TRRC and Safety
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John Mayo
Sep 12, 2010, 9:31:20 PM9/12/10
to Landowner's Rights Alliance
Jeff Weems, Houstonian and Democrat running for Texas Railroad
Commissioner, talked about increasing the commission's role in
environmental regulation when he met Friday with Young Democrats and
community members on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.
He arrived on a whirlwind tour that included Texarkana, Lindale,
Tyler, Nacogdoches and Lufkin.
The Railroad Commission's job is regulating oil and gas production and
transportation in Texas, he said.
"They are not doing a very good job of it," Weems said, also
describing the Texas Railroad Commission as the biggest environmental
regulator in Texas.
"Regulating oil and gas is very important in Texas, and the Railroad
Commission's role is bigger than the EPA (U.S Environmental Protection
Agency) or the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality)," he
said.
Weems zeroed in on the oil field practice of high pressure fracking
and specifically its impact on water quality. He claimed that each new
natural gas well can use up to 3.5 million gallons of water that is
left over as a saline waste product after completion. He described the
loss of this water when injected over two miles deep into disposal
wells as an important loss that should be regulated.
"That water is gone forever, and it needs to be regulated by the
commission," he said.
He went on to cite the recent example of the BP Macondo well disaster
off the Louisiana coast as an example of what the Railroad Commission
should be working to prevent in Texas.
"What we saw off Louisiana, we cannot allow to occur onshore here in
Texas," he said.
Other environmental problems he cited as needing attention were
benzene emissions, dumping of brine waste and better regulation of
drilling in municipalities. Weems claimed that the Railroad Commission
would be better able to address point source problems than agencies
like the EPA or the TCEQ because it could point to individual
operators and shut them down or even arrest and jail repeat offenders.
Weems, who describes himself as the only candidate with industry
experience, is an attorney who specializes in petroleum issues and
mineral lease law. He faces Republican David Porter of Giddings,
Libertarian Roger Gary of San Antonio and Green Party nominee Art
Browning of Cypress in November.
Commissioner, talked about increasing the commission's role in
environmental regulation when he met Friday with Young Democrats and
community members on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.
He arrived on a whirlwind tour that included Texarkana, Lindale,
Tyler, Nacogdoches and Lufkin.
The Railroad Commission's job is regulating oil and gas production and
transportation in Texas, he said.
"They are not doing a very good job of it," Weems said, also
describing the Texas Railroad Commission as the biggest environmental
regulator in Texas.
"Regulating oil and gas is very important in Texas, and the Railroad
Commission's role is bigger than the EPA (U.S Environmental Protection
Agency) or the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality)," he
said.
Weems zeroed in on the oil field practice of high pressure fracking
and specifically its impact on water quality. He claimed that each new
natural gas well can use up to 3.5 million gallons of water that is
left over as a saline waste product after completion. He described the
loss of this water when injected over two miles deep into disposal
wells as an important loss that should be regulated.
"That water is gone forever, and it needs to be regulated by the
commission," he said.
He went on to cite the recent example of the BP Macondo well disaster
off the Louisiana coast as an example of what the Railroad Commission
should be working to prevent in Texas.
"What we saw off Louisiana, we cannot allow to occur onshore here in
Texas," he said.
Other environmental problems he cited as needing attention were
benzene emissions, dumping of brine waste and better regulation of
drilling in municipalities. Weems claimed that the Railroad Commission
would be better able to address point source problems than agencies
like the EPA or the TCEQ because it could point to individual
operators and shut them down or even arrest and jail repeat offenders.
Weems, who describes himself as the only candidate with industry
experience, is an attorney who specializes in petroleum issues and
mineral lease law. He faces Republican David Porter of Giddings,
Libertarian Roger Gary of San Antonio and Green Party nominee Art
Browning of Cypress in November.
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