Energy in Depth responded to our report on TCEQ's regulatory malfeasance: Reckless Endangerment while fracking the Eagle Ford – Government fails, public health suffers and industry profits from the shale oil boom.
Rather than respond on the substance, EID chose to attack Earthworks.
To paraphrase Isaac Asimov, ad hominem attacks are the last refuge of those without a leg to stand on.
The central revelations of the report are not in dispute:
- That TCEQ investigators found conditions so dangerous that they evacuated themselves
- That TCEQ did not penalize the responsible operator
- That TCEQ did not warn nearby residents (and when we say “nearby” we mean “within literal shouting distance”)
TCEQ had the chance to dispute them, but did not and could not because the facts are drawn from TCEQ’s own records.
EID quotes TCEQ's response as refuting our conclusions:
“Overall, the monitoring data provide evidence that shale play activity does not significantly impact air quality or pose a threat to human health”
“OVERALL” is the important word. “OVERALL” is cold comfort to residents trapped living hundreds of feet from oil and gas development facilities.
In essence, TCEQ has conceded our report correct on the facts, and taken refuge in the claim that, ON AVERAGE, they don’t threaten public health.
Whether their claim is true or not (and we don’t concede it), what is definitely true is that there are numerous individual examples of residents health harmed/threatened by fracking-enabled oil and gas development.
