Developer W. Dozens Of Violations Wants Oil Industry Landfill 500 Yards From E. TX Town's Water Well

[hatrack]

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The proposed location in Paxton has two ponds and a wetland. A creek originates there and then meanders into the Sabine River. That creek, Cypress Creek, runs along the land that Linda Wheeler, a 54-year-old retired nurse, shares with six other households and four generations of her family. These 200 acres, which Wheeler’s grandfather once split between his children, are full of ponds, swamps and natural springs. The families drink from three private wells. “Why are we still fighting this? It’s disheartening that they’re giving them another chance,” she said. “It’s already been denied.”

The first denial was in December 2019. The Railroad Commission’s technical permitting division wrote that the presence of wetlands, shallow groundwater and permeable soil meant “the proposed facility location is not a viable option for the processing and permanent internment of oil and gas waste.” “The design and layout of the facility is not protective of surface waters features or groundwater,” the ruling said. It then listed more than 40 recommended changes for McBride to make to its application and gave the developer 30 days to resubmit. Over the next two years, the commission gave McBride at least three more opportunities to fill in missing information.

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At the hearing, Paxton residents pointed out McBride’s record of contamination. The developer’s facilities had failed Railroad Commission inspections 48 times since 2015 over pollution violations, sometimes with multiple infractions, commission records show. According to Janet Ritter, who owns a cattle ranch adjacent to the proposed dump site and attended the hearing, the judge ordered the complainants only to focus on the technical merits of the specific permit under review, and had comments about McBride’s other facilities stricken from the record.

After a yearlong review, the commission’s technical permitting division again recommended denial of the permit at its December 2022 meeting, when Commissioner Wright again moved to offer McBride another chance. “I think some of us are starting to realize the beast we are dealing with. You can’t afford to fight them,” said Janet Ritter. “We’ve spent roughly $50,000 but our neighbor has spent more.”

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27012023/texas-regulators-wont-stop-an-oilfield-waste-dump-site-next-to-wetlands-streams-and-wells/

[Walleye]

1. Living in Texas must be exhausting

[2naSalit]

2. That's quite brazen...

But then, if you own the local government, so much can be accomplished in your favor.