Cleveland Advocate - News
Sinkhole could lead to changes to TRC regulations
By ALEX WUKMAN
As part of his re-election bid, Michael Williams, the chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC), is starting a three-week, 30-plus county tour on a bus powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). So far, Williams’ touring schedule will take him to Austin, Round Rock, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Seguin, San Antonio, Sugar Land, Houston, Hurst, Dallas, Frisco and Rockwall in the first week.
Currently there is no scheduled stop in or near Daisetta to discuss the sinkhole, nor is there one in Montgomery County to discuss injection wells. However, before he set off on his “Powered by Texas” tour, Williams took time to hold a press conference and then do an interview on UStream.com, a site that allows users to broadcast themselves live over the Internet.
As the interview was beginning, Williams seemed cool and confident in front of the webcam, ready to answer questions about his re-election bid, support of clean coal technology and how Texas needs to look to alternative and renewable energy for the future.
He was ready to discuss how he has been lobbying bus manufacturer Bluebird to develop a line of CNG-powered school buses. However, when the first question about complaints filed with the commission regarding injection well operators was asked, Williams leaned into the screen and said, “Let’s do this the old-fashioned way, I’ll call you.” This was possible because the Advocate was the only news organization to take part in the 11 a.m. conference, the second of two set for that day.
When asked over the phone why the commission approves 80 percent of the permits brought before it for non-commercial injection wells but only inspects a little over 17 percent of them, Williams said, “Injection wells are approved on a risk-based assessment.”
He explained that TRC staff work to ensure that the proposed injection wells will not endanger surrounding communities’ water supply.
When asked about the case of the town of DeBerry, Williams said, “Of course there will be limits to what I can say since this is pending litigation.”
DeBerry is a small town on the Texas-Louisiana border and for years the residents had drinking water polluted with hydrocarbons and high amounts of salt.
As the Texas Observer reported in 2006, the EPA documented salt water leaking from a well abandoned by Basic Energy and the Railroad Commission ordered Basic Energy to remediate the problem and monitor the groundwater.
Williams said, “The TCEQ and the EPA determined that the hazards came from refined products not from the well.”
The pending litigation comes from a suit filed by DeBerry resident David Hudson who, after filing a Texas Open Records Act request, found records indicating that the TRC had known about the saltwater leaks for months and failed to act.
Williams was also asked about why the commission approves more wells than its inspectors can inspect, to which he replied, “Wells are inspected on a risk-based assessment. The highest risk wells are inspected first and then we move down the list.”
Williams went to say that “no regulatory agency would ever approve XY [amount] of wells based on XY [amount] of inspectors.”
Williams discussed the Daisetta sinkhole by saying that the TRC is currently waiting on reports from all the agencies that investigated and are still investigating the causes of collapse.
When asked whether he expects any changes to regulations regarding permitting and enforcement after those reports come in, Williams said, “There’s probably no doubt that the commission will be making appropriate recommendations after the reports from the myriad of agencies are in. Of course, we’d like to see the information come in sooner than later, but I’m not going to speak for any other agency.”
The talk then turned to TexCom Gulf Disposal’s proposed injection well in Montgomery County, a well that would run straight through the Chicot, Evangeline and Jasper aquifers. When asked if it was normal for companies to propose wells that run through three aquifers, Williams said that even though the well would be regulated by the TCEQ, he couldn’t speak on the specifics of any proposed wells because it could be construed as showing bias.
However, he did say that before a proposed well, that falls under the TRC’s regulatory capacity, comes up for a vote, the commission’s engineers will “look at whether it’s appropriate, whether it will effect water, not whether it’s unusual or normal.”
Currently there is no scheduled stop in or near Daisetta to discuss the sinkhole, nor is there one in Montgomery County to discuss injection wells. However, before he set off on his “Powered by Texas” tour, Williams took time to hold a press conference and then do an interview on UStream.com, a site that allows users to broadcast themselves live over the Internet.
As the interview was beginning, Williams seemed cool and confident in front of the webcam, ready to answer questions about his re-election bid, support of clean coal technology and how Texas needs to look to alternative and renewable energy for the future.
He was ready to discuss how he has been lobbying bus manufacturer Bluebird to develop a line of CNG-powered school buses. However, when the first question about complaints filed with the commission regarding injection well operators was asked, Williams leaned into the screen and said, “Let’s do this the old-fashioned way, I’ll call you.” This was possible because the Advocate was the only news organization to take part in the 11 a.m. conference, the second of two set for that day.
When asked over the phone why the commission approves 80 percent of the permits brought before it for non-commercial injection wells but only inspects a little over 17 percent of them, Williams said, “Injection wells are approved on a risk-based assessment.”
He explained that TRC staff work to ensure that the proposed injection wells will not endanger surrounding communities’ water supply.
When asked about the case of the town of DeBerry, Williams said, “Of course there will be limits to what I can say since this is pending litigation.”
DeBerry is a small town on the Texas-Louisiana border and for years the residents had drinking water polluted with hydrocarbons and high amounts of salt.
As the Texas Observer reported in 2006, the EPA documented salt water leaking from a well abandoned by Basic Energy and the Railroad Commission ordered Basic Energy to remediate the problem and monitor the groundwater.
Williams said, “The TCEQ and the EPA determined that the hazards came from refined products not from the well.”
The pending litigation comes from a suit filed by DeBerry resident David Hudson who, after filing a Texas Open Records Act request, found records indicating that the TRC had known about the saltwater leaks for months and failed to act.
Williams was also asked about why the commission approves more wells than its inspectors can inspect, to which he replied, “Wells are inspected on a risk-based assessment. The highest risk wells are inspected first and then we move down the list.”
Williams went to say that “no regulatory agency would ever approve XY [amount] of wells based on XY [amount] of inspectors.”
Williams discussed the Daisetta sinkhole by saying that the TRC is currently waiting on reports from all the agencies that investigated and are still investigating the causes of collapse.
When asked whether he expects any changes to regulations regarding permitting and enforcement after those reports come in, Williams said, “There’s probably no doubt that the commission will be making appropriate recommendations after the reports from the myriad of agencies are in. Of course, we’d like to see the information come in sooner than later, but I’m not going to speak for any other agency.”
The talk then turned to TexCom Gulf Disposal’s proposed injection well in Montgomery County, a well that would run straight through the Chicot, Evangeline and Jasper aquifers. When asked if it was normal for companies to propose wells that run through three aquifers, Williams said that even though the well would be regulated by the TCEQ, he couldn’t speak on the specifics of any proposed wells because it could be construed as showing bias.
However, he did say that before a proposed well, that falls under the TRC’s regulatory capacity, comes up for a vote, the commission’s engineers will “look at whether it’s appropriate, whether it will effect water, not whether it’s unusual or normal.”
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