mandate flowback tanks that have vent lines that can be connected to vapor recovery/capture systems or combustion devices (gas-busters) Frac Tanks & More from DHI Energy Servicetanks. Here is a video of what happens in our backyards in Arlington….. Flow Back in North Texas.Flow Back in North Texas
Flow back in north Texas cranking out close to 200bbls of water per hour
Frac Tanks & More from DHI Energy Service
DHI Energy Service offers a wide variety of frac tanks and other energy related equipment. Visit our site today …
6. Blowdowns of compressors whose excess goes to the storage tanks should have Vapor Recovery Systems rather than venting. Here is a Lake Arlington tank battery emitting VOC’s 24/7….Lake Arlington Natural Gas Waste Storage Tanks Infrared camera reveals toxins constantly spewingPantego TX. well venting
Gas and substance being vented
Lake Arlington Natural Gas Waste Storage Tanks Infrared camera reveals t…
I condensed this 15 minute video taken by TCEQ in 2010. I have not added any light or color effects. I obtained …
7. The pipeline should be in place FIRST before fracking, and the operator should have no DELAY for flowback should occur immediately after fracking so that injected water/chemicals don’t sit in the ground for months festering bacterial sulfide growth to sour/damage the well and sicken people…..https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/slammed-with-sudden-nausea-from-flowback-odors-business-womans-blood-pressure-soars-after-vomiting8. The setback away from people should be substantial. Rural method drilling is not acceptable in urban areas. An environmental tester who has a Phd said that the health effects are being seen downwind from about 1,800 – 2,500 feet.9. Equip local GW inspectors who need to test for methane leaks with FLIR cameras. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/?s=flir10. Use phage therapies instead of dangerous gluteraldehydes to control festering bacteria and offensive odors. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/dont-bank-on-phage-fixn-well-souring/11) Use closed mud containers.12) Have aerial water spray mist for flying frack sand. But don’t let the toxic water go into environment.13) No diesel truck idling14) Need 24 hour hotline to TCEQ and City Gas Well Inspectors. Our city website’s online status report is too vague. (ex. currently it can say “workover” and no real information of what that entails. Breathers do not need to be downwind to pre-production and maintenance activities. They need to know that they are risking their health. It’s time for the truth.15) Equip First Responders with sensitive BTEX detection equipment. (I know of four auto shut in failures so far they were exposed to rouge wells) https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/tceqs-first-glance-equipment-is-not-sensitive-enough-to-detect-long-term-benzene-effect-screening-levels-at-1-4ppb/16) Simulate neighborhood evacuation plan and robo calling run through. Train an appointed person to push red button in an emergency when the AFD cannot do it if they are in a mass ER event. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/arlington-neighborhood-citizen-designated-red-button-pushers-needed-in-emergencies/17) Flood waters on pad sites should be lab tested for Drilling Mud, Frack Chemicals, Produced Water and Maintenance Chemicals before being released. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/?s=flooded18) Drill a Ground Water Woodbine Aquifer Monitoring Well with daily charting during stimulation. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/epa-recd-colleyville-tx-post-drilling-water-contamination-video-as-evidence-for-reopened-water-study/19) Baseline Air, Soil, and Surface Water testing should be required with post production re-testing to make comparison analysis. The LABC spill did not test for NORM and we had no baseline. https://barnettshalehell.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/labc-water-tests.pdf20) Nitro Lifts or any other well maintenance should NOT be allowed to vent via an open well or it’s chemical treatments to the atmosphere…which includes sending to storage tanks with thief hatches that vent. See 1,140 ppm TVA reading near my son’s junior high school, https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/viagra-for-the-eagleford-shale-already/21) Use blow out preventer between the drill and the frack stage in case flooding occurs.22) Use tighter truck manifests that make them account for the TENORM waste water amounts leaving Arlington and have those amounts match up to their injection well destination. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/?s=tenorm23) Mandate catalytic converters on all padsite lift compressors. https://barnettshalehell.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/action-item-artificial-lift-viagra-congress-32016-request-catalytic-converters-as-standard/
24). Replace high pneumatics with low to no bleed pneumatics.https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-09/documents/2-devices_colorado2004.pdf —–Lets elect officials that will ensure a protective Oil & Gas Drilling oversight. This is in our “collective” power so we must all become active to be proactive because reactive measures are too costly.
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Loopholes in public protection exist and I uncover them. Join me in the fight to make this a safer process if it has to happen where we live.
