For more than two hours, residents from in and around the county implored the Commissioners to ban the practice in Williamson County.
Liz Patula is one of many concerned about the safety of the groundwater. She says contamination can't be contained.
"A well does not need to start on my property to affect my aquifer, air, property value, and quality of life. Also some property owners don't own their mineral rights, so a company can come on their land and do whatever they want. The question becomes, 'Can I stay in my house, or will I be forced to leave to protect my health?'"
Johnson County attorney Louise Cook says despite claims to the contrary, the layers of rock and shale in this region are very porous... meaning the chemicals and water injected during the fracking process could pose a danger to the groundwater:
"We're not going to be able to predict where it goes up and down, we're not going to be able to predict where it goes side to side. Those fluids are going to move freely, and they're going to come up in the bottom of our water tables anywhere."
But backers of fracking, including Consulting Geologist Kevin Reimer, say studies show the process is safe:
"There is no science that supports that hydraulic fracturing has contaminated a freshwater reservoir in the United States. There's been 1-2 million hydraulic fractures performed over the last possibly 60 years."
Richard Fedder says there’s just too much left unknown in the process… and says now is the time to slow things down and really understand what’s involved:
“We don’t know. We can’t predict what’s going to happen 15 years from now. They tell you it’s in this impermeable casing below the groundwater… that’s not reliable. They used to make the same argument about disposing of nuclear waste in the Nevada salt flats. And everybody came to the realization in 25 years we don’t know what’s going to happen to that nuclear waste.”
Water contamination was not the only concern among those who testified. Others pointed to the numerous fault lines running through the region, saying the potential damage from a large quake or even "swarms" of small quakes is too much to ignore.
Reimer says the problems that have been reported are not directly caused by fracking, but rather poor standards and regulations in the past:
"Most problems that we have today are related to pre-existing wells that were drilled, completed, prior to regulation, not due to wells drilled with the regulation that we have in place, and or by hydraulic fracturing."
Few in the audience supported Reimer's claim. Jeff Driver, who worked in the oil and gas industry for decades, is now brought in as an expert witness in fracking cases. He says the technology is too risky at this point.
"You are at the mercy of the well, and once you frack it, you have no idea how much natural gas is coming in, and how much pressure that represents."
Driver joined others in calling for Commissioners to ban fracking altogether. He says it's up to government bodies to slow things down and make sure the land and its people are protected:
"A corporation is not a person, it's a legal entity created through legal fiction in order to be given certain rights. You can't give it a conscience, but you can give it regulations and rules by which it has to operate by, and that's as close as you can get."
Marion attorney Ron Osman supports fracking. He acknowledges he has interest in some oil and gas companies, but says it can be done safely... and the companies involved have a vested interest:
"No operator will frack or put a high-volume frack in an area that they have an open well bore. These fracks cost millions of dollars. They will not put a frack into an area where there's an open well bore where they can lose their frack.
Union County resident Tabitha Tripp says she may not live in Williamson County, but she’s very concerned about what happens there. She says problems there could affect her because of how the water table spreads through the region.
“I won’t be able to sell my home if my well goes bad. And it’s going to depend on what happens up here in Williamson County. It depends on what happens in Jackson County, what happens in Johnson County… we’re all connected!!”
Opponents say they want Commissioners to ban fracking altogether in Williamson County, and many attorneys in the audience volunteered their service to fight any lawsuit that might arise from such action.
County Commissioners took no action at the meeting last night, but promised to consider their options. The next regularly scheduled County Board meeting is next month in Marion.
