Barnett Shale

TCEQ says 1 in 5 gas sites have high levels of benzene

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says it found benzene levels that exceeded the recommended safe levels at 21 of 94 natural gas production sites that it tested in the Barnett Shale field, the agency said Thursday.

Two companies have already made repairs at a site where the benzene levels measured 1,100 and 15,000 parts per billion, hundreds of times above the state and federal standard of 1.4 parts per billion.

"Although the results are complex, it is clear that gas production facilities can, and in some cases do,, emit contaminants in in amounts that could be deemed unsafe," the agency said in a news release.

The TCEQ has been under pressure about the environmental effects of the Barnett Shale since October. That's when the small town of Dish and Fort Worth business owner Deborah Rogers paid for their own tests. The Dish test found high levels of benzene and other compounds near a complex of pipelines and compressors. Rogers’ test found high levels of carbon disulfide.

TCEQ officials were already conducting air samples by then. But they also said they had known as far back as 2007 that fumes were being released from natural gas sites.

The agency has also come under fire for a presentation Sadlier made to the City Council two weeks ago. Sadlier said "the air is safe" after releasing the results of a three-day check at wells and other facilities in Fort Worth. The agency said in a news release that it tested 126 sites, but it only conducted actual tests at eight of those sites. The others were screened with infrared cameras and handheld monitors. And the tests were conducted on a cold day, when it’s less likely that fumes would be present.

Get the state's full report here: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementation/barnettshale/bshale-main

Click here to see our previous coverage of the air test issues: http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2010/01/more-air-tests.html

-- Mike Lee

Coalition wants energy companies' shareholders to protest hydraulic fracturing

A new front opened Tuesday in the debate about hydraulic fracturing: A coalition of environmentally conscious investment groups is urging shareholders of big energy companies to pressure them about their use of fracturing.

Some of the target companies include North Texas stalwarts like Exxon Mobil and Range Resources, along with big local players Chesapeake and EOG.

“High profile water contamination incidents, new litigation, and public protests that include calls for moratoria on natural gas permitting all suggest sizeable and rising business risks to companies and attendant threats to shareholder value; shareholders need assurance that companies are candidly disclosing these risks and are adopting best management practices to minimize them,” said Richard Liroff, Executive Director of the Investor Environmental Health Network.

The energy industry is fighting just as hard to convince people that fracturing is safe. (You can read news releases from both groups below.)

Fracturing, of course, is the technology that made it possible to recover natural gas from the Barnett Shale, the Marcellus Shale and other natural gas fields. It involves the high-pressure injection of water, chemicals and particles such as sand into the ground to open cracks and release trapped oil or gas. There have been persistent questions, though, about whether the practice contributes to water pollution.

Bills are pending in Congress that would impose more regulations on fracturing, and the state of New York is still debating whether to allow drilling in the Catskill Mountains, which include the watershed for New York City's water supply.

Shareholder activism has been around for quite some time, but it hasn't gotten very far with energy companies. There were protests at Exxon's shareholder meeting last year, and also at Chesapeake's shareholder meeting. The rebellious shareholders were voted down both times, but they did get quite a bit of publicity.

-- Mike Lee

New Rangers ownership has natural gas focus

The Rangers Baseball Express is being fueled by natural gas.

The Express, the investment group poised to become the new owners of the Arlington-based Texas Rangers team, includes Bob Simpson and Ray C. Davis, described in a prior Star-Telegram article as "co-lead investors." Both have made their fortunes from natural gas and benefited from the riches of North Texas' Barnett Shale, perhaps the hottest gas drilling play in the nation over the past several years.

Simpson is chairman of Fort Worth-based XTO Energy, which Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to buy in a $31 billion, all-stock transaction, pending approval of XTO stockholders. Exxon also is to assume about $10 billion of XTO debt, putting the deal's value at $41 billion. Simpson is a co-founder of XTO (originally known as Cross Timbers Oil Co.) and stepped down in late 2008 as the company's CEO. 

Ray Davis is much less known to Tarrant County residents than Simpson. Davis is the retired co-chief executive and co-chairman of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, an owner of natural gas pipelines, including operations connected to the Barnett Shale. Davis was No. 367 on the 2009 Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest American, with his wealth estimated at an even $1 billion. Davis is still a director of Energy Transfer Partners and an affiliate, Energy Transfer Equity. 

