CattleDrinkDrillingWaste

[JAT1951]

I'll bet if we toss a few politicians into the pits, they'll clean them up, but even if they don't, we've at least a part of the problem.

[spellbiff]

Yes it is Sharon. It is the Rancher's responsibility to keep his cattle OUT of the production area.

[TXsharon]

@spellbiff No, it's not. It is the drillers responsibility to secure his area and by law they are supposed to clean up those pits within 120 days. OOPS!

[spellbiff]

@TXsharon All those pits are not "drilling pits". Some are flowback pits. I have seen pits on locations for YEARS! Out in west Texas, there are pits that have been there for thirty years. many are used in case there is a leak. for YOUR protection....also, how long after the drilling were these pictures taken? had they fraced yet? was the flowback finished?

[TXsharon]

@spellbiff Oh, only flowback. Well, then, that makes it all okay because we know that flowback is perfectly safe. I be it's even good for cattle to drink.

Oh, the sarcasm. Dude, please seek help.

[spellbiff]

@TXsharon ahhh get over yourself you liberal wacko environmentalist nut. Face it sharon, Y'all lost big time in the elections. America spoke. go bawl to your friends somewhere else. your absolute lack of knowledge concerning drilling, completions, and production is staggering! Face it, we need fuel, plastics, and gasses, no matter how bad you hate it.

[spellbiff]

That is the ranchers fault. He is paid surface royalties and it is HIS responsibility to keep his cattle away from this stuff. Not the producers or drilling company.

[TXsharon]

@spellbiff No it's not. Other states require fencing and lining. This is clearly industry's fault. Clean up your dirty industry.

[cullywilliams]

@TXsharon Yes. It is the drilling company's fault, or at least in South Dakota.

legis.state.sd.us/statutes/Dis­playStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&­Statute=45-5A-6

That doesn't mean that the farmer can't put a fence up to keep the cattle away. 

[TXsharon]

@cullywilliams Thank you for that link. Most often in Texas the farmer/rancher doesn't even own the minerals so they get no royalties, they have no say about losing part of their land to the well site yet @spilbiff thinks they should pay to fence in the pad. That just shows you how incredibly arrogant this industry is.

[cullywilliams]

@TXsharon So... if I made a giant, toxic mess in the middle of you kitchen and then ran away, you'd refuse to clean it or barricade your cat from it because it's my responsibility?

[TXsharon]

@cullywilliams LOL! You sure know exactly how this industry works. They make toxic messes everyday and leave them for the taxpayers and landowners to clean up. If you think that's the way it's supposed to work, then you must be Aubrey McClendon. I think the industry should be held accountable for keeping their toxic mess contained by issuing stiff fines and penalties when they don't. Maybe jail time for CEO's would clean things up.

[cullywilliams]

@TXsharon It's not right, but two wrongs don't make a right. (the second wrong is allowing livestock to drink the pools) Why don't the ranchers put up a fence around it and sue the company for restitution of materials and time? They'd probably lose, but if they make a big enough fit to the media, the company would pay a quick restitution to keep the bad publicity down.

[TXsharon]

@cullywilliams Sue the company??? Sounds so easy. Have you ever tried it? I know plenty who have and it is costly and life altering. Put up a fence??? Sounds so easy. It's actually quite expensive, costly and labor intensive. Most people here aren't rich.

[cullywilliams]

@TXsharon I'm no lawyer, but I am a farmer. It'd only need some steel fence posts and some electric fence wire. You don't need something incredibly permanent. After a while, cattle won't feel a need to go there and they'll find other things to do. I'm not strong, but steel fence posts aren't 'labor intensive' unless you're pounding them 15 inches into gravel.

[TXsharon]

@cullywilliams I'm a farmer too and the though of having to build a fence around a mess I had no part in making on property that was stolen from me seems an impossible. For that matter, building a fence under any condition is not an easy task for me.

The point is--at least from my view--it's unfair to blame the victims. Also, many of the farmers here believe what industry tells them--it's harmeless salt water. It's really heartbreaking for everyone especially the animals.

[cullywilliams]

@TXsharon Yes, it is unfair! But, if they're not gonna do it, somebody has to, right? I'm not going to let my cattle drink it.

