Mayor of Dish TX to Speak About Gas Drilling 7/16 and 7/17

[DeBo]

MAYOR CALVIN TILLMAN OF DISH, TEXAS IS SPEAKING IN ARKANSAS ON JULY 16th and 17th.

Mayor Calvin Tillman of DISH, TX will be speaking at the Clinton Senior Citizen's Center on Friday July 16th at 7PM; he will also speak the next day, July 17, at the McGhee Center in Conway, AR at 7PM.

Mayor Tillman will tell of his experience with gas drilling abuses from his unique perspective as the mayor of a small Texas town which is crisscrossed with pipelines, compressors and dotted with gas wells.

The town has devoted ten percent of its budget to testing and has come up with very interesting results. Come out to hear this amazing speaker who has toured extensively in New York State and Pennsylvania in the Marcellus Shale play.

Mayor Tillman has refused to accept any money for his appearances, not even expenses or hotel costs and is doing this from his own savings. Please invite as many people as you wish.

July 16th at the Clinton Senior Citizens Center
311 Yellow Jacket Lane
Clinton, AR 72031



July17th at the McGee Center
3800 College Avenue
Conway, AR 72032

[Clif]

thanks for this

[Butch Crain]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's related website -

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementat ... ale-health" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't pretend to understand if the testing thus far is adequate or the results significant. Hopefully, someone with a scientific background in chemistry, engineering and workplace safety will review the data and attend the meeting. I'd be interested in hearing some feedback from someone so equipped.

[Wildwood]

Thanks, DeBo, I saw it in the Van Buren County Democrat (Clinton's weekly newspaper) and was about to post the info. I'm interested in hearing quality of life issues. So many people think it's all about the money, that we should just cash our royalty checks and take what the gas/oil companies dish out. I belong to NARO (National Association of Royalty Owners) and get some good information from them. I'm hoping Terrell Shields is there tomorrow night.

See you there, Clif?

[fryingsquirrel]

Debbie, what time is the event supposed to start at the McGee center? I think I'd like to come.
Also, the center is over off of Hogan, right?

[Cowper]

Hopefully, someone with a scientific background in chemistry, engineering and workplace safety will review the data and attend the meeting. I'd be interested in hearing some feedback from someone so equipped.

I think I'd be interested in hearing feedback from anyone who attends. Resumes need not be submitted in advance.

[Butch Crain]

Funny - but you're one of the resumes I had in mind.

Anybody, myself included, can have an opinion. Not many of those, myself incuded in this case, necessarily know enough to have an actionable opinion.

[Cowper]

Well thanks Butch!
But when you were listing qualifications, you said "and", not "or", so in my own self-evaluations I figured I still fell far short of being anyone you really wanted to hear from. I also think it’s important to hear from those who are seeing what is going on first hand, regardless of their scientific qualifications. We can always “filter” the information later based on our own knowledge or backgrounds.

I too struggle with when do I know enough to have an "actionable" opinion. But at the same time, I fear that if we set our standard too high, then we effectively just turn the keys over to those who are employed full time in the business, and their opinions may be overly influenced by either the knowledge of where their pay check comes from, or just the daily interaction with those who figure "tough crunchies, you gotta crack eggs to make omelettes!"

And the last time I walked into a Holiday Inn Express, I thought it was overpriced so I stayed elsewhere. Maybe that’s my problem…

[Butch Crain]

Guess I spent too much time (not enough?) in my short tenure at the Nature Conservancy observing non-scientists "monitoring" habitats, preserves, industry, etc., not having a clue if what they were seeing was statistically significant, but using it to play "gotcha" anyway.

In any case, I wasn't trying to dissuade folks with opinions as much as encourage some folks with a little more experience analyzing data.

On a different note, Black Keys' "Brother" rocks! Or maybe it's just a really good batch of frosty beverage.

PS - I don't mean to single out the Conservancy - they actually have many excellent employees w/ scientific backgrounds and educations and don't typically, publicly use monitoring to question industry. In any case, they almost always put their money where their mouth is.

[summerbee]

Well said Cowper.
At day's end it comes down to what is most important. Seldom in history has preservation, conservation or simply treating the natural world with much respect been a priority.
And thank you Debo for your vigilance.

[Richard]

Note below . . .

[Cowper]

NOTE: Richard's comment, "NOTE BELOW" is referring to his own signature line on cognitive dissonance, NOT this new post!

DeBo attended both meetings; I managed to make it to the 7/16 meeting in Clinton.

A full report would take considerable time, so I’m just going to summarize a few general observations and comments. Someone wanting more detail or wanting to see the data can browse the website http://www.townofdish.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, which has .pdf’s of the same documents that were available for review at the meeting.

As an engineer, I love data, but I also tend to be skeptical of data, because we all know reviewing data is kind of like looking at ink blots. Different people see wildly different things in the same data. Besides, even if the data shows serious problems in Dish TX, and we agree, what would it prove about operations in Arkansas? (maybe only that we need to collect our own data…)

Here’s what I liked about the presentation:

1) There was enough data to say, “We’re not imagining problems – we have documented our problems.”

2) There were specific suggestions about how to proceed – for example, it came out in the discussions that cities and counties may believe they have to turn to the State agencies or the EPA for action. Not true – depending on your state laws, individual counties or cities may be able to take a much larger role in addressing some of the problems.

3) It was never suggested that the action was “just stop the drilling”. It was recognized that the drilling will continue.

4) Several very specific suggestions were made for reducing the impacts of drilling on the environment and people’s quality of life. Some that stood out were requiring larger “set backs” from residences for wells and compressors, requiring more noise abatement equipment (think “better mufflers on the big engines”), and requiring a different type of control valve for the piping systems that doesn’t constantly bleed off natural gas and the sometimes noxious fumes to the environment. None of these items are “free”, but neither are they so prohibitively expensive as to “kill” the industry; some of the recommendations even result in long-term cost savings. They just don’t get implemented unless required because of the initial cost.

[Richard]

Studies have "consistently shown that the risks are managed, it's safe, it's a technology that's essential ... it's also a technology that's well-regulated," said Lee Fuller, director of the industry (oil and gas industry) coalition Energy In Depth.
"A fair study," Fuller added, "will show that the procedures that are there now are highly effective and do not need to be altered — the federal government does not need to be there." http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/ ... s-drilling" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hmmmmm . . . Where have I heard these words before. I think I will file them with the others under "famous last words" . . .