9/25/14
State
Water pollution alleged
Oil company working in area accused of Jones Co. groundwater pollution
Posted: Monday, September 22, 2014
Ernest Herndon | Enterprise-Journal
A company involved in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale oilfield in southwest
Mississippi is accused of polluting soil and groundwater in southeast
Mississippi.
Comstock Oil & Gas is one of several companies named in a civil lawsuit in
Jones County Circuit Court accused of operating illegal oilfield waste
disposal wells.
Residents Tay and Deidra Baucum filed the lawsuit earlier this year against
Petro Harvestor Oil & Gas Co. LLC, Petro Harvester Operating Co. LLC,
Champion Oilfield Service LLC, Boots Smith Oilfield Services LLC, Jerry
Huddleston and Gary McAdams, as well as Comstock.
So far as is known, only Comstock is active in southwest Mississippi. The
Frisco, Texas, company is drilling a well in Wilkinson County and has pads
in place for another well there and one in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana.
The company also has numerous oil wells permitted or pending in Mississippi
and Louisiana.
According to the lawsuit, which represents one side of a legal argument:
"For several decades the defendants, both in concert and separately, have
engaged in systematic and illegal dumping and disposal of oil field
petroleum waste and associated petroleum drilling waste both on the
plaintiffs' property, on the adjoining property owned or controlled by the
defendants, and in the subterranean ground and aquifer. Defendants have
separately and in concert dumped, drilled, pumped and buried oil field
waste."
The suit also accuses the companies of disposing of waste without permits,
and of storing leaky tanks, drums and other toxic materials on the
property.
The Baucums are represented by attorney Gerald Maples of New Orleans.
Contacted by the Enterprise-Journal, a Comstock spokesman declined to
comment since the case is in litigation.
Mississippi Oil and Gas Board attorney Howard Leach said his department
sent a field inspector and a field director to the Baucums' property.
"They don't see anything that leads them to believe there would be any
danger there," Leach said.
The Baucums failed to provide any chemical analyses of their water source
to the Oil and Gas Board, he said.
"We're not saying that something hasn't been done," Leach added.
He said he knew of no unpermitted disposal wells in the state.
As far as possible implications for southwest Mississippi, Leach said, "The
board is looking very carefully at what all these companies are doing down
in the TMS play in southwest Mississippi because it's such a high profile
deal, and if the board sees anything comparable to this, the board will
simply not tolerate it. The board will issue a cease-and-desist order
because we realize this will come back on us."
He said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency delegates authority to the
state Oil and Gas Board to permit and regulate disposal wells.
"The reason that we look at them so closely is that that's all ultimately
federal," Leach said.
Andrew Whitehurst of the Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental
organization, has written about the Jones County case in his blogs, and
warns about possible ramifications for southwest Mississippi.
"Since 1996 this disposal well (in Jones County) has allowed salt water,
produced during drilling operations, combined with oil and drilling fluids
to be injected into the earth 4,020 feet down a 'dry hole' oil well from
1992 that was drilled to 11,500 feet and partially plugged with cement,"
Whitehurst wrote in a Sept. 2 blog at www.healthygulf.org.
"Salt water and other fluids have moved downslope from unlined waste pits
at the well site and maybe from the injection well itself. This has added
toxins and high levels of salt to their (Baucums') soil, killing trees
along the path of seepage. A creek runs farther down the slope, and is
likely also receiving polluted groundwater and runoff. Buried waste drums
have also been discovered on the Baucum property in the woods next to the
injection well."
In a Sept. 15 follow-up blog, Whitehurst added:
"This situation in Laurel should be of concern to operators in the
Southwest Mississippi counties. There, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in
the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale formation may lead companies to work in haste
and with minimal caution when drilling and completing wells and disposing
of waste fluids. Landowners with oil and gas leases must also be vigilant
about what companies are doing on their properties. Clearly, unlined
surface pits should never be used to hold any oilfield waste, chemicals or
drilling fluids. Fluid spills on the ground should also be reported and
managed aggressively."
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has worked with the Oil
and Gas Board on a variety of cases, including the one in Jones County,
said MDEQ communications director Robbie Wilbur.
With the increase in oil activity in the state, Wilbur said the two
agencies "have worked jointly to evaluate the effectiveness of existing
regulations for both agencies to minimize environmental impacts from such
operations. For example, modern storage pits, where allowed, now typically
require synthetic liners to prevent migration of material into the soil or
groundwater. Since the early days of oil and gas exploration and
production, the technologies along with the rules and regulations have
advanced considerably to be more protective of the environment."
