1 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Drill. We're calling this surprise season. There 2 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: will be fraud, and we're doing it because the fossil 3 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: fuel industry is trying to leverage the hell out of 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: a pandemic. Of course they are. Reporting has really started 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: to pick up on what's happening on this story at 6 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: the national level. I highly recommend you follow the reporting 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: that Alex Kaufman and Christy Angelo are doing a huff post, 8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: Emily at Kenna heated, Kate Aronoff at the New Republic, 9 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: and Justin mcculka at diesmog. We're covering the national stuff 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: on this podcast and on the Drilled News website too. 11 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: But one of the things I wanted to try to 12 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: do with this series is make sure people know about 13 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: everything that's happening at the state level and even the 14 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: local level. In last week, I've gotten emails from folks 15 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, and California, each with a different 16 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: story about what the fossil fuel industry is trying to 17 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: use coronavirus to get away with in their backyards. Today 18 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: we're headed to Texas. 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 2: So I'm Sharon Wilson, and I'm senior field advocate for earthworks, 20 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 2: and further back than that, I worked for the oil 21 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 2: and gas industry and I was uncomfortable with the ethics 22 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 2: of the industry as a whole. And that was before 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 2: I knew about any of the environmental impacts. So eventually, 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 2: despite the fact that they paid very, very high salary, 25 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 2: I left the oil and gas industry and moved to 26 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 2: Wise County. I bought forty two acres next to the 27 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 2: LBJ National Grasslands, and I didn't know that that's where 28 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 2: George Mitchell, the father of fracking, was experimenting with how 29 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 2: to economically frack oil and gas from shale, and so 30 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 2: I had a ringside seat to that adventure. And my 31 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 2: air turned brown and my well water turned black. So yeah, 32 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 2: that made me mad. 33 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,679 Speaker 1: Now years later, Sharon takes her optical gas imaging equipment 34 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: around the Permium Basin to document emissions from oil and 35 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: gas companies. She's going to tell us what she's been 36 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: seeing since this January and why the coronavirus might end 37 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: up resulting in more methane emissions even if it temporarily 38 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: reduces CO two emissions. That's coming up right after a 39 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: quick message from today's sponsor, I'm Ammy Westervelt and this 40 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: is drilled. 41 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 2: So when you look at it with an optical gas 42 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 2: imaging instrument, you just see tanks and pipes. But when 43 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: you look at it with the optical gas imaging camera 44 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 2: that I use, you see big clouds of pollution coming 45 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 2: from these sites. 46 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: Sharon's been tracking that pollution for years, and she says 47 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: it's gone from bad to worse in twenty twenty. 48 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 2: I've done easily over one thousand individual investigations at oil 49 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 2: and gas facilities, and I have never seen anything that 50 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 2: even comes close to the levels of pollution coming from 51 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 2: facilities in the Permian basin. So I thought things were 52 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 2: really bad prior to about November twenty nineteen, which is 53 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 2: when I saw an increase. Then it it just it's 54 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 2: kept increasing until the last time I was there was 55 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 2: March sixth, and it was unimaginable. Unimaginable what was happening. 56 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: Okay, we need to do a quick oversimplified oil and 57 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: gas lesson here. So shale companies started out using a 58 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: method called hydraulic fracturing fracking to get natural gas out 59 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: of shale rock in really broad strokes. Fracking works by 60 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: injecting water and chemicals into shale rock to bust it 61 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: open and extract gas. There's a whole bunch of treatment 62 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: and refining that happens after that, which is where water 63 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: and soil contamination can happen. But those are the basics. 64 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: Around twenty ten, shale companies realized they could access a 65 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: type of oil in these rocks too. They call it 66 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: tight oil, and that's what really positioned the US as 67 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: a top supplier instead of just a customer in the 68 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,239 Speaker 1: global energy market. When that oil is being refined, natural 69 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: gas is burned off in a process called flaring. The 70 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: idea is to reduce the amount of methane that would 71 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: otherwise be released into the air during this process. But 72 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: there's a wrinkle. A strong wind could blow out the flare, 73 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: and an unlit flare means methane and various volatile organic 74 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: compounds are just kind of belched into the air. If 75 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: this was just happening very occasionally at one plant or another, 76 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: maybe it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But 77 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: it happens a lot. According to research that came out 78 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: last year, unlit flares are the biggest contributors to global 79 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: methane emissions, and just a reminder methane is a greenhouse gas. 80 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: It's eighty six times more potent than CO two. Okay, 81 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: back to Sharon. 82 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 2: Flares are not lit and so it becomes a vent 83 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 2: pipe that vents uncombusted hydrocarbons into the atmosphere and huge 84 00:05:54,279 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 2: quantities the tanks. And the tanks are venting, it's just 85 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 2: methane and volatile organic compounds blasting from everywhere. 