Right off the bat, let me say that I am not anti-oil/gas or a member of the "Stop the Fracking" crowd. Quite the contrary, I'm a firm believer in the Texas energy industry, it's a vital part of our state's economy and I feel the majority of us want to see it done responsibly, with the utmost in safety for those involved in the field, and those who operate within the industry are held accountable f
or their actions. I spent the last five years, observing first hand, the rise, fall, and abandonment of an oil field services operation. Now that I've been away from it for several months, doing research I found that Texas has in the neighborhood of 12,000 abandoned/orphaned oil and gas wells, and that is not taking into consideration surface facilities such as disposals, pipe yards and roustabout locations. Many of these locations, once they had served their purpose, are abandoned for one reason or another, usually under the protection of "bankruptcy". The skeletal remains of what used to be a productive facility is now left to the landowner and taxpayers of Texas to foot the bill on the cleanup. Right now the Texas Railroad Commission has $14.4 million dollars budgeted for fiscal year 2017 for site remediation and well plugging, hoping to clear up 1,050 abandoned/orphaned sites this year. Why is that? Why should the State have to set aside $14.4 million dollars to clean up a mess left behind by irresponsible operators? I am working now to create a website with a network and information to assist landowners to return their lands to useable/marketable condition after exploration operations. Coming soon www.TxTREE.org
If you or someone you know has abandoned/orphaned wells or facilities, contact me for evaluation information.
