Permit for controversial injection well in St. Landry Parish denied by DNR by Dan Boudreaux, June 10, 2019, The Advocate
The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Office of Conservation has denied the permit of a proposed wastewater injection well in north St. Landry Parish that drew criticism from locals earlier this year.
Eagle Oil LLC, which includes three people from the Lafayette area, was seeking to install the well, which would be used to dispose of fracking waste from oil and natural gas drilling. In an order issued Friday evening, Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation Richard Ieyoub said the permit was denied because Eagle Oil’s responses on comments and questions from the public regarding truck routes was incomplete. He also cited the lack of “evaluation and consideration from all potential routes to the site.”
“After careful consideration of all relevant comments warranting evaluation, investigation and area inspection, the Commissioner of Conservation finds that the applicant’s permit application IT Question responses do not completely and comprehensively include an evaluation and impact analysis of all truck transportation routes to the proposed injection well disposal facility,” Ieyoub said in the order.
DNR found that the permit indicated that there were at least one other route that trucks transporting waste could take, which included Highways 10 or 71 turning onto Highway 182. These routes were not evaluated and no impact analysis was was provided, so they denied the permit.
Local residents and politicians voiced their concerns at a meeting held by DNR on Jan. 31. Some of the issues included concerns about the possibility of contaminating the Chicot Aquifer, which stretches of 9,000 square miles below the surface of southwest and parts of central Louisiana, including under the proposed site and provides 15 parishes with drinking water; problems with flooding on the property; and traffic and damage it will cause in the area as hundreds of tractor-trailer trucks hauling the chemicals would go up and down the road seven days a week.
Elizabeth Roche, an attorney representing local residents said she thinks that DNR made the right call in denying the permit. Bruce Corvelle, a local resident who lives only a mile from the proposed site and was a part of a group opposing the well, said he is happy the state rejected the project.
“We were just lucky we had a lot of support from the parish. We did all this work and it turned out good for us,” Corvelle said. “An injection well there would have been a disaster for our community. The truck traffic scared me, but what really terrified me was that it could have done to the wetlands or the Chicot Aquifer.”
However, this isn’t the end of the story. Eagle Oil has the option to appeal the decision and take DNR to court or restart the application process once they have completed the necessary studies.
The Acadiana Advocate reached out to Eagle Oil for comment, but did not receive one in time for publication.
Refer also to a few Louisiana shit-shows:
2018 10 11: Natural gas, water problems bubble to the surface in DeSoto Parish
… State officials are now following up on a potential contamination of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. Benzene has been found in several water samples taken from the aquifer in the area that’s being investigated. The detected amount is low but more than what should be in drinking water.
The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources today notified the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Health and Hospitals and the DeSoto Parish Police Jury. And they are notifying the landowners.
Oil and gas companies working in the area have been directed to sample their water supply wells and request a 48-hour turnaround for results.
‘We want to determine if it is a true benzene hit,’ said Patrick Courreges, DNR communications director. ‘But right now we are treating it as a real hit. … It is safer to let them know there is a potential problem.’ [Unlike in Alberta, where pollution by the oil and gas industry gets regulator cover-up, cover-up, and more cover-up, all enabled nicely by Supreme Court of Canada knowingly publishing a lie and sending it to the media]
More information will be known once the next round of water samples are completed and analyzed.
The Haynesville Shale has made a lot of money for a lot of people. But now, several square miles of DeSoto Parish may be under assault by the same gas rigs that have made them rich.
In fact, C.L. Bryant of Shreveport and almost 50 others allege in a lawsuit their properties have been contaminated with waste associated with oil and gas exploration activities. Their land in what’s called the Bethany-Longstreet Oil and Gas Field west of Grand Cane, mostly centered south of state Highway 3015 and around Smyrna Road.
Fifteen oil and gas companies including Exxon Mobil, Indigo Minerals and Covey Park Gas are named as defendants.
2013 12 03: Dixie family finds their Louisiana tap water is flammable with methane
2012 08 14: Louisiana sinkhole, bubbles, 1000s quakes link to oil, gas
2012 08 03: Jindal signs emergency order to combat sink holes in Assumption Parish
2010 08 03: WATCH: New Oil Well Blowout in Assumption Parish Louisiana