In Southwest Texas, the Fracking Industry Encroaches on Small Towns, Remote Wilderness, and Clear Skies

Julie-Dermansky-022
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Sue and James Franklin run a rock andย mineral shop in Balmorhea, Texas, a small picturesque town known for hosting the worldโ€™s largest spring-fedย swimming pool. Theirย shop isย about 15 miles from their home in Verhalen, a place they describe as too tiny to be called a town โ€” only about 10 people live there. The couple never imaginedย the area, on the southwest edge of the Permian Basin, would become an industrial wasteland, but they say that transformation has begun the last two years.ย 

Texasโ€™ latest oil boom, driven by the fracking industry and crude oil exports, has brought skyrocketing air, noise, and light pollution to small southwest Texas towns and the surrounding lands which are known for majestic mountain views ย and brilliant starry night skies. With the oil industry come bright lights illuminating an otherwise almost perfectly dark sky. The Franklinsโ€™ย home on a narrow rural road is now surrounded by fracking sites. On a clear day they can see 20 of these sites from their 10-acre plot ofย land.

Franklins in front of their West Texas home with fracking sites all around
The Franklins in front of their home in Verhalen, with a fracking industry site directly across the road fromย them.

Franklins' home in West Texas with a drilling rig behind it
The Franklinsโ€™ home with a drilling rig at a frack site behindย it.

Theย roads in the area used to be empty, but thatโ€™s no longer the case. Today, increased traffic โ€” mostly trucks serving the oil and gas industry โ€” makes even pulling out of the Franklinsโ€™ drivewayย dangerous. James, a Vietnam veteran and retired pilot, has been in a couple accidents caused by truck drivers that โ€œdonโ€™t give a shit.โ€

Meanwhile, the famous pool located in Balmorheaย Stateย Park โ€” known as โ€œthe oasis of West Texas โ€” has been shut down for about a year due to cracks in its structure, which some locals blame on vibrations from drilling operations nearby. The parks department, however, blamed erosion.

The changes make Sue Franklin sad. โ€œWhat we are doing to Mother Earth is going to catch up with us,โ€ she told me when I visited in early November. โ€œShe is going to wipe the planet clean and startย over without us at thisย rate.โ€ย 

Earthworks' Sharon Wilson checks for air pollution emissions at a fracking industry site in West Texas
Earthworks Texas Organizer Sharon Wilson checking for pollution emissions at a fracking industry site a few hundred feet from the Franklinsโ€™ย home.

The Permian Frackingย Expansion

The Permian, one of the most prolific oil and natural gas basins in the U.S., spansย approximately 86,000 square miles in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.ย 

Until recently, there had beenย little development inย theย furthest southwestern portions of theย Permianโ€™s Delaware Basin.ย Butย that changed in midย 2016ย afterย the Apache Corporation announced its discoveryย of an oil fieldย there called Alpine High. Apache estimated thatย the oil fieldย containsย 75ย trillion cubic feet of gas and three billion barrels of oil.ย ย 

Shortly after Apacheโ€™s discovery, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced findingย anotherย 20ย billion barrels of oil in the Wolfcamp shale, located in the northeast reaches of theย Permian Basin,ย nearย Big Spring, Texas. The agency called the deposit โ€œthe largest estimated continuous oil accumulation โ€ฆ assessed in the United States to date.โ€ย 

Despite scientists’ warnings that catastrophic climate change could be unstoppable if greenhouse gas emissionsย are notย greatlyย reduced โ€” including a dire federal climate report released today โ€” numerous companies, such as ExxonMobil and Chevron, are producing record amounts of oil and gas in the Permian Basin. Theย EIA predicts that the Permian region will drive U.S. crude oil production growth through 2019.

Apache and other oil and gas companies drilling in the Permian Basin use hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a process that injects a highly pressurized mix of chemicals, water, and sand to release oil and natural gas trapped in shale rock deep underground. In the basin fracking is done primarily for oil, but up with the oil comesย methane, the main component inย natural gas, andย other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), includingย the carcinogensย benzene andย toluene.ย 

When Fracking Comes to theย Neighborhood

I met with the Franklins on November 1, and standing in their yard, I saw some kind of fracking industry site in every direction Iย looked.ย 

Fracking industry truck with warning stickers
Fracking industry truck in Texasโ€™ Permian Basin with warning signs for otherย vehicles.

Warning signs on a fracking industry site fence in the Permian Basin
Warning signs on a fracking industry siteโ€™s fence in the Permianย Basin.

Though most people in the area welcome the money the fracking boom can bring, the Franklins have only seen unwelcome alterations to the once starkly beautiful landscape that first attracted them toย Verhalen. These days truck traffic constantly passes their home and a persistent haze blursย their view of the Davis Mountains, which is also obscuredย by giant tanks on the frack sites aroundย them.

The couple now also worries aboutย the potentialย health impacts of the pollution from the frack sites on both them andย their animals, which include a cat, horse, andย donkey.

Though the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences states there is littleย dataย conclusively showing how the fracking industry affects nearby communities, a report published by the nonprofits Partnership forย Policy Integrity and Earthworks shows thatย theย Environmental Protection Agency has identified health hazards for dozens of chemicals used inย fracking.ย 

According to Environmental Working Group scientistย Tasha Stoiber, โ€œhazards from the chemicalsย used included irritation to eyes and skin; harm to the liver, kidney and nervous system; and damage to the developing fetus.โ€ย 

In addition, theย Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility, a group involved in a Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, released theirย latest in a series of reports examining evidence of the public health and safety risks of the fracking industry at large.ย Their findings show the Franklinsโ€™ worriesย are notย unfounded.

