Produced water, now expensive to dispose of, may become a valuable byproduct in the future. So the industry is pleased to have won a court battle over who owns it. I wonder if they’ll pony up the cash to pay for the harm it does when it pollutes local wells and streams.
Texas Supreme Court Rules on Produced Water Ownership – Inside Climate News
The justices ruled Friday that the company holding the oil and gas lease also lays claim to the produced water. The ruling comes as more companies are seeking to turn a profit on what has long been considered a vexing waste stream.
Fracking companies have been trying to illegally disposing of the “flowback” and “spent fracking Fluid.” They just obtain a permit from the DEP and declare it as having “Beneficial Use,” regardless of the toxicity cancer causing and gene mutation ability of the chemicals within the waste. They are dumping in landfills, sewage treatment plants, selling or giving it to local municipalities for use to control dust on roads or for treating roads for snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain and “wintry mix.” Fracking is too dangerous, too expensive and totally unnecessary for our energy needs.