Cover image: A sinkhole in Pecos County alongside Farm to Market Road 1053 spans about three football fields in diameter. The sinkhole was formed by an abandoned oil and gas exploration well that was reclassified as "water well." Note: the water pooled up in this photo is from rain, not from the well. Photo credit: Sarah Vasquez for Commission Shift.
Spooky Season is upon us, but unfortunately this Texas-sized problem is year round. Abandoned wells pose environmental risks, but Texans must also be wary of unplugged inactive wells left behind by oil and gas companies. Some call these “zombie wells” because of their ability to rage back to life, spewing toxins into the air and surrounding ground and surface water after months, years, or sometimes decades of relative inactivity. Amal Ahmed explains how some of these zombie wells were reclassified as “water wells” — and how The Railroad Commission won't spend money to help plug them — in her recent article that we are sharing here. Thank you for your support, and please have a safe and happy Halloween.
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Abandoned “dry hole” oil wells are polluting Texas farms, ranches and groundwater. The state won’t fix them.
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Amal Ahmed
Floodlight News, Oct. 13, 2022
Schuyler Wight is a fourth-generation rancher who has raised longhorn cattle outside Midland for decades. Wight is no geologist, but over the years, he’s had to familiarize himself with what lies underground. Scattered across his sprawling 20,000-acre ranch are more than 100 abandoned oil and gas wells left behind by wildcatters who drilled in random locations for decades looking for oil. Many were unsuccessful, but the drilling opened up layers of porous rock, revealing water and minerals.
Rather than cap the holes, the wildcatters and their oil companies — now long gone — transferred ownership of unproductive wells to the previous owners of Wight’s ranch to be used as water wells, known as P-13 wells.
Decades later, some of the wells on Wight’s land are leaking contaminated water, hydrogen sulfide and radioactive materials. Occasionally, Wight’s cattle drink water that has bubbled up to the surface and die, representing thousands of dollars in losses for his ranch.
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Typically, the Texas Railroad Commission would take responsibility for cleaning up oil and gas wells abandoned by now-defunct drilling companies. But the commission won’t spend a dime on wells like Wight’s. That’s because the commission argues his wells aren’t oil or gas wells because they never successfully produced fossil fuel.
Without state or federal funds to clean up the mess, farmers, ranchers and small local governments are struggling to fix the major environmental damage left from decades of drilling. Wight has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars — and counting — to clean up just a few of the wells on his property.
“That’s a lot of money when you’ve got to pay it back with cattle,” Wight said.
Across the state, according to the commission’s records, there are nearly...
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EPA Carbon Capture and Storage Symposium
Virginia Palacios, Executive Director, attended the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Symposium held in Stockton, California hosted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9, California Air Resources Board, and Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability. The goal of the symposium was to create a space for a diverse group of stakeholders– academics, environmental justice (EJ) stakeholders, state and federal policymakers– to discuss environmental and public health concerns, and challenges related to the use of CCS technology to inform current policy and regulatory processes, with a specific focus on any potential impacts on local communities and ideas for health protective measures.
The Railroad Commission of Texas is currently seeking “primacy” from the EPA to be the primary permitting and regulatory authority in Texas for carbon dioxide injection wells. You can read more about Commission Shift’s take on the RRC’s primacy application on our Public Participation page, testimony, and press releases.
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Odessa House Committee Hearing and Press Conference
On the 19th, the Texas House Committee on Environmental Regulation held a public hearing in Odessa, Texas. Despite being five hours from the capital, there was no live broadcast, and testimony was by invitation only so participation and accessibility was limited.
Virginia Palacios, Executive Director of Commission Shift, was invited to give comments on plugging and preventing abandoned and orphaned Wells. Pecos County rancher Schuyler Wight was also present to testify on the over 100 abandoned wells on his property that have poisoned his water and cattle.
After the hearing, Commission Shift held a press conference where Son Holmes, a local expert well plugger, and Jackie Portsmouth, an oil and gas surveyor in the Permian Basin - gave comments on the larger abandoned and orphaned well problem. Image: Son Holmes addresses the press.
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Sponsored Texas Land & Mineral Owners Association Statewide Members Meeting in San Antonio
Virginia Palacios, Executive Director, and Tannya Benavides, Advocacy Director attended the TLMA Statewide Members Meeting. The agenda included presentations on land use trends in Texas, a legislative update, and information about both nature-based and geologic carbon sequestration in Texas. Tannya and Virginia circulated Commission Shift’s January 2022 report “Eliminating Orphaned Wells and Sites in Texas” and met land and mineral owners dealing with similar problems across the state.
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Thank you for being part of our effort to reform oil and gas oversight in Texas. Together we can make the Railroad Commission of Texas a stronger agency that plans for our energy future and puts people and the environment first.
