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Health in All Policies: Fracking Injection Well Advocacy in Texas Lessons LearnedLisa Campbell, DNP, RN, APHN-BCAssociate Professor
Disclosures
I have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identify key stakeholders in the advocacy process.
Formulate strategies to improve public participation with oil & gas disposal (fracking) wells.
Objectives
Time Line
Early stages: Unconscious Incompetence – you don’t know what you don’t know!
Realized an issue was in our “back-yard”
Advocating during Commissioners Court
Victoria County Commissioners Court- October 7, 2013
Presentation of a protest against a saltwater injection well.
Petradome requested permit from RRC to use an existing well as a disposal for the produced water.
If approved would be the 20th active disposal well in county.
Location near 2 city water wells.
Catahoula aquifer.
Commissioner Danny Garcia & Commissioner Neil Fritsch Calhoun Co.
Bloomington, Texas
County Commissioner to bring well protest to State…
Victoria Advocate: October 8, 2013
Commissioner Danny Garcia- No guarantees & if something goes wrong it will disturb the water supply for the community.
Dr. Lisa Campbell - If their health is impacted, it impacts us all of us. “She is concerned about methane contamination to the
community's drinking water.” Little did I know…
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that of the estimated 144,000 oil and gas-related wells operating in the United States, more than 2 billion gallons of brine, or saltwater, is injected into the ground every day. Most oil and gas injection wells are in Texas, California, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Bloomington = 2, 519
Victoria Co. = 87K
Eagle Ford Shale Play
Oil & Gas Wells in BloomingtonGIS Map Texas RRC
Conscious Incompetence: Learning about the issue
Early Networking: APHA PHN Section Members
APHA Conference November 2013: EPA, Alliance of Nurses for Health Environments, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Review of the literature
Time Line
Engaging Others
Conscious Competence: Empowerment through knowledge
Local Stakeholders/Community Members
Engaged Doctor of Nursing Students Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Nursing
UT Environmental Law Clinic
Texas Injection Well Team : Collaboration
Kent Vandergriff, Teresa Clark, Orlando Chapa, & Lisa Campbell
Inter-professional Collaboration: Leveraging Resources
University of Texas School of Law
Kelly Haragan, JD - Director of the Environmental Law Clinic
Recommended Prospective Petitioners
Mike Gershon, JD
Representative Todd Hunter, JDTexas House Member & Calendars Chair
Power of Networking
Valuable advise and information;
Texas RRC Sunset Review 2016-17;
Keep the focus on the public’s health and safety;
Arrange meeting & introductions with RRC;
Increase likelihood of success!
Petition for Rulemaking: Saltwater & Oil & Gas Waste
16 T.A.C. § 1.21
(1) require mailed notice to adjacent surface landowners and relevant ground water conservation districts of applications for disposal of saltwater and/or oil and gas waste;
(2) create a mailing list of interested persons who may apply to receive notice of disposal and injection well permit applications within a particular county;
(3) require applications for such disposal well permits to include a map identifying the location of the proposed well and a listing of the chemical composition of the proposed disposal fluids.
(4) Oil & gas disposal wells on RRC GIS Map Viewer
Evergreen, Pecan Valley, Wintergarden, Goliad & Victoria Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs)
Submitted 4-8-15
Rejected 20 days later!!
Rule Making Petition Submitted
Meeting with the RRC6-5-15
GCDs, County Commissioners
Shared stories
Proposed changes would improve GCDs operations
Improve transparency & public participation
Still waiting for follow-up from RRC
Lessons Learned
It takes time, so far 2 years;
Patience;
Network & build relationships;
Focus on protecting health;
Listen & try not to get emotional!
References
DiGiulio, D. C., Wilkin, R. T., & Miller, C. (2011). Investigation of ground water contamination near Pavilion, Wyoming. Retrieved from http://www.dontfractureillinois.net/epa-report-on-pavillion-wyoming/
Ehrenberg, R. (2012). The facts behind the FRACK. (cover story). Science News, 182(5), 20-25.
Finkel, M., & Law, A. (2011). The rush to drill for natural gas: A public health cautionary tale. American Journal of Public Health, 101(5), 784-785. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.300089
Frack Tracker Alliance. (2015). Here they come again! The impact of oil and gas truck traffic. Retrieved from http://www.fractracker.org/2014/09/truck-counts/
Kaktin, N. (2011). Drilling the Marcellus Shale for natural gas: Environmental health issues for nursing. Pennsylvania Nurse, 66(1), 4-9.
McDermott-Levy, R., & Kaktin, N. (2012). Preserving health in the Marcellus Region. Pennsylvania Nurse, 67(3), 4-12.
McKenzie, L. M., Witter, R. Z., Newman, L. S., & Adgate, J. L. (2012). Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources. Science of the Total Environment, 424(1), 79-87.
Osborn, S. G., Vengosh, A., Warner, N. R., & Jackson, R. B. (2011). Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing: Supporting Information. Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Science. doi: 0.1073/pnas.1100682108
Rahm, D. (2011). Regulating hydraulic fracturing in shale gas plays: The case of Texas. Energy Policy, 39(5), 2974-2981.
Texas Railroad Commission [RRC]. (n.d.). NORM-Naturally occurring radioactive material. from http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/environmental/publications/norm/index.php
Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Disclosure Requirements, §3.28 C.F.R. (2011).
U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO]. (January 2012). Energy-water NEXUS: Information on the quantity, quality, and management of water produced during oil and gas production [Report GAO-12-156]. (GAO-12-156).
