This is the latest attempt by the Safe Fracking Coalition to tell us they want to insure that the practice of well fracking is safe and completed in a safe manner with respect to the environment and utilizes water in as efficient manner as possible.
My comments will be in red. I did not want to change the context of the letter to the editor by just printing sections of the letter.
The is the Safe Fracking Coalition's letter to the editor as it appeared the Laredo Morning Times (my comments in red):
Fracking coalition raises concerns about Railroad Commission task force
Published in the Laredo Morning Times: Thursday, August 4, 2011 5:19 AM CDT
In June, Railroad Commissioner David Porter announced the list of newly appointed members of the Eagle Ford Task Force.
The group is charged with opening the lines of dialogue among interested parties, establishing best practices for developing the shale play and promoting local economic development.
However, Commissioner Porter and the task force have come under strong fire from local public health advocates and environmentalists concerned that the group of appointed members is tantamount to putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Who besides the SFC is putting the new Eagle Ford Task Force “under fire?” The only negative article about the commission I could find was this one. By the way, when looking at the SFC Facebook page, all you see are negative articles about fracking. Never once do you see articles about the benefits of a clean, cheap fuel that can help millions of American. Tell us SFC, who should be in charge of writing best practices for the oil and gas industry: environmentalist, college professors, or doctors?
“Commissioner Porter’s misguided decision to load the Eagle Ford Task Force with oil-and-gas company insiders and cheerleaders is unsettling from a public health and environmental standpoint,” says Laredo-based Safe Fracking Coalition (SFC) co-founder Daniel Monahan. For SFC to imply that none of the board members care about the health or environmental impact on Texan's is pretty amazing. How do they know that?
“Unfortunately, despite the potential for catastrophic public health and environmental consequences associated with hydraulic fracturing in the Eagle Ford Shale play, those who may bear the brunt of the negative consequences of fracking will not have a seat at the table.” What catastrophic public health and environmental consequences? Quit playing word games and tell us what it is the SFC is afraid of?
Of the 22 task force members, Porter failed to appoint a single public health expert, toxicologist, air quality specialist, water quality specialist or hazardous materials specialist. So, the SFC is knowledgeable in the backgrounds of all the members?
In May, Porter announced his decision to form the Eagle Ford Task Force in South Texas, in response to public backlash in some North Texas communities during the drilling boom of the Barnett Shale.
The goal of the new task, Porter explained, is to overcome a “perception problem that no one was regulating the oil-and-gas industry.”
“It’s a fine line we walk at the Railroad Commission, between protecting public health and safety and promoting the industry,” Porter told the Houston Chronicle in May.
Yet, why does Porter appoint a task force that values profits first and environment second?
This new task force appears to be a public relations effort to put a pretty facade on a questionable practice that should receive strong scientific and public scrutiny. “A questionable practice,” who made up that phrase? The SFC still has not presented any documented proof that the fracking process contaminates water, or is the environmental disaster they purport it to be.
It should not be glossed over. Water and air are too important for our future. Agreed, and junk science and unfounded claims should not determine what processes are used to bring us closer to obtaining a cheap and reliable energy source that will last for decades.
Will the individuals on this task force be knowledgeable enough to address the serious health and environmental risks posed by this activity that are woefully ignored? Again, what “serious health risks?” Where are your facts? Environmental risks? Where are the facts?
Or will they sit back, trust the status quo and allow our scarce natural resources to be exploited and mismanaged? Mismanaged? Who gets to determine if private property (natural resources in this case) is managed properly? The SFC?
The public cannot trust these members to speak freely and ask the hard questions if most are representing their personal, financial or political interests. So, you are saying these folks cannot be trusted, without one written word being published by the group.
The Railroad Commission, itself, proudly boasts a drilling permit processing time of one to three days. It is questionable whether this is enough time to assess environmental and safety risks. SFC, what is the permitting process today? Why is it too short of a timeframe?
As for the elected officials, how much time do they actually spend researching the environmental concerns associated with oil-and-gas extraction, versus the amount of time they spend being lobbied by oil-and-gas companies?
The Railroad Commission of Texas has proven to citizens, once again, that it is incapable of making decisions that put public health, the environment and safety before profits. It’s a sad day in Texas, indeed.
Signed,
SFC Steering Committee: Bernice Ballesteros, Armando Cisneros, Tricia Cortez, Dr. James Earhart, Able Flores, Cordelia Flores, Fabiola Flores, Viky Garcia, Victor Hugo, David Hunt, Alex Iadipaolo, Santos Jimenez, Austin Martinez, Juan Mendive, Dan Monahan, Virginia Palacios, Jesus Quiroz, Jeremy Thompson.
What I take from this letter to the editor is the fact that the Safe Fracking Coalition (which is really the Rio Grande International Study Center) is upset that none of their members were selected for the committee. I somewhat understand that, yet that is no reason to say the whole process is bad, just because you were not assigned to the committee.
I am still waiting for someone from the SFC to stand up and tell me what you all really want to happen. Your letter reads like you are opposed to all fracking as you call it a “questionable practice” that “has the potential for catastrophic public health and environmental consequences.” And that you are also against gas drilling as they exploit and mismanage our “scarce” natural resources.
Please SFC members, any member; let us know what you really want. Or can we take it from Jeremy Thompson’s note on your Facebook page that the proposed fracking ban in New Jersey is “encouraging” to mean you all want a fracking ban in Texas?
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