This report, released in March 2018, states that:ย โ€œOur examination โ€ฆ uncovered no evidence that frackingย can beย practiced in a manner that does not threaten humanย health.โ€ย 

During a recent call, Sue told me she found twoย deadย hawks that โ€œseem to have just fallen out of the sky.โ€ She canโ€™t prove pollution from the fracking industry killed the birds, but she doesnโ€™t thinkย the connection requires much of a stretch. A nature lover and eight-year-resident of West Texas, she worries about all the creatures she shares theย desertย with, including the Texas horned lizard (also known as horny toads)ย andย roadrunners, species she is seeing much less frequently.ย 

Primexx, the operator fracking multiple sites nearest the Franklinsโ€™ property, is choosing to drill directlyย across the road from their home. James said putting their rigs there is a clear indication the companyย cares only for its ownย profits.ย 

โ€œThere is no reason that the frack pad sites werenโ€™t set up at least a few feet away,ย instead of directly across from the homes along this road,โ€ heย said.ย 

Davis Mountains from Alpine, Texas
View of the Davis Mountains in Alpine, Texas, along the road leading to the McDowell Observatory.

Cemetery in Alpine, Texas
Cemetery in Fort Davis,*ย Texas.

Dark Skies, Wilderness, and an Encroaching Oilย Industry

Fracking industry sprawl has encroachedย onย other small towns popular with tourists in the southwest Permian Basin, an area known for rugged natural landscapes and big dark skies. Fortย Davis, where stargazers flock to the McDonald Observatory,ย isย reputed as having the best view of the Milky Way in the U.S., and Alpine, Texas,ย isย considered the gateway to Big Bend Nationalย Park, where dramatic limestone cliffs, diverse desert wildlife, and ancient pictographs draw hundreds of thousands of visitors aย year.ย 

Downtown Alpine, Texas
Downtown Alpine, Texas, a town known as the gateway to Big Bend Nationalย Park.

Alpine residentย Lori Glover, whoย worksย part time for Earthworks, an environmental advocacy group, has been monitoring fracking industry sites in the region and helping residentsย like theย Franklinsย fileย environmental complaints withย the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).ย ย 

Mountains line Texas Route 118 between Alpine and Fort Davis
Mountains line Texas Route 118 connecting Alpine to Fortย Davis.

Deer near the road to Alpine, Texas
Deer on the side of the main road leading into Alpine,ย Texas.

Loriย and her husband Mark are both environmental activistsย who helped lead the fight against Energy Transfer Partnersโ€™ (now Energy Transferโ€™s) Trans-Pecos pipeline, which was built to transport fracked gas from Westย Texas to Mexico.ย Though their efforts werenโ€™t successful in preventing the pipelineโ€™s construction, they believe the resistance against the pipeline helped raise awareness of the fossil fuel industryโ€™s impacts onย theย region.ย 

They ran a protest camp on land they own, and both were arrested while trying to stop construction of theย pipeline.

โ€œWe risked everything โ€” home, income, friends, marriage โ€” to fight off the oil and gas industry and preserve the sanctity of the Big Bend,โ€ Lori said. Big Bend National Park is about 80 miles south of Alpine and is a place Mark describes as the last pristine frontier inย Texas.

Sign opposing a pipeline near Big Bend National Park
An anti-pipeline sign near the Gloversโ€™ residence in Alpine,ย Texas.

Lori Glover with a pamphlet on how to file a complaint with TCEQ
Lori Glover with a handout she made to instruct people on filing a complaint with the TCEQ.

The Glovers, like the Franklins, didnโ€™t think Alpine, about 60 miles southeast of Balmorhea, would be affected by the oil and gas industry when the couple put down roots there together about 13 years ago.ย But theyย told me the air qualityย todayย is noticeably different. Smog now interferes with their view of the surrounding mountain range and has taken a toll on the familyโ€™sย health. They say at least one of them has a cough at any given time.ย 

I toldย the Glovers I smelled gas when I stopped to photograph an anti-Trans-Pecos pipeline sign about a quarter mile from their house. That didnโ€™t surprise them. Mark hadย already called in a complaint for what he figures is a natural gas leak from a nearby transmission pipeline. He said he would call it in again but doubted it would make aย difference.

As for regulators, the โ€œTCEQ is AWOL in theย Permian,โ€ Mark said during a chat at the Gloversโ€™ house, which sits at the base of the Sunny Glenย Mountains.

Mark Glover at entrance to Trans-Pecos pipeline transfer station near their home
Mark Glover at the entrance to a Trans-Pecos pipeline transfer station a quarter mile from theirย home.

The Glovers at a Primexx fracking site near the Franklins' house
The Glovers at a Primexx fracking site near the Franklinsโ€™ house. Lori and the Franklins have filed environmental complaints against thisย site.

Not once since Lori started monitoring air pollution in the Permian Basin for Earthworks just under a year ago has she not found something out of kilter, from methane flares burning black smoke to the sickening and dangerous smell of hydrogenย sulfide.ย 

Whenever possible she files a pollution complaint but often she canโ€™t specify the exact location of potential violations becauseย they often are not accessible fromย a public road. This makes it impossible to identify the site operator, making it impossible to file a complaint.

The Glovers have considered moving away but think it is important to challenge the oil and gas industry: If not them, then who?ย 

The Franklins have considered moving too. James told me he’d be willing to clear outย if he can manage to sellย his house for what he feels it is worth, but Sue wonders what goodย movingย willย do.ย 

โ€œWhere can you go where humans arenโ€™t in the process of destroying the planet?โ€ sheย mused.

*Updated 11/25/18: This story was updated to correct the location of the cemetery from Alpine to Fort Davis,ย Texas.

Main image: Church in Fort Davis, Texas, at the base of the Davis Mountains. Credit: All photos by Julie Dermansky forย DeSmog

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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