No matter how many times the safety of fracking is questioned, the industry stands firm in its insistence that the practice is completely safe and has never harmed any person or property.
Residents in Parker County, Texas allege that dangerous levels of methane gas is finding its way into their wells, leading to water that can be ignited as it comes out of the tap — and that the source of this gas is nearby fracking operations. The government agents sent out to conduct tests have repeatedly sided with the gas industry, claiming that while there is contamination, there is insufficient evidence to link it to the fracking operations.
Resident Steve Lipsky says that he first noticed the contamination in 2010 and that it has grown steadily worse since then. To illustrate the severity of the problem, he has vented his well at night and ignited the gas streaming out of the vent. The contamination is now so severe that he is able to ignite the tap when he turns the water on in his home.
Last summer, Lipsky filed a complaint with the Texas Railroad Commission, the agency which regulates the oil and gas industries in Texas, and demanded action.
The commission sent out agents and technicians to test his water and determine whether there was contamination and where it was coming from.
The commission’s official report says that the level of methane in Lipsky’s well is slightly elevated and that the chemical composition of the gas made it impossible to determine its source.
According to the report, the methane level in Lipsky’s well is 8.6 milligrams per liter, just under the maximum of 10 milligrams allowed under federal regulations, a finding disputed by University of Texas at Arlington scientist Zac Hilldebrand, who found after running his own tests recently that Lipsky’s well contains 83 milligrams per liter, more than 8 times the legal level.
When WFAA TV requested an explanation for the discrepancy from Railroad Commission, spokesman Stacy Fowler told them in an e-mail, “the Commission is aware of elevated methane concentration levels.” But that the state’s “sampling and test results were focused on the source of the methane gas,” implying that they were not concerned with the levels of gas.
When WFAA asked earth scientist Geoffrey Thyne of Wyoming to analyze the data from the Railroad Commission report, he found that the isotopic signature of the gas from Lipsky’s well and two nearby fracked gas wells to be virtually identical, with Lipsky’s well having a number of 46.52 and the nearby gas wells coming in at 46.63. Soil scientist Bryce Payne of Pennsylvania agrees with Thyne’s assessment of the data.
When confronted by the discrepancy, the Railroad Commission stood firm issuing a statement saying, “Railroad Commission staff stands behind the conclusions reached in the May 23rd report. We are aware of other ongoing studies in the area, and we welcome the opportunity to review any future reports.”
Watch the report in the video below.