Channel 8 came out with an interesting report today about the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) summoning gas drilling executives down to Austin and cracking the whip. Seems the state has finally decided to regulate an industry that has run rampant for years.
Just think about all those critics who used to get ridiculed at Fort Worth city hall for complaining about the toxic pollution being spewed from drilling sites into neighborhoods. Fort Worth wasn’t interested in doing studies on the emissions. City officials just wanted to drill as hard and fast as they could. People who complained got shushed or ignored.
When other folks around the state began studying the emissions, they – surprise! – found toxic pollution.
Now TCEQ is asking for more emissions controls.
And, as Fort Worth Weekly has noted before (most recently in this week’s Turkeys edition) Fort Worth officials led by Mayor Mike “The Gasfather” Moncrief are reportedly expressing shock about this toxic crap. (How can someone be surprised about something that’s been obvious and continually discussed for the past several years?)
Moncrief says he and his gang of waterboys have a new “top priority” — identifying the impacts of gas drilling “on the health and safety of our citizens,” he said.
Uh, aren’t y’all the ones who hooked up the hose, closed the garage door, and started up the car in the first place?
I haven’t watched the video yet but, reportedly, Moncrief commented on the Benzene prob at pre-council meeting Tuesday. Something like, “… we gotta get on that Benzene problem…” was overheard by an attendee. I’m sure he’s “very concerned” but not about FW residents. It’s his own ass that he’s worried about. Someone needs to start imagining the post-Moncrief, cleanup era. Maybe Pres. Obama who inherited the Bush mess will do a consult.