Excerpts from The Texas Tribune’s The Brief on Texas Politics and Policy
Oilfield companies helped to craft Texas’ new waste rules for 2 years before the public got to see them
STORY BY EMILY FOXHALL AND ERIN DOUGALS
The Railroad Commission of Texas has given the public one month to comment on draft rules it released Monday on how to handle hazardous oilfield waste left over once a well is drilled.
However, the agency, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, gave oilfield companies nearly two years to help craft regulations, documents and interviews show.
“There’s an obvious conflict of interest if the industry gets to rewrite their own rules to their own financial benefit, and they end up writing rules that make people sick or contaminate groundwater and put our collective future at risk,” said Virginia Palacios, executive director of Commission Shift, a watchdog group that advocates for stricter financial policies for commissioners.
Supporters of the industry’s involvement say the rules needed to be changed to make the permitting process more efficient and make room for new waste recycling technologies to be permitted. Railroad Commission spokesperson Patty Ramon said soliciting early industry input is typical for the agency’s rulemaking process.
Jim Wright, one of the agency’s three elected commissioners, ran for his seat with his eyes set on rewriting what’s known as Rule 8, which hasn’t been significantly revised since 1984. Statements filed with the Texas Ethics Commission reveal that Wright owns stock in several hazardous waste management companies.
Companies drill thousands of wells every year in Texas, typically pumping mud into the ground as they drill. Along with oil and natural gas, hazardous waste comes up— and all that waste has to go somewhere. Unlike most hazardous waste, the toxic muck is exempt from federal regulations, which means the state regulators govern how waste can be recycled or dumped. If not properly managed waste dumped in pits can leak toxic materials.
Residents across Texas have fought for years to stop oilfield waste dumps from moving into their communities, and many argue Railroad commissioners need to give citizens more of a say in how the hazardous waste is distributed.
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