Earth Day: Natural Gas seeps into an Aquifer

In Earth years, a 40th anniversary isn’t much. Likewise, in community awareness, Earth Day is scarcely a blip on the local radar.Yet, in morning headlines and nightly news, the planet continues to remind us that it won’t be ignored.

A volcano shuts down air travel across Europe. Earthquakes wreak havoc in all hemispheres, from Haiti to Chili to China.

In our lush corner of the world, we find ourselves confronted not with seismic events beyond our control but with activities that can put us at odds with the preservation of our water, land and air. Sure, we’re all agog at azaleas; but we also need a deeper appreciation for cultivating a healthy environment.

Folks in south Caddo can tell you how fragile our surroundings can be. They have spent the week sleeping away from home after a well-site incident led to the discovery of natural gas in their drinking water. Presumably some agency will bore down into the exact cause and source for contamination of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. But, for the moment, it raises uncomfortable specters.

Has nature itself turned on the aquifer, allowing gas deposits to seep into water wells? Did technological hubris lead gas exploration in the Haynesville Shale beyond the bounds of safety? Or did human error short-circuit safeguards?

In any scenario, the public needs the assurance that systems are in place to protect us and the environment. Sadly, that assurance is lacking.

Front-line responders from the state departments of Environmental Quality and Health and Hospitals may be working to assess the risk, but efforts lack sufficient urgency to satisfy evacuated residents.

Further, the apparatus to monitor well water quality is so under-resourced that there is no baseline from which to determine how much, if any, natural gas existed before in the aquifer. And when people are cleared finally to return home, there are too few answers about the potential hazards to people and pets, wildlife and livestock. How often will these people need to get water tested?

Once again in the wake of a well-site accident, the folks in charge of drilling permits — whether for natural gas or drinking water — are conspicuously silent. The state Department of Natural Resources, through its Office of Conservation, should be keeping the public up to date on its investigation and forthcoming about its previous inspections of the Exco Resources Inc. well site. The Exco location includes three wells: the one that was being drilled, another that had been drilled and hydraulically fractured, and a third that has been drilled but not “fracked.”

Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator was expressing frustration comparable to last year’s livestock deaths, when cattle in south Caddo lapped up contaminated water. Wednesday, he turned to the governor asking him to spur on the various state agencies involved. We second that emotion.

And what better day than Earth Day for an executive order telling state regulators to clean up their acts?