"As to companies engaged in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale play in Southwest
Mississippi, MDEQ is very active in its regulatory role and oversight to
protect human health and the environment," Wilbur said.
http://www.enterprise-journal.com/news/article_f6d6dd28-4277-11e4-8f54-1f5896ceba50.html
Waste errors corrected
Tate County Democrat
9/23/2014
Aluminum Extrusions President John King says all errors have been corrected
after the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) recently
fined the company $24,640 for mishandling hazardous waste and not
conducting required inspections.
http://www.thedemocrat.com/contentitem/379469/2368/waste-errors-corrected
Countywide clean-up day set for Saturday
Neshoba Democrat
By DUNCAN DENT
A countywide cleanup day, organized by city and county officials in
conjunction with the Community Development Partnership, will give residents
an opportunity to dispose of unwanted debris which is typically a
challenge, officials said.
http://neshobademocrat.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=297&ArticleID=33643
Conservation Group Visits Mississippi
WCBI
CALEDONIA, MISS. (WCBI) – We play in them, fish along them and use them to
water our crops and livestock, but seldom do we think much about taking
care of them. A national conservation group hopes to work with local
agencies to expand public awareness about how to keep area streams as
natural resources.
http://www.wcbi.com/wordpress/video-conservation-group-visits-mississippi
Prescription Drug Take Back is Saturday in Pearl River Co.
WLOX
PEARL RIVER COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -This Saturday the Pearl River County
Sheriff's Department will take part in the nationwide, "Prescription Drug
Take Back Event".
http://www.wlox.com/story/26621295/prescription-drug-take-back-is-saturday-in-pearl-river-co
City of Laurel hosts unused medication disposal day
WDAM
On September 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Laurel Police Department in
conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public
an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of
potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
http://www.wdam.com/story/26617338/city-of-laurel-hosts-drug-take-back-day
Drop drop-off program returns this Saturday
Itawamba County Times
Prescription drug abuse has been classified as an epidemic by the Center of
Disease Control, and Mississippi is certainly not immune.
http://itawambatimes.com/2014/09/24/drop-drop-program-returns-saturday/
Oil Spill
Federal judge rejects BP's request for repayment on oil spill claims
Jennifer Larino
The Times-Picayune
September 24, 2014 at 3:08 PM
A federal judged Wednesday (Sept. 24) ruled that BP has no right to recover
more than $185 million the company says was overpaid to claimants under its
oil spill settlement. BP said it plans to appeal the decision.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/federal_judge_rejects_bps_requ.html#incart_river
Businesses won't have to return BP spill payouts
BY JANET MCCONNAUGHEY AND JONATHAN FAHEY
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge has ruled that BP must stand by the agreement
made with the companies it compensated for losses after the 2010 Gulf oil
spill despite the oil giant saying some claims were overestimated.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/09/25/5818786/businesses-wont-have-to-return.html?sp=/99/102/
Federal judge delays ruling on BP oil spill medical claims
Jennifer Larino
The Times-Picayune
September 24, 2014 at 5:40 PM
A federal judge on Wednesday (Sept. 24) put off a ruling on an
interpretation of the BP oil spill medical settlement that could delay or
cut payments to thousands of cleanup workers.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/federal_judge_delays_ruling_on.html#incart_river
National
Administration pitches economic benefits of fighting climate change
The Hill
The Obama administration is putting economics front and center in its fight
for climate regulations, trying to show what it says are the costs of
inaction and the benefits of rules.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/218852-administration-pitches-economic-benefits-of-climate-change
Obama seeks $900M for conservation program
The Hill
The Obama administration is pulling out the stops to renew and expand a
little-known program that uses offshore drilling revenue for conservation.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/218798-obama-seeks-900m-for-conservation
Federal Officials Outline Great Lakes Strategy
Lake Erie Algal Bloom Prompted Water Ban in Toledo, Ohio
Wall Street Journal
After growing fears about invasive species and toxic algal blooms, the
Obama administration said Wednesday more needs to be done during the next
five years to protect the Great Lakes, the Earth's largest source of fresh
surface water.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/federal-officials-outline-great-lakes-strategy-1411581647
Opinion
Litter can pose threat to wildlife, pets outdoors
Trash is more than just unsightly
Jim Miller
Clinton News
People discard millions of tons of trash daily in recycling containers or
garbage cans, but unfortunately, many people leave trash in other places,
where it can harm wildlife and pets.
http://www.clintonnews.com/article/20140922/LIFE/309220001/Litter-can-pose-threat-wildlife-pets-outdoors
Drowning our property rights: EPA's misuse of the Clean Water Act
The Hill
By Sen. David Vitter (R-La.)
In several different ways, President Obama's Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is using and abusing the Clean Water Act to improperly block
economic development projects and take away Americans' property rights.
http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/218663-drowning-our-property-rights-epas-misuse-of-the-clean-water-act