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Monday, Oct. 24 - Friday, Nov. 4: Early voting
Tuesday, Nov. 1: RRC Open Meeting
Tuesday, Nov. 8: Election Day
Monday, Nov. 28th - Wednesday, Nov. 30th: Legislative meetings
2022 Statewide Election Reminder
Early Voting is Monday October 24 - Friday Nov. 4th. The last day to vote is November 8th. Be sure to look up your voting locations and hours and make a plan to vote. Remind your friends and family not to skip the Railroad Commissioner race on the ballot. More voting info at VoteTexas.org.
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WELCOME SOCORRO AND JOSE TO COMMISSION SHIFT!
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Socorro Ramos-Avilés was raised on a coffee farm in the town of Lares, Puerto Rico. Ever since obtaining her bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration focused on public policy, Soccorro has been organizing to empower communities– working for the rights of women, public sector workers, and Vieques residents bombarded and displaced by a U.S. military base. The bug for social justice brought Socorro to the USA to work in the Justice for Janitors campaign and the fight for a fair immigration law. Since then, she has worked with different Latino organizations empowering Latino communities in Florida through Civic Engagement programs that have registered hundreds of thousands of Latinos and have elected other Latinos for office. She is excited now for her next chapter in Texas, organizing with Commission Shift to increase civic engagement in oil and gas oversight.
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Jose Alonzo Corpus is a first-generation Mexican American born in Eagle Pass, Texas. He was raised in the sister city of Piedras Negras Coahuila, Mexico. After moving back to Texas, he was able to get his GED and later became a migrant worker. Jose has since led and joined many fights to win better benefits, wages, and humane treatment for migrant and immigrant workers. He also has many years of experience in the oil and gas field as a Pipe Fitter Helper, Foreman, and Utility Inspector. He has a bachelor's degree in Political Science and a minor in Nonprofit Management from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Jose joins Commission Shift hoping to organize community members to engage with the Railroad Commission to improve social, economic, and environmental conditions in Texas' oil and gas producing regions.
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Nov. 1st - Railroad Commission Open Meeting in Austin
RSVP here for reminders and a link to the virtual livestream.
October Open Meeting Summary
The Railroad Commission is expected to approve the final version of its amended Critical Infrastructure rules at its November Open Meeting. The RRC is expecting facilities defined as critical in the amended rule to produce an average of 24.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd). Any critical facilities that are also on the Electricity Supply Chain Map will be required to weatherize. Notably, 24.5 Bcfd won’t be enough to meet peak natural gas demand if we have another extreme winter weather event like Winter Storm Uri. Learn more in our press release summarizing the comments we submitted on October 7th.
Meet us on Twitter - For this open meeting, Commission Shift will be using “Twitter Space,” a live audio chat room, to virtually meet up immediately following the open meeting. We will discuss the decisions from the meeting, and their implications. Our Executive Director, Virginia Palacios, will be there to answer any questions. If you have wanted to tune in to meetings in the past, or have tuned in and came away with a lot of questions, this is a good time to join! See you there!
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Legislative meetings with your representatives & senators
Austin - Nov. 28-30th, 2022
RSVP
Commission Shift will be scheduling meetings with lawmakers on our key issues. This is a great opportunity for Texan constituents wanting to share concerns or perspectives on being impacted by oil & gas development, stewardship of land & natural resources, ethics, and the name of the Railroad Commission. Students and anyone interested in Texas government and policy are welcome too!
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Question about Orphan Wells?
Commission Shift Executive Director, Virginia Palacios and Megan Milliken Biven, co-author of our report “Eliminating Orphan Wells and Sites in Texas” will be filming a short video series covering our toolkit for redesigning the Railroad Commission’s oil and gas well plugging and cleanup programs. Do you have questions about orphaned and abandoned wells? Please ask! We will select some FAQ’s to answer in our videos!
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Policy Manager:
Commission Shift is seeking applications to fill two Policy Manager positions based in Austin, who will serve as subject matter experts on two or more focus areas related to our mission including, but not limited to: CCUS, orphaned wells, oil and gas waste disposal, ethics, campaign finance, public participation and language accessibility.
The Policy Managers will report to the Deputy Director and will collaborate with the organizing team, communications team, and research consultants to develop key strategies and policy positions for the organization.
These individuals will attend virtual and in-person meetings at the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Legislature, and other agencies as needed. They will also interact with relevant stakeholders and coalitions to better understand the issues and develop strategies and recommendations. The salary is $60,000 to $70,000, depending on experience. Full details and application instructions here.
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The problem with abandoned and orphaned wells isn’t going away - Dallas Morning News endorses our recommendations for plugging and preventing them!
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In order to shine a light on local voices and orphan well impact, Commission Shift held a press conference in Odessa following the Texas House Environmental Regulation Committee’s in-district public hearing. Unfortunately, public comment was limited to invited testimony only.
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Carbon capture in Texas – and the RRC’s pursuit of total control over permitting carbon dioxide injection wells in Texas – is gaining more attention. Check out our Executive Director’s take here and here.
Find more coverage on our news page.
P.S. Be sure to follow Commission Shift on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn
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Commission Shift
212 Flores Avenue
Laredo, TX 78040
United States
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