[uncutsquid]

I FUCKING HATE TEXAS!

[TXsharon]

@uncutsquid I understand completely.

[uncutsquid]

@TXsharon If you criticize the beef industry in Texas, They will sue you. BS

[TXsharon]

@uncutsquid They can't be any worse than the oil & gas industry and I criticize them daily.

[jpork]

Nice video, TXsharon. Put it at the FACEBOOK Gasland site for more viewing. Rural America--wake up, educate yourself, then make your own mind up.

[iluvourboys2]

You should send this to Mayor Jody Smith, well maybe not. She probably won't care anyway!!

[TXsharon]

Pretty sure she doesn't care.

[FortNelsonPete]

New post from TXSharon: BBQ sauce contains toxins!! Eggs from infected chickens conatin PCB's!! Pork holds H1N1 up to 36 years!! Cordless phone batteries cause lung cancer!! Cash out now while you still can!! Computer screens high in xenon rays causing cataracts!! Alll this oil and gas activity bad for the economy!! Oil companies pay huge taxes and employ thousands, bad for everyone!! Not one of us uses natural gas!! There's no falsehoods on TXSharon, it's all true!!

[TXsharon]

Just because oil companies pay taxes--everyone in Texas pays taxes, btw--does not mean we have to allow this ridiculous and reckless practice. Where did you learn that kind of reasoning?

It's true that there are many toxins all around us. We should eat organic when possible and try to clean up our environment as much as possible.

[avkurt]

The pollution caused by fracking out weighs the benefits of using NG. We might as well burn low grad coal. Bush and Dick let us all down by making this a reality, banks failed because of them, so we are desperate to sell out to gas companies, Halburton and others.

Don't shoot the messenger just read the message.

The taxes paid by oil companies hardly covers the cost to cleanup or the health effects. Stay out of the gay bars you might get aids.

[deweytheswede]

The ranchers that have their cattle grazing around the pits are as much to blame. My father raises black angus beef too (not in Texas) and he would not let the cattle in the field if the well pits were like this. He would get the drilling company to come fix their problem!

[TXsharon]

You're blaming the ranchers for the drilling waste? So what are the ranchers supposed to do? Buy the materials and build a fence while the polluters make huge profits?

Don't blame the victims! Just stop the polluters!

[jmecrg]

cmon lets see the dead cattle b/c of this TOXIC???? pit lets see your documented test results im sure you took a sample and had it tested ???? yea?? NO!!!

[TXsharon]

Actually, I did collect a sample and had testing on it. You wouldn't want to drink it.

Check with the National Wildlife. They have a paper on pits and animals deaths. It's in the video.

[azbarton1]

Did you get permission to go into these locations to take samples and pictures? If not, That is criminal trespass.

[TXsharon]

Me? I wouldn't do anything illegal. I don't work for Big Gas. How about you? I think criminal trespass is polluting groundwater and air.

[FortNelsonPete]

Are you sure? Is it still pollution when the emissions are within limits set by the State and Federal Governments you elected? And are you guilty of aiding these criminals when you fill up the tank, or buy your steaks in a plastic wrapped styrofoam tray? How about that TV in the plastic cabinet?

I know how you like to portray these companies as eveildoers, but WHY ARE YOU ENABLING THESE PEOPLE?

[azbarton1]

You didnt answer my question. Did you have permission to collect samples and take pictures?

[TXsharon]

I don't have to answer your question! But, since I'm a nice person, I will...

I do not have to "ask permission" to take pictures.

I did, indeed, have permission to collect samples. In fact the surface owner assisted me.

[DitzlerPhoto]

@azbarton1 You do not need to get permission to take pictures if you do it from a public place like the road.

search for "ThePhotographersRight [dot] pdf"

[comet337]

This chic is off her rocker!

[TXsharon]

Thank you for that highly intelligent debate.

[TXsharon]

One of the pits is an XTO pit.

[gnostic19]

what company is conducting drilling here?

[VisionQuest2012]

Turn the video over to the EPA,FDA, and USDA. You have to contact your local and state reps. Take the video to your local news also. You have to make noise or they will never know what is going on. A youtube video may never get traction alone.