Published: September 05, 2008 04:54 pm      

Planned wells anger area landowners

Carman Williams

cwilliams@weatherforddemocrat.com

A group of Parker and Palo Pinto County residents is planning a trip to Austin to protest future disposal wells.

In a hearing before the Railroad Commission, local residents will be given the opportunity to protest disposal wells being installed by oil and gas companies Bridgeport Tank Trucks L.L.C. and Royalco Oil and Gas Corp.

The wells, which will be filled with water contaminated by oil drilling, are set to be installed on U.S. Highway 180.

According to protester Randall Grard, the Bridgeport Tanker well has already been drilled and capped even though the company is still awaiting its disposal well permit.

Similar wells have come under fire in North Texas for reportedly polluting public water supplies.

Among other issues, the protesters plan to fight the proposed location and delivery routes, which Grard said come dangerously close to churches, fire stations and a cemetery.

He said he hopes residents won’t see the wells as someone else’s problem.

“The well’s bigger than just our little individual lives,” Grard said. “That’s what Parker County and Palo Pinto County need to realize — we’re in this together. There are no individual battles when it comes to the water supplies and the quality of life. Who is it going to impact today, tomorrow and in the future?”

The first hearing, docket number 09-0257855, is scheduled for Sept. 16 in Austin.

Citizens are invited to speak, but must preregister by Sept. 9.

Registration information is available on the Railroad Commission of Texas Web site, www.rrc.state.tx.us, or by calling the commission at (512) 463-6792.

A meeting for those who plan to protest is tentatively scheduled at the Greenwood Community Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday.