TexCom Toxic Wells- Danger to Your Drinking Water?

In 2011, TCEQ granted TexCom a permit to construct and use four injection wells to dispose of toxic material (paint thinners. petroleum distillates, oil water  emulsions, antifreeze, reactive sulfides, etc.)The 27-acre property bought by TexCom for this purpose is in the middle of the old Conroe Oil Field, which had a  large amount of drilling activity back in the 30’s and 40’s. Any toxic waste could infiltrate back through these old oil well casings into our water supply.Noone knows the condition of these old casings.

Directly below this property lie the 3 major aquifers that provide drinking water for all or part of 54 counties in South Texas. These are the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers. Toxic chemicals will be injected under high pressure into cavities below these precious freshwater sources.I believe this is a critical issue  for all of us to closely monitor oppose as it could have an adverse effect on the aquifers  providing our drinking water.

 

Other problems with this site include:

• The site is located in an established residential community, with homes bordering all sides of the property. Personal water wells for neighbors are as close as 300 feet from the proposed injection wells.
• There are over 500 abandoned oil wells in the mandated area of review on this property. Neither TexCom nor the TCEQ experts can determine how many, and to what extent these wells will be breached by toxic waste.
• Retired Oil & Gas employees have submitted depositions that some of these wells were known
  to have been improperly capped at the time they were abandoned.
• This property is known to contain significant underground fissures, which can provide access points for toxic leaks to migrate upwards and seep into our freshwater supplies.

The pemit for this work is currently tied up in litigation. Although access to the new property was initially blocked by the County, TexCom has used some devious means to acquire adjoining property so they can gain access to their property where these injections wells will be drilled.

The following is a summary of the current status from the web site of the citizen group fighting TCEQs approval of TexComs Injection Well Program (www.stopthetoxicwells.com).  Anyone interested can sign up on this web site to receive periodic status updates. The information is consistent with what J.D. Lambright presented to the League of Women's Voters on Monday night, February 25.

THE FIGHT TO PROTECT OUR WATER, AIR, & PUBLIC SAFETY CONTINUES………

The political circus that took place at the January 26, 2011 TCEQ hearing was unquestionably a blatant disregard for the public health and safety of Texas residents. Two of the three TCEQ Commissioners failed to abide by the guiding principles which the TCEQ is expected to uphold when they voted to approve the TexCom Gulf Disposal commercial waste injection well permits in spite of the following factors:

• The Commissioners disregarded the recommendation of the State Office of Administrative Hearing (SOAH) judges to deny the permits as SOAH found that “TexCom did not establish that these injection wells are in the public interest, or that the injected waste will not resurface and contaminate Montgomery County’s water source”;
• The Commissioners would not admit or take into consideration a Railroad Commission ruling in which the RRC unanimously voted to rescind the “no harm letter” which had been previously granted without a full investigation of the site and the proposed injection operation. The RRC Commissioner’s subsequent decision to “rescind the no harm letter” was based on evidence provided in a SOAH hearing held on behalf of the RRC which determined that the proposed injection operation would have a negative impact on the mineral interests in the Conroe Oil field;
• TexCom falsified their permit application when they indicated that they owned the mineral interests on the site when in fact they do not;
• The rightful owner of the mineral interests (Sabine Royalty Trust) was not notified of the permit applications for the proposed injection operation by either TexCom or the TCEQ even though they are legally required to do so;
• The Commissioners did not address TexCom’s failure to complete pressure fall off testing as a required condition of the first TCEQ hearing held in November 2009.

