Domestic Drilling Pollution Pictures

This is the same sludge pond I posted about HERE. (More pictures and back-story at that link) It still has a strong stench of sewage from where the drilling company dumped their sewage. It also has a strong chemical and hydrocarbon smell. I called TCEQ and the EPA which was a major time suck. They couldn’t do anything about this; and they weren’t overly interested. I guess I’ll call the Texas Railroad Commission next which will be another major time suck. Just this week, I was called a “Knucklehead” and a “Radical” by Will Brackett, Managing Editor of the Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter Shill. I think it’s clear that the radicals are the corporations that practice this kind of environmental abuse. From the comments on that post, they might have come out better striking a match at one of their well sites. I’m not a wastewater technician, but I would bet my pet nanny goat that the solids floating in that pond are, at least partially, human feces. Nice lining job, eh? Sludge pits/ponds are used to hold exploration and production (E&P) waste. E&P waste may include:

• benzene
• hydrocarbons
• radioactive materials
• heavy metals
• other cancer-causing, toxic substances

• Evaporation releases chemicals (benzene) and volatile hydrocarbons into the air.
• Unlined pits leach chemicals into soil causing soil and groundwater contamination.
• Lined pits leach chemicals through tears in liner and through improperly installed liners.
• During rain, pits overflow and contaminate soil and surface water.