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Saturday
March 13, 2010 Since 1922 |
Firm: Well won't impact Beach City residents
By Barrett Goldsmith
Baytown Sun Published January 23, 2007 A Houston-based resource firm’s efforts to allow an outside company to use an injection well in Beach City has raised concerns from local residents and officials, but the firm insists the transition from private to commercial use will not endanger or inconvenience any residents.
Masters Resources, LLP, submitted an application in October to the Texas Railroad Commission, where it awaits administrative review. If the application meets all environmental