Of course, the Rangers have had prior owners connected to the energy business. Former president George W. Bush, once a West Texas oilman, was a Rangers' executive and part of an investment group that bought the team in 1989 from an owner group led by Eddie Chiles, who was the longtime chief executive of the Fort Worth-based Western Company of North America, an oilfield services firm. Chiles, perhaps best known for his "I'm Mad' radio commercials complaining about the federal government and his company advertising slogan "If  you don't own an oil well, get one," died in 1993.

--Jack Z. Smith

More air tests

The latest round of air tests shows benzene in Dish, carbon disulfide in Fort Worth.

This probably won't be the last word on the subject, however. The town of Dish, along with Fort Worth business owner Deborah Rogers, have been pushing the state since October to do more about air pollution from gas wells in the Barnett Shale. The dueling test results have been coming in ever since.

Here's the latest report:   012210 New test results raise fresh concerns about air pollution

To follow the controversy from the beginning, start here:

Air tests raise questions about gas wells

And continue in order: 101709 Tests show little pollution near gas facilities

 112309 State asking drillers to cut air pollution

120909_pollution story

11310 Tests find emissions don’t exceed standards

-- Mike Lee

 

National environmental group weighs in on fracking

The Environmental Working Group says natural gas drilling companies are using petroleum distillates, some of which contain high levels of benzene, in an effort to get around a federal ban on the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing.

Fracturing is the technology that allowed gas to be recovered from the Barnett Shale field and other shale fields around the U.S.

Read the report here:  EWG-drillingaroundthelaw

The report doesn't have specifics about water pollution problems in Texas. As we reported in December, a lot of rural residents outside Fort Worth worry about potential groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing in their areas, and there are anecdotal reports of private water wells being contaminated. State officials say that there's no evidence that hydraulic fracturing has led to any water pollution, but the state has done precious few tests. Also, drillers in Texas typically use injection wells to get rid of their brine and other drilling waste, which leads to more concerns.

State environmental agencies in Pennsylvania and New York have published lists of chemicals used in fracturing in those state. But Texas drillers continue to list some of their ingredients as "trade secret" or with loose descriptions such as "petroleum distillates."

The EWG report is aimed at persuading Congress to pass bills that would regulate hydraulic fracturing more closely. The oil and gas energy is lobbying just as hard against the idea. Read their response here:

EID When Gummy Bears Attack

-- Mike Lee

 

More on air pollution

 The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's report on its preliminary on air pollution tests in the Barnett Shale gas field is here:

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/assets/public/implementation/barnett_shale/2010.01.11-sadlier-FW_review.pdf

There's more information on Barnett Shale air issues here: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementation/barnettshale/bshale-main

As we've reported, the TCEQ came under a lot of criticism_slow response to reports of air pollution n the gas field. The agency announced in December that it would respond to comlaints of odors or leaks within 12 hours. For those of you who want the TCEQ to test the air at a specific site, the number is 1-888-777-3186.

-- Mike Lee

City Council to tackle saltwater moratorium, high-impact sites and air pollution

UPDATE: Read the TCEQ's report here: http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1889067.html

How's that for a trifecta:

Officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will give the council and update on air pollution in the Barnett Shale. Industry groups are reportedly working on plans for more tests of well sites in Fort Worth.  

The council will take up another tricky environmental question  when it votes on extending the city's moratorium on saltwater injection wells.

The council is also scheduled for vote on three high-impact well sites, including one on Page Street that will serve the Ryan Place and Fairmount neighborhoods. Loyal readers will recall that those neighborhoods signed gas leases with XTO in large part to block a proposed well site in the Eighth Avenue rail yard. 

Read more about the proposals here:

http://www.fortworthgov.org/council_packet/mc_review.asp?ID=12716&councildate=1/12/2010

http://www.fortworthgov.org/council_packet/mc_review.asp?ID=12961&councildate=1/12/2010

http://www.fortworthgov.org/council_packet/mc_review.asp?ID=12715&councildate=1/12/2010

-- Mike Lee