86 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: What are the restrictions or regulations in please. 87 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 2: Well, Texas does have regulations that are supposed to prevent 88 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 2: a lot of this, not entirely prevent it because the system, 89 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 2: the oil and gas design is it is designed to 90 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 2: vent intentionally. So at this point they cannot completely stop 91 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 2: all of the methane and voc emissions because they have 92 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 2: to have pressure releases. But we do have regulations in 93 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 2: place to lessen that and unlit flares are not legal. 94 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 2: But the problem with regulations is they are words on paper, 95 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 2: and in Texas they're not enforced, and especially in the 96 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 2: Permian basin, the oversight seems especially lax. 97 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: Sharance is the problem with unlit flares and excess venting 98 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: tends to get worse when natural gas and oil prices 99 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: are low. Right now, they're at rock bottom. 100 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 2: As the prices go down, the amount of venting and 101 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 2: the number of unlit flares goes up. We do have 102 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 2: some data for that that we've collected since twenty seventeen 103 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 2: to show that there is an uptick in unlit flares, 104 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 2: and this year it's really gone up. 105 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: So even as emissions might be going down in general, 106 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: methane emissions could actually increase during the pandemic, which not 107 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: only exacerbates climate change, it also creates a big public 108 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: health problem. 109 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 2: Right now, people are being told to shelter at home, 110 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 2: and I've had so many calls from people who are 111 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 2: having You know, they previously they could at least get 112 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 2: some relief when they went to school and to work, 113 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 2: and now they are there all day and they're breathing 114 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 2: these hydrocarbons that are crossing the fence line onto their property, 115 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 2: and you know, their toxic load in their body will 116 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 2: be increasing. 117 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: I contacted the two agencies that are tasked with regulating 118 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: the oil and gas industry in Texas, the Texas Railroad 119 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Railroad 120 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: Commission are the ones that would oversee flaring as of 121 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: March thirteenth, oil and gas operators could request to have 122 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: all regulatory requirements waved. That came almost two weeks before 123 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: the EPA announced that it would grant various industries, including 124 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: oil and gas, regulatory relief during the pandemic, so basically, 125 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: they won't find you for pollution infractions. The Texas Commission 126 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: on Environmental Quality is the body that would deal with 127 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: complaints about toxic fumes and emissions that residents are experiencing. 128 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: They're considering both administrative relief for paperwork violations and enforcement 129 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: discretion on an as needed basis. The Commission's press person, 130 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: Andrew Keyes told me residents who are being impacted by 131 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: another property and are concerned about their health should contact 132 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: tcq's complaint hotline or regional office. TCQ takes all complaints 133 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: impacting human health very seriously, but Wilson's getting calls from 134 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: residents who feel otherwise, and she says that from what 135 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: she saw on her last trip out in the field, 136 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: since at least early March, operators seemed to know that 137 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: no one would really be watching. 138 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 2: There has never been a system in place to adequately 139 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 2: regulate the oil and gas industry. What we have in 140 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 2: the United States is a voluntary reg regulatory system where 141 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,319 Speaker 2: they have a spill and they call up the regulator 142 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 2: and report themselves. And if they have an invisible release 143 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 2: of methane and VOCs, they call up the regulator or 144 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 2: they fill out a form and report that themselves. So 145 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 2: that's kind of like the last time I got to 146 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 2: go anywhere, which was about three weeks ago, and maybe 147 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 2: I was speeding, so I called up the DPS and 148 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 2: asked them to come and give me a ticket. 149 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: That's it for this time. If you've spotted the fossil 150 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: fuel industry using the COVID nineteen pandemic as an excuse 151 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: to avoid regulation or get some other kind of benefit, 152 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: give me a shout. I'm Amy at drillednews dot com. Again. 153 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: This season wasn't really planned or budgeted for. It just 154 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: seems necessary, So if you agree and want to support 155 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: our efforts, we'd really appreciate it. Our Patreon is Patreon 156 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: dot com slash drilled, and we've got some new supporters 157 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: this week that I want to thank, the Rude Pundit 158 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: Carrie Jim McElroy, Jennifer Crowell, Karen Gole, Jane Patten, Amy 159 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: Brady and huck Brock. Thank you guys so much. Your 160 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: support is really really appreciated. Drilled is produced and distributed 161 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: by Critical Frequency. The show is reported, written, and produced 162 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: by me Amy Westervelt. This season's music is by Martin Wissenberg. 163 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,079 Speaker 1: Our editor is Emily Gertz. Our editorial advisor is Rika Murphy. 164 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: You can find Drilled on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 165 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen 166 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: on our website drillednews dot com, where you'll also find 167 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: additional reporting and documents. You can follow us on Twitter 168 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: at we are Drilled or catch me on there at 169 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: Amy Westervelt. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.