Exxon CEO Joins Lawsuit Against Fracking! Denton Seeks Ban

Here’s a good one:

ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, has joined a lawsuit against a  fracking operation near his $5 million home in Texas!

The company he runs is the biggest natural gas producer in the US, which relies on fracking.

Tillerson says he’s not against fracking, he just doesn’t want that ugly 160-foot high water tank next to his home. The tank would supply water to a nearby fracking site.

He and the other plaintiffs say there would be too much noise and traffic from heavy trucks hauling water to the drilling site. And it could lower the value of his property.

Unfortunately, you can’t pick and choose when it comes to fracking. The technology involves much more than a tiny drill – when all the equipment is on site, the area is turned into an industrial zone.

"I would like to officially welcome Rex to the ‘Society of Citizens Really Enraged When Encircled by Drilling’ (SCREWED). This select group of everyday citizens has been fighting for years to protect their property values, the health of their local communities, and the environment. We are thrilled to have the CEO of a
major international oil and gas corporation join our quickly multiplying ranks," says Representative Jared Polis of Colorado.

"I could not agree more with the lawsuit that Rex is a party to, when they say that fracking occurring near the homes in question would be ‘detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, morals, comfort or general welfare…in the neighborhood… I also sympathize with the concerns that Rex has regarding losing property value, a concern thousands of Coloradoans also face.

"I would welcome Rex to join the conversation that I, and thousands of other homeowners across the country have already been engaged in, to find a way to promote domestic energy sources in a manner that doesn’t deteriorate the quality of
life for Americans living near these resources," Polis continues.

Here’s what Tillerson has says about fracking referring to critics and those that want strong regulation: "This type of dysfunctional regulation is holding back the American economic recovery, growth and global competitiveness,"  and Natural gas production "is an old technology just being applied, integrated with some new technologies," "So the risks are very manageable,"
reports ThinkProgress.

Denton, Texas Seeks Ban

Meanwhile, citizens in Denton, Texas are planning a referendum to ban fracking in the city – if approved, it would be the first major Texas city to ban fracking, and the first in the US to ban it after permits had been approved. 

"The city and state have repeatedly failed us. My family is breathing horrible fumes, we can’t enjoy our property and we’re trapped because no one else wants to live here. To protect our homes and our health, we’ve got no choice but to ban fracking,"  says Maile Bush, a citizen affected by fracking. "We are out of options – the city is allowing fracking to happen right in our backyards," complains Cathy McMullen, another citizen.

Over 270 gas wells are active in Denton. The ban would apply only to new operations, not existing ones.

Denton is in one of two huge shale zones – Darnett Shale. The bigger one, Eagle Ford Shale, is 400 miles long and 50 miles wide. More than 7,000 wells have become active just since 2008 and another 5,500 have permits, making it one of the most active drilling sites in America, reports InsideClimate News.

InsideClimate News

Their investigative report shows that "Texas’ air monitoring system is so flawed" there’s almost no information on air pollution. Gas companies conduct "self-audits" of their emissions.
Almost 300 citizen complaints have been filed but only two fines have been issued despite documented problems.

Earthquakes in Oklahoma

Oklahomans are dealing with the constant sounds of "little bombs going off" as more than 150 small earthquakes shook the state just last week.

"It’s a huge noise and then it’s like a reverb from that boom that shakes the entire house," resident Nancy York told KOCO-TV.

Since 2009, when fracking began in earnest, there have been over 200, magnitude 3.0 quakes and more than 2,600 tremors in 2013.

Incredibly, Oklahoma – dotted by tens of thousands of oil and gas wells – is now the second most seismically active state in the US, after California, according to Energy Wire. Neighboring states are also seeing an uptick in earthquakes: Kansas, Arkansas and Texas.

As an experiment, the state temporarily stopped drilling at one of its airports, and lo and behold … the earthquakes stopped.

Read our article, Earthquake-Fracking Connection Becomes Clearer

Health Professionals Want Fracking Stopped

Meanwhile, 1000 doctors, nurses and other health professionals sent a letter to President Obama and state decision-makers that says:

"We are deeply concerned about high-volume fracking and its growing threats to public health and the environment.   

Fracking operations (i.e., the full cycle of extraction operations, not solely the fracturing technique) inject complex mixes of toxic chemicals deep underground; generate millions of gallons of wastewater that is often laced with radioactive, cancer and other disease-causing toxicants; release toxic chemicals into the air we breathe, and contribute significantly to climate change.

Given this toll of damage, the prudent and precautionary response would be to stop fracking. Instead, the oil and gas industry is seeking to expand fracking at a frenzied pace, even into areas that provide drinking water for millions of Americans.

In light of this, we urge you to take two immediate steps to protect families and communities on the frontlines of fracking:   

• close loopholes that exempt fracking from the nation’s major environmental and public health laws: Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (regulates hazardous waste).
• heed the recommendation of your administration’s fracking advisory committee and Declare sensitive areas – including places that provide drinking water for millions of Americans -"off-limits" to fracking

In only six years, 450,000 fracking wells have been drilled in 31
states and that’s only the beginning. The industry has plans for tens of thousands more wells where billions of gallons of water mixed with industrial poisons will be pumped underground.

Read the health professionals’ letter: