TotalEnergies gas well site is too close to homes.
TotalEnergies decided that Memorial Day weekend would be a good time to start flowback operations at the Bruder Gas Lease in Arlington, Texas. People who have lived with oil and gas operations too close to their homes know the pattern. It’s intentional. Regulators and city staff are off enjoying their holiday. News media has already filed their feel good Memorial Day stories. No one is around to report on the neighborhood, which includes a retired Marine veteran, that can’t enjoy a backyard BBQ due to the strong, offensive odors and dangers from flowback emissions. In the past, six workers have died from exposure to flowback emissions in oil and gas production. Reports of Worker Fatalities during Flowback Operations
I drove to Arlington on Sunday to record the emissions with a Teledyne FLIR G620 camera.
Arlington, TX aka PetroCity, is home to around 400 gas wells within the city limits, in neighborhoods, next to schools and preschools. And TotalEnergies is not finished with them yet. They have applied for another drilling permit that is on the City Council agenda for tomorrow.
City council members lamented in a recent news article about how hard it is to vote for all these permits.
Arlington’s term limits policy, which caps council members to nine years on council, has led to less institutional knowledge of gas drilling policy, Gonzalez said. He called several aspects of the city’s policy, including which permit applications get hearings and which don’t, “confusing.” Arlington Report.
Stop voting for them! If you are confused and need more information, vote your conscious or vote to table the issue until you learn more. Using HB 40 should not be an excuse to allow a French energy giant to cause harm to residents’ health.
See the video on Liveable Arlington’s home page where a medical doctor discussed health issues residents in Arlington face.
TotalEnergies’ doesn’t stop at just polluting our air. They use their deep pockets to pollute our democracy. When regulators know they can walk through the revolving door from the TCEQ to a high salary as a lobbyist or one of Total’s environmental investigators, it creates a conflict of interest. Legislators, our governor and every level of our government are showered with legal bribes from oil and gas.
This industry has become too powerful. We need strong government intervention to turn things back around.
Meanwhile, France should call TotalEnergies back home.
