THE FIGHT TO PROTECT OUR WATER, AIR, & PUBLIC SAFETY CONTINUES………

The political circus that took place at the January 26, 2011 TCEQ hearing was unquestionably a blatant disregard for the public health and safety of Texas residents. Two of the three TCEQ Commissioners failed to abide by the guiding principles which the TCEQ is expected to uphold when they voted to approve the TexCom Gulf Disposal commercial waste injection well permits in spite of the following factors: 

• The Commissioners disregarded the recommendation of the State Office of Administrative Hearing (SOAH) judges to earings (SOAH) (deny the permits even though SOAH found that “TexCom did not establish that these injection wells are in the public interest, or that the injected waste will not resurface and contaminate Montgomery County’s water source”;
• The Commissioners would not admit or take into consideration a Railroad Commission ruling in which the RRC unanimously voted to rescind the “no harm letter” which had been previously granted without a full investigation of the site and the proposed injection operation.  The RRC Commissioner’s subsequent decision to “rescind the no harm letter” was based on evidence provided in a SOAH hearing held on behalf of the RRC which determined that the proposed injection operation would have a negative impact on the mineral interests in the Conroe Oil field;
• TexCom falsified their permit application when they indicated that they owned the mineral interests on the site when in fact they do not;
• The rightful owner of the mineral interests (Sabine Royalty Trust) was not notified of the permit applications for the proposed injection operation  by either TexCom or the TCEQ even though they are legally required to do so;
• The Commissioners did not address TexCom’s failure to complete pressure fall off testing as a required condition of the first TCEQ hearing held in November 2009. 

 In his published statement immediately following TCEQ’s approval of the permits, Representative Brandon Creighton clearly conveyed his position and that of all elected officials and citizens of the area: “TCEQ had ample scientific, legal and political justification to deny this well permit, but instead chose to advance business interests over the public.  I am disgusted with the outcome of this exhaustive process.  This effort is not over as far as I am concerned.”  We agree wholeheartedly with Representative Creighton’s comments and assure you that we are NOT giving up the fight.  To that end, the following actions are in the works:

 Motions for Rehearing
Montgomery County Attorney, David Walker, filed a motion for rehearing with the TCEQ on behalf of Montgomery County and the City of Conroe, as did counsels representing the Individuals Protestants (Citizens Residents Oppose Wells) and Denbury Onshore, the current owner of the Conroe field. While the motions for rehearing are a necessary step in the process, it is no surprise that TCEQ has denied these requests. 

State District Court Appeal

In an hearing held in Austin on August 31, 2011, Judge John K. Dietz of the 250th State District Court announced that he will preside over the TexCom disposal well lawsuits filed in May 2011 by Montgomery County, the City of Conroe, the Individual Protestants and Denbury Onshore. At that hearing, attorneys with the state's Attorney General's Office withdrew their opposition to the consolidation of the various suits, thus the individual lawsuits filed by each of the aforementioned parties will be consolidated into one appeal. At this time, we do not know when a final decision on the appeal will be determined but we will provide updates on the status as information becomes available. Refer to the Conroe Courier article dated September 8, 2011 for further details
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/administrative-judge-to-hear-texcom-case/article_a914e78e-981c-52e9-8e8d-cd9761c02dc9.html

Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT)

TCEQ's approval of the injection well permits was conditioned upon TexCom securing a driveway permit from TxDOT authorizing the relocation of the truck access driveway to the injection well site from it's current location on Creighton Rd to FM 3083. On October 6, 2011, TxDOT notified TexCom that their driveway permit application had been denied as it "did not meet minimum spacing requirements". Lou Ross, TexCom's CEO indicates that they will appeal the decision and request a variance of TxDOT requirements. Refer to Conroe Courier article dated October 6, 2011 for further details.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/txdot-denies-texcom-access-request/article_baad5735-25ef-5593-a8ed-163a899aa46b.html

We will continue our efforts to block the driveway permit by again voicing opposition to TxDOT officials by recommending DENIAL of the variance. Please join us in opposing the variance and direct your communications to the TX DOT representatives outlined below:

Richard Brown
Montgomery Area Engineer
Texas Department of Transportation
901 N. FM 3083 E.
Conroe, TX 77303
(936) 538-3300

Delvin Dennis
Houston District Engineer
Texas Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 1386
Houston, Texas 77251
(713) 802-5000

Phil Wilson
Executive Director
Texas Department of Transportation
125 East 11th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 305-9501

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Involvement……..
Throughout the contested case and TCEQ hearings, the EPA has closely followed the case and provided pertinent technical information to the TCEQ outlining the risks of contamination of the area aquifers.  After the permits were approved, they again contacted the TCEQ restating their concerns regarding the potential for waste migration into the aquifer which ultimately could contaminate the drinking water supply.   We continue to follow with the EPA to determine if they can intervene in any way to overturn the permit approvals. To date we are not aware if any further action has been initiated, but will continue to follow up with the EPA for further updates.

How Can You Help??????

Expenses
In order to keep up the fight to STOP THE TOXIC WELLS, our citizens’group continues to incur expenses for legal representation and publicity of our opposition efforts.   As an all volunteer non-profit organization with no funding source to cover these expenses, we rely solely on individual donations and fund raising events to pay these expenses.   At this time, we have outstanding legal bills and no funds to cover them.  If you are concerned about the danger this operation will pose to our drinking water supply and the impact it will have on the health, safety and economy of all 54 counties that rely on the Gulf Coast Aquifer, please consider making a donation to help us continue this fight.  Every $5, $10 or whatever amount you can afford is greatly appreciated.  You can contribute online by clicking on the “Donate” button on the left side of this screen, or mail a check made payable to CROW (Citizens Residents Oppose Wells) to the following address:

CROW
16015 Creighton Rd
Conroe, TX  77302
  
Get Involved and Stay Informed!!!!!!!

If you haven’t done so already, please JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST (click on the link in the left hand column) and attend our Town Hall meetings which are posted on the “Important Dates” page and the “Upcoming Events & Meetings” column of the website.   Community involvement is critical to keep this opposition effort going.