In his published statement immediately following TCEQ’s approval of the permits, Representative Brandon Creighton clearly conveyed his position and that of all elected officials and citizens of the area: “TCEQ had ample scientific, legal and political justification to deny this well permit, but instead chose to advance business interests over the public. I am disgusted with the outcome of this exhaustive process. This effort is not over as far as I am concerned.” We agree wholeheartedly with Representative Creighton’s comments and assure you that we are NOT giving up the fight. To that end, the following actions are in the works:

Motions for Rehearing
Montgomery County Attorney, David Walker, filed a motion for rehearing with the TCEQ on behalf of Montgomery County and the City of Conroe, as did counsels representing the Individuals Protestants (Citizens Residents Oppose Wells) and Denbury Onshore, the current owner of the Conroe field. While the motions for rehearing are a necessary step in the process, it is no surprise that TCEQ has denied these requests.

State District Court Appeal
In May 2011, Montgomery County, the City of Conroe, the Individual Protestants, Denbury Onshore and Sabine Royalty Trust filed individual suits against the TCEQ in the 250th State District court seeking reversal of the TCEQ’s approval of commercial waste injection well permits issued to TexCom Gulf Disposal in February 2011. At an August 2011 hearing regarding our appeal before the Travis County State District Court, Judge John K. Dietz announced that he will preside over the disposal well lawsuit. In addition, the state Attorney General's Office agreed to the consolidation of the individual lawsuits filed by each of the aforementioned parties into one appeal. At that time, it was anticipated that the case could be under review by Judge Dietz by June 2012. However, in mid December 2011, Judge Dietz denied two requests by the TCEQ and TexCom to have Sabine Royalty Trust (owner of the mineral interests of the Conroe oil field) dismissed from the case. In response, TCEQ and TexCom filed an appeal in the Third Court of Appeals requesting reversal of Judge Dietz's ruling regarding the dismissal of Sabine Royalty Trust from the lawsuit pending in the District Court. Attorneys representing both sides of the case will deliver oral arguments regarding the admissibility of Sabine Royalty Trust before the Third Court of Appeals on November 28, 2012 in Austin, TX. It is anticipated that once the Third Court of Appeals rules on the Sabine Royalty Trust issue, the litigation pending in Travis County District Court will proceed.

Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT)
TCEQ's approval of the injection well permits was conditioned upon TexCom securing a driveway permit from TxDOT authorizing the relocation of the truck access driveway to the injection well site from its current location on Creighton Rd to FM 3083. In an attempt to satisfy that requirement, TexCom filed an application with TxDOT to build a driveway on FM 3083. However, on October 6, 2011, TxDOT notified TexCom that their driveway permit application had been denied as it "did not meet minimum spacing requirements". TexCom subsequently filed an appeal with TxDot requesting a variance to negate TxDOT’s spacing requirements. Before the variance was reviewed by TxDOT, Representative Brandon Creighton appeared before Montgomery County Commissioner’s Court regarding a statute within the Texas Administrative Code that offered a potential opportunity for Montgomery County to assume local control of the access permitting process for state highways within its jurisdiction. With Commissioner’s Court approval to proceed, the Montgomery County Attorney’s office filed for and was granted temporary road access control in January 2012 and TexCom subsequently withdrew its variance request.

In April 2012, however, a parcel of land with frontage along FM 3083 and which adjoins the TexCom property at the rear of the site, was sold to an Oklahoma businessman.While a permit authorizing the modification of the driveway to this adjoining site was issued, the County Attorney's office advises that the permit that was issued was for only a "residential driveway." What was  buildt ws  8" thick, rebar reinforced driveway. It was initially though that any change in use to accommodate commercial use of the site or commercial truck traffic to the site would require submission and approval of a different permit, although the County is now not certain of the County's right in this regard. The property has since been sold to TexCom.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Involvement
Throughout the contested case and TCEQ hearings, the EPA has closely followed the case and provided pertinent technical information to the TCEQ outlining the risks of contamination of the area aquifers. After the permits were approved, they again contacted the TCEQ restating their concerns regarding the potential for waste migration into the aquifer which ultimately could contaminate the drinking water supply. We continue to follow with the EPA to determine if they can intervene in any way to overturn the permit approvals. To date we are not aware if any further action has been initiated, but will continue to follow up with the EPA for further updates.