Posted on 08/25/2010 5:05:07 PM PDT by jazusamo
The state's slogan is "Don't mess with Texas." But the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing just that, and at stake is whether the Obama administration can impose its global-warming agenda without a vote of Congress.
President Obama's EPA is already well down the path to regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, something the act was not designed to do. It has a problem, however, because shoehorning greenhouse gases into that 40-year-old law would force churches, schools, warehouses, commercial kitchens and other sources to obtain costly and time-consuming permits. It would grind the economy to a halt, and the likely backlash would doom the whole scheme.
The EPA, determined to move forward anyway, is attempting to rewrite the Clean Air Act administratively via a "tailoring rule," which would reduce the number of regulated sources. The problem with that approach? It's illegal. The EPA has no authority to rewrite the law. To pull it off, the EPA needs every state with a State Implementation Plan to rewrite all of its statutory thresholds as well.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Bryan W. Shaw saw the tailoring rule for what it really is: a massive power grab and centralization of authority. They are fighting back, writing to the EPA:
"In order to deter challenges to your plan for centralized control of industrial development through the issuance of permits for greenhouse gases, you have called upon each state to declare its allegiance to the Environmental Protection Agency's recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations - regulations that are plainly contrary to U.S. laws. ... To encourage acquiescence with your unsupported findings you threaten to usurp state enforcement authority and to federalize the permitting program of any state that fails to pledge their fealty to the Environmental...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Be still my heart! This makes me so happy. If Texas had mountains I’d move there. I’ve been waiting for a governor who had the guts to refuse to comply. It’s the only way to stop these evil bureaucrat bastards and the runaway regulation train. Here’s hoping other states follow the Texas example.
See tag line video.
Yankee Wussies!
In order to be non compliant, the sites must be inspected.
If the federal inspector is jailed for any number of state violations, no inspection can occur and the noncompliance never exists.
Texas has the Davis Mountains, the Hill Country, and the rolling hills of East Texas.
Plus every other thing you could ever want.
Stand firm Texas, send the EPA carpetbaggers packing.
Not only that,
The stars at night, Are big and bright...
The transmission pipeline typically has higher pressure than that of the well so the compressor is used to "force" the gas into the truckline. The tank batteries are there to store the oil and saltwater until a truck can come by and unload it. Most fields don't have pipelines to the individual wells but instead have a central tank battery. There is really nothing to fear around a well unless you are smoking and stick your head inside the tanks to see its contents. That happened around here the other day and they found the two people about two hundred yards away. Also, kids getting electrocuted or mangled from hanging around pump jacks every year. They run on timers.
Thanks for the ping.
I've never had a crush on a government employee before.
I feel young and light and clean and...like singing...
Right on, right on, right on!
I discovered that also after doing some Googling. The good news it that it VERY RARELY occurs in sufficient quantities to be lethal. The same "rotten egg" stuff we made in chemistry class in high school to annoy the teacher. The question I never pursued is what is this stuff doing there. H2S is a by-product of many sour oil and gas wells but I wonder why they capture the stuff instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Outside of the smell, the effects in the quantities involved most likely would be negligible. I have to assume some nanny state regulations.
Apparently there's some confusion here on my part and maybe KT rider's re the hydrogen sulfide gas. H2S(hydrogen sulfide) is a naturally occurring gas; H2S2(hydrogen disulfide) is a stinky inorganic compound that quickly decomposes to H2S and free sulfur I suppose.
In any case, you're submitting these sites all around us may in fact be hydrogen sulfide wells. Could be. I've not looked into it any further to determine that. I just assumed this was being extracted from sour gas/oil.
I decided to do a screen grab from Google Earth of the site I checked out for grins and purposes of discussion:
Thanks for the info.
What county is that and I can tell you whether the gas is sour or not? If they are burning a flare or have a wind sock, it is sour. They will have signs at the gate saying so as well.
Dayum you’re quick! This particular one is located in Tyler County; had no flare or wind sock. I’ve not really researched it but it’s just sortof my impression that most of the wells around here are what would be considered “sour”. The gate of course was open and the only sign of any significance I remember seeing was one identifying the operator(?) - Anadarko. BTW, these generator/compressors are HUGE! A site this small surely wouldn’t need that kind of power so it must be necessary for the pressure required to do whatever it does.
Those are horizontal Austin Chalk wells that are producing from around 13,000’. They make sweet gas (not sour) and quite a bit of oil. The field runs all the way to the dam on Toledo Bend and is called Brookeland.
By the way, something most people don’t know but Anadarko has a 25% working interest in BP’s well.
So, what's with the hydrogen sulfide tanks? And yeah, I'd heard Anadarko was a "partner" in the blown out well. Many others too probably.
An aside; there have been a few oil and gas wells around these parts for decades but just in the last few years these newer sites have sprung up all around us. I gather at the depths you mention the cost to get at it until recently wasn't justified?
Horizontal drilling is what has made those wells profitable. They probably cost on the order of $6,000,000. The laterals go out over a mile from the surface beginning at 13,000'.
The only other partner in the well is Mitsui, a Japanese company with 10%.
Well then, it may be they have placed these warning signs around the tanks to keep folks from messing around with their stuff??? After all, who wants to be responsible for releasing "poisonous" gas, eh?
Thanks for the clinic on the horizontal drilling. Didn't know that.
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