Flooding sweeps oil, chemicals into rivers
Railroad Commission contends it has responded well; others not so sure
AUSTIN — Scores of photographs taken by state emergency-management officials show that when floodwaters rise in Texas, they inundate oil wells and fracking sites, sweeping crude and noxious chemicals into rivers throughout the Lone Star State.
Most recently, rainbow sheens and caramel plumes can be seen radiating from tipped tanks and flooded production pads during the March flood of the Sabine River, which forms much of the state’s boundary with Louisiana. Similar scenes are visible in photos from last year’s floods of the Trinity, Red and Colorado rivers.
But despite apparent evidence that spills have been routine in recent floods, Texas’ regulator, the Railroad Commission of Texas, contends that it has responded effectively.
“I’m confident that once the agency is notified, we’re taking appropriate measures,” Rich Parsons, the commission’s communications director, said last week.
Scientists concerned
Scientists and environmental groups aren’t as confident.
They worry that as floodwaters rage, harmful substances are swept downstream into the environment — and, possibly, drinking-water supplies — before Railroad Commission inspectors can reach the site of the spills.
“They’re looking after the fact at what might have happened,” said Ken Kramer, water resources chairman of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. “Because of that, it’s pretty hard to figure out exactly what happened.”
It’s hard to draw definite conclusions simply by looking at photographs, but after reviewing a few, one expert said the spills could be deadly.
‘Potential disaster’
“That’s a potential disaster,” said Walter Tsou, a physician and past president of the American Public Health Association. He published an article about the possible risks posed by fracking fluids on the website of the Environmental Health Policy Institute, an arm of the group Physicians for Social Responsibility.
“I’m sure it will get into the groundwater and streams and creeks,” Tsou said of photos depicting oil plumes and inundated wastewater ponds. “In other areas, cattle that drank the fracking fluid actually died an hour after drinking it. There are potential carcinogens that can lead to leukemia, brain cancer and other endocrine disruptors that can affect premature births. So it is not good to drink fracked wastewater.”
“They don’t enforce (at the Railroad Commission). They don’t fine. But they do whine about needing more money from the Legislature.” Lon Burnham, former Democratic state representative
A series of photos were shot by the Texas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol when the Texas Department of Public Safety activated the State Operations Center during recent major flooding. The surveillance is directed by the Mid-American Geospatial Information Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which posts photos from recent floods on its website.
As emergency managers identify photographic evidence of flood-related spills, they notify the appropriate state agency, said DPS spokesman Tom Vinger.
“Based on the particular circumstances, agencies that could be notified in a scenario involving a potential spill include the Texas Railroad Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or the Texas General Land Office,” Vinger said in an email.
Railroad agency’s job
In the case of spills from inland oil-and-gas production sites, the Railroad Commission is the responsible agency, TCEQ spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said.
Once notified of a spill, the Railroad Commission reacts quickly, spokeswoman Ramona Nye said.
“If a release or spill is identified, the agency dis- patches an inspector to investigate,” she said. “Alleged violations are documented and appropriate action is taken based on the nature of the alleged violation.”
Despite the many photos of apparent spills in the past three years, Nye did not provide any examples of enforcement actions taken against energy producers whose sites leaked during severe floods.
“It is possible alleged violations could be identified as a result of a severe weather event, but we track and enforce violations based on commission rules, not specific weather events,” Nye said.
One incident
In the case of one spill, Nye described her agency’s response.
The photograph was taken June 8 on the Lower Trinity River about 6 miles northeast of Midway. It shows a production site with 11 tall, tan tanks.
Floodwaters swamped the berm around the pad. Inside, most of the water is black, but as it is it carried away, it swirls in caramel plumes.
Photographs taken just downstream the same day show heavy, dark plumes flowing into and through flooded groves of trees.
A railroad commission inspection report dated July 16 — more than a month after the photos were taken — describes what was done in response to the spill.
Describing the well site itself, the report says, “Free oil picked up and berm was pressure washed. Soil inside firewall is being remediated.”
Referring to a downstream grove of trees, it says, “Remediation of treeline area of pecan trees near well 700 is finished.”
The report doesn’t mention oil and chemicals that might have washed farther downstream. Nor does it say how much oil or other substances might have left the well site during the flooding.
Of the other photos the Railroad Commission reviewed, it said one — shot during last month’s flooding on the Sabine River — was of a leaking facility in Louisiana on the east side of the waterway. Another, showing a brown penumbra around a tank during last year’s Red River floods, contained no evidence of an oil spill, Nye said.
Soft on industry?
Despite its assurances, the commission has long been accused of being soft on the industry it’s supposed to regulate.
Lon Burnham is a former Democratic state representative from Fort Worth who unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination to an open seat on the three-member commission earlier this year. He said that since the members of the Railroad Commission receive most of their campaign contributions from energy producers, they have little incentive to punish polluters — or even find that they’re polluting.
“They don’t enforce,” Burnham said. “They don’t fine. But they do whine about needing more money from the Legislature.”
Top priority
Indeed, a 2015 report by the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice showed that each of the commissioners got more than half of their campaign funding from industry contributors, with Chairman David Porter getting the most — 67 percent.
Texans for Public Justice implied that the funding led the commission to sponsor research claiming that fracking can’t be shown to cause earthquakes even though scientists at Southern Methodist University reported that it does.
Despite the criticisms of the commission, spokeswoman Nye insisted that spill prevention is the agency’s top job.
“Protection of public safety and our natural resources is the Railroad Commission’s highest priority,” she said. “The Railroad Commission’s oil and gas rules have been effective in carrying out this mission.
“As stated previously, all operators are required to report any spills in water and contain and clean up such spills in compliance with Railroad Commission rules.”