Response To The Attacks on Gasland

It has been disappointing to see the endless attacks on Josh Fox and Gasland by the paid liars for the natural gas industry. Up until this point I have been somewhat silent on the matter. However, this foolishness has really gone far enough. The natural gas industry acts as though, everything they do works as designed, and they would never take a shortcut in the interest of profits. Having a unique experience of dealing with several of these companies, I can unequivocally say, that is a lie.

Most of these companies will fight tooth and nail to keep from spending a few thousand dollars on a piece of safety equipment, but when they get sued, they will hire the biggest, most expensive law firm in town. In turn the biggest law firm in town knows that this is a case they will lose, but will bill the company fifty thousand before they settle. When I was growing up on the farm, my daddy called that "stepping over a dollar to pick up a nickel". Therefore, this whole idea that they want to be "good neighbors" is just another lie. They are only going to be good neighbors and responsible corporate citizens when they are forced too, or embarrassed into it. And when things go wrong they will shrug their shoulders and say it wasn't them and expect us to simply take their word for it.

The approach they are taking with Gasland is exactly the same approach as they have taken for years, but the average person never hears about it. Of course with the magnitude of Gasland, we all can see their tactics. I have read letter after letter from this industry disputing any claim that does not promote their product.

The natural gas industry keeps stating that the flaming water in Gasland was "naturally occurring" methane. They further state that the state officials in Colorado have validated this story. I am sure that there is "naturally occurring" methane. However, I have yet to see something like this in an area, that drilling was not present. In the matters that I am familiar with, there were other chemicals present that are not "naturally occurring". Don't forget that state officials said everything was fine in Niagara Falls, NY, better known as "Love Canal".

Our state governments bureaucrats receive below average compensation for their specialties, and therefore does not attract the top notch employees of any given field. If they should by chance get a "pick of the litter" employee, they will move on to something better, whenever something better comes along. Therefore, you likely have people running state organizations that simply would not make it in the real world, and certainly would not be in charge of anything. As Reagan once said "we are being governed, by people who cannot govern themselves". Unfortunately, these organizations are the ones that we depend on to keep us safe, and they are failing. I have seen failure at all levels in the State of Texas, but it is not isolated here. If you should ever be in the unfortunate position of needing a state agency to protect your rights, you will quickly see just how right I am about this.

For example we are monitoring the pollution in DISH...monitoring. The State of Texas has spent $250,000.00 on a permanent air monitor in DISH, that clearly shows that whatever is happening at the compressor site is not staying at the compressor site. However, after a year and half on the job, the benzene level at the monitor was the highest ever recorded on February 12, 2011 at 8:00 AM, and by no means do I think that the monitor reading was anywhere near accurate, most likely well below what was actually present in the area. However, they will do nothing about this, it has been well over a year, and I am not sure how much better off we are for it.

Another clear example is the private well water in DISH that was contaminated with drilling mud. The mud did not show up in the water until the gas drilling was started close to the home, it tested positive for all of the known chemicals in drilling mud, the Railroad Commission documents show a substantial loss of drilling mud during drilling, and guess what? The Railroad Commission found that this could not possibly have been caused by drilling...there are your tax dollars at work. Therefore, it is clear that our state organizations are not or will not protect private citizens. They are either not smart enough, do not have the experience, or are mandated to keep their head in the sand.

Our state officials are likely to get exposed by a plaintiff's attorney real soon. With all of the lawsuits out there, it is only a matter of time before they have will have to face depositions and an attorney that will bring down this house of cards they are building. I can only hope that we get some of them in a courtroom, where their testimony will become a matter of public record. This will clearly show that we have the bottom 10 percent in our state governments. Many of the state agencies involved in DISH, have brought their dog and pony show to the citizens of DISH. They acted as though they were talking down to bunch of country bumpkins. However, these country bumpkins shredded these highly educated skilled state employee to bits, and made them look like fools (there are some youtube videos out there of the meetings). It was not long before they were looking for the door. Most of the state agencies will no longer allow their employees to attend a DISH town meeting.

This idea that methane seepage from a natural gas well could not cause someone to ignite their water, and this is only caused by "naturally occurring" methane, is a bold face lie. Several agencies have found that methane has seeped into aquifer from a gas well, including Dimock, PA and Parker County, TX, just to mention a few. The same industry reps that are attacking Josh, have stated on camera, that if gas wells casings are not properly installed they will be compromised, and further acknowledge the importance of the gas well being properly cased. Internal industry documents also show that improperly cased wells can allow the "product to escape". Therefore, for them to state that this is naturally occurring is a lie. Also, it wasn't like there was only one family that could light there water on fire in Gasland, there were numerous people that could do this trick, all in areas of active drilling, and all had other chemicals present. Maybe the paid liars forgot to mention that.

Having been intimately involved with this industry a couple of things are very apparent, one of which is that they never do things the way that they are supposed to, and the other is that the "company suits" have no idea what happens on the ground. For example, Enterprise Texas Pipeline, which is the same company that killed an employee in the Mont Belvieu, TX when their gas processing plant exploded recently, installed a pipeline in DISH a couple of years ago. When this line was installed, after of course they took the land against the will of the property owners, they did nothing that they agreed to do in the easement agreement. For example, sufficient fencing was to be installed around the trenches to prevent livestock from getting killed or injured. This was part of the easement agreement or the contract with the property owners, and they did not comply with this. They also crossed a creek, and were required to return it to its original condition, again they did not. After I brought this to the attention of several in the organization, I was set to meet with the officers of the company. They began the meeting by telling me that all of the concerns were corrected and would not happen again. Imagine their surprise when I slid several photos that had been taken right before the meeting clearly showing that they had not taken care of any concerns. What this shows is that first, they do not do what they are supposed too, can not follow simple instructions, and that the senior management have no idea what is really happening on the ground.

Many of the problems we have had in DISH, were due to reckless actions by employees on the ground. The releases, leaving condensate tanks open, leaving valves open, not recognizing pending failures, intentional releases, etc. On many occasions I asked myself, "can these guys do anything right". In my view, they either do not have or do not follow established procedures when doing these jobs. I mean for crying out loud, they had a barbecue grill in the middle of a natural gas processing plant in DISH, how dumb can they really be? This reckless abandonment is not limited to the pipeline crews or companies. Tim Ruggiero has documented the entire drilling process on his property and has recorded many reckless mistakes that happened. Drilling mud spills, condensate spills, methane leaks, Braden head pressure, and these are just the things I know about. Tim has a much longer list of the simple things the drilling crews could not do properly. Someone used the term that this industry "could tear up a bowling ball with a fly swatter"...I agree.

The fact of the matter is that this process is a delicate process, in which everything needs to be done exactly right to work properly. When things are not done properly bad things happen, I know this and so does the industry. Does anyone remember Deep Water Horizon? When those responsible are not held accountable for their mistakes, there is nothing to encourage them to do it better next time. Even when they are fined, it is nothing compared to the profits made at a single location. Therefore, there is simply no incentive to do it right, or develop safer technology, and it has gone on for so long that it is ingrained in their culture. We have allowed this and propagated these actions for way too long.

The endless attacks on Josh are baseless, foolish, and as Tim would say either a lie or a half truth, like most of the other things that come from the industry paid liars. What Josh has done with Gasland is nothing short of amazing, and the attacks from this industry are not going to stop that. He gave a voice to people who did not have a voice, he helped people who no one else would help, and he helped bring a nation and quite possibly the world together on this issue. Sorry, the cat is out of the bag and no matter how hard you try to get it back in there...it is out. Growing up on the farm, my daddy would have described what this industry is doing to Josh in one word..."chickenshit"...and I agree.

Calvin Tillman
Mayor, DISH, TX (940) 453-3640

"Those who say it can not be done, should get out of the way of those that are doing it"