158 Inspectors

Gaye McElwain,  spokesperson for the Railroad Commission of Texas, told us last Saturday that the State of Texas has a total of 158 oil and gas well inspectors.  Her statement is on the video from Saturday's Gas Drilling Educational Forum.  (Scroll ahead to approximately 2:25:35.)  She did not tell us how many oil and gas wells there are, so we looked it up ourselves.  


The Railroad Commission's records show that  the State ofTexas has 133,856 gas wells and 291,996 oil wells as of February 2015.  Click Here to view the full report of oil and gas wells in Texas. 

Now that we know how many wells there are in Texas, we can assess whether or not we have enough regulatory oversight to protect our communities.  

133,856 + 291,996 = 425,852 (total oil & gas wells.)  
Divide 425,852 by 158 (number of inspectors) = 2,695 wells per inspector  
Now if each inspector worked 240 days/year assuming a five/day work week including holidays and vacation, he/she would have to inspect 11.23 wells per day to ensure that each well gets inspected once per year. 

One part of the Mission Statement of the Railroad Commission of Texas, our regulatory body over Oil and Gas, states their concern over personal and community safety.  These figures reveal that their mission falls woefully short.  We clearly need more inspectors and oversight.  Our regulatory agencies need to do in the field what they say they do on paper.  Amen.

Link to the Texas RRC website. 

 

Texas Road Base

If you have ever thought about moving off the shale because of the dangers of fracking, think again.  There may not be any safe havens left.  An amended Railroad Commission rule about recycling may explain why.  According to Gaye McElwain of the Railroad Commission of Texas, drilling muds and fluids are being used as a road base in some areas of the State.  This is how industry greenwashes fracking.  They are not really recycling their waste.  They are just finding more creative ways in which to dispose of it.  Have you ever wondered why there is so much road construction happening all around North Texas?   

Here's the clip from the Gas Drilling Forum held at the Arlington, TX Convention Center on August 1, 2015: 

(In the case of a technical glitch, scroll over to 2:22:20 in this video.)

Click on this link for information about this recycling rule.