Woodlands Villager - News
Legislators file injection well bills
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By LUCRETIA CARDENAS
Two local lawmakers filed three bills on Nov. 12 to regulate wastewater injection wells, making a firm statement they don’t want them in Montgomery County.
Texas legislators began filing bills this past week for the 81st Legislature – which opens its session in January – and with TexCom Gulf Disposal’s permit for an injection well coming before Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality commissioners on Wednesday, Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, believe it is the perfect opportunity to show where they stand.
“I don’t put a lot of credence in filing bills early, but I did want to make a strong statement in any way to influence the TCEQ,” Creighton said.
TexCom hopes to receive approval this week to inject non-hazardous wastewater into an unused 10-year-old well in the old Conroe oilfield. The Houston-based company has tentative approval from the TCEQ to inject a maximum of 350 gallons per minute of Class 1 non-hazardous wastewater at the site, according to TexCom’s well application.
But Montgomery County residents and officials fear the wastewater could contaminate the aquifer by traveling through old oil well pipes.
Each of Nichols’ and Creighton’s identical bills address the dangers of injection wells.
The first, filed as House Bill 177 and Senate Bill 273, would require regular reporting of injection well water and soil quality tests. The second, H.B. 178 and S.B. 274, limits where an injection well can be placed. It excludes areas within a half-mile of a residence, church, school, daycare, park or public water supply. The measure also would prohibit injection wells in old oilfields, such as the Conroe field off Creighton Road, near FM 3083.
The final bill, H.B. 179 and S.B. 275, would require TCEQ to establish rules for injection well surface facilities. Such a bill could directly affect TexCom’s proposed site because new rules could be established for them to follow, according to Nichols and Creighton.
TexCom officials did not provide a comment on the bills by The Courier’s deadline.
“One primary purpose of the legislation is to try and tighten up the regulation of underground waste,” Nichols said. “We want to increase the difficulty of obtaining permits in urbanized areas or areas where groundwater is depended on for drinking water because if you do get a leak, it could contaminate the entire aquifer.”
TCEQ commissioners must make a decision on TexCom’s permit based on factual evidence, which was presented during a hearing in December 2007, Nichols said. However, he and Creighton believe Montgomery County, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District and an attorney representing residents offered enough evidence at the hearing to bring doubt into the TCEQ commissioners’ minds as to the safety of the well.
TexCom officials have maintained that the well will abide by all current regulations and will not come in contact with the groundwater. The State Office of Administrative Hearing judges ruled in TexCom’s favor in May but the final decision rests with TCEQ.
“I look at it this way – if you have an environmental spill on the ground, you can clean it up, but when you have a leak thousands of feet below … it’s irreparable,” Nichols said.
“So, why in the world would the Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality, the agency we depend on to protect land, air and water, why would they allow the possibility of something so critical?”
Texas legislators began filing bills this past week for the 81st Legislature – which opens its session in January – and with TexCom Gulf Disposal’s permit for an injection well coming before Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality commissioners on Wednesday, Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, believe it is the perfect opportunity to show where they stand.
“I don’t put a lot of credence in filing bills early, but I did want to make a strong statement in any way to influence the TCEQ,” Creighton said.
TexCom hopes to receive approval this week to inject non-hazardous wastewater into an unused 10-year-old well in the old Conroe oilfield. The Houston-based company has tentative approval from the TCEQ to inject a maximum of 350 gallons per minute of Class 1 non-hazardous wastewater at the site, according to TexCom’s well application.
But Montgomery County residents and officials fear the wastewater could contaminate the aquifer by traveling through old oil well pipes.
Each of Nichols’ and Creighton’s identical bills address the dangers of injection wells.
The first, filed as House Bill 177 and Senate Bill 273, would require regular reporting of injection well water and soil quality tests. The second, H.B. 178 and S.B. 274, limits where an injection well can be placed. It excludes areas within a half-mile of a residence, church, school, daycare, park or public water supply. The measure also would prohibit injection wells in old oilfields, such as the Conroe field off Creighton Road, near FM 3083.
The final bill, H.B. 179 and S.B. 275, would require TCEQ to establish rules for injection well surface facilities. Such a bill could directly affect TexCom’s proposed site because new rules could be established for them to follow, according to Nichols and Creighton.
TexCom officials did not provide a comment on the bills by The Courier’s deadline.
“One primary purpose of the legislation is to try and tighten up the regulation of underground waste,” Nichols said. “We want to increase the difficulty of obtaining permits in urbanized areas or areas where groundwater is depended on for drinking water because if you do get a leak, it could contaminate the entire aquifer.”
TCEQ commissioners must make a decision on TexCom’s permit based on factual evidence, which was presented during a hearing in December 2007, Nichols said. However, he and Creighton believe Montgomery County, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District and an attorney representing residents offered enough evidence at the hearing to bring doubt into the TCEQ commissioners’ minds as to the safety of the well.
TexCom officials have maintained that the well will abide by all current regulations and will not come in contact with the groundwater. The State Office of Administrative Hearing judges ruled in TexCom’s favor in May but the final decision rests with TCEQ.
“I look at it this way – if you have an environmental spill on the ground, you can clean it up, but when you have a leak thousands of feet below … it’s irreparable,” Nichols said.
“So, why in the world would the Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality, the agency we depend on to protect land, air and water, why would they allow the possibility of something so critical?”
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