Railroad Commission Sides With Driller on Well Protest
The Railroad Commission on Thursday sided with Marathon Oil Company’s bid to dismiss a groundwater conservation district’s protest of its application to inject waste into part of South Texas’ Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer. But the three-person commission did not address the driller’s broader argument that no groundwater district has standing to protest a disposal well application.
The Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District, concerned about potential impacts on its water resources, had challenged Marathon’s plans to convert a well — that had been drawing brackish water for oil and gas production — into a resting place for drilling waste. Marathon asked the commission to dismiss the protest, citing the well’s location — it sits four miles outside the district’s boundaries — and arguing that no groundwater district should have standing to protest a disposal well, because such moves created regulatory uncertainty.
The commissioners voted unanimously to dismiss the protest, but only because the well sits outside of the district.
“I’m not sure this is the case to make law on,” Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman said.
Read more here: http://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/22/drilling-water-interests-clash-on-disposal/
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4 days of finals, 1 records day, and graduation!
Nah, I haven't given it the slightest thought. 