Committee on Environmental Regulation Public Hearing
The Texas House Committee on environmental regulation held discussions about the orphan well problem in West Texas.
ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - The Texas House Committee on environmental regulation held discussions about the orphan well problem in West Texas.
The hearing covered several significant issues that are important to West Texas, including reviewing new laws designed to bolster efforts to clean up polluted oil and gas sites and plug wells.
The hearings were in a new location but the people involved aren’t seeing anything different.
“What we saw today in this Public hearing was a lot of invited testimony from people talking about the economic benefits of oil and gas development. But what we’re missing is a real legitimate discussion about how to solve many of the community impacts we are all experiencing” Virginia Palacios, Commission Shift.
This discussion has been going on for years and today legislators heard from locals affected by well blowouts here in West Texas.
One speaker was rancher Schuyler Wight.
Wight has lived in West Texas since the mid-1980s, but he says that his land has been sinking lower within the last decade.
This issue has caused major concern among residents and today those residents voiced their concerns.
“I really wanna be a part of the solution to get this cleaned up and quit talking about the mess” Schuyler Wight.
Former RRC candidate Sarah Stogner has been vocal about trying to find a common ground with the RRC to make solve the orphan well problem and today was no different
“And what I’m tired of is elected officials, specifically at the Railroad Commission who are shirking their responsibilities because it’s not politically favorable. And so we got problematic wells in Pecos county, we’ve got problematic wells anywhere we have oil and gas production” said Sarah Stogner, Monahans oil and gas attorney
With the elections coming, one of the items on the ballot is the position of Railroad Commissioner, and it’s a race between Republican incumbent Wayne Christian and challenger Democratic Luke Warford.
The election is on November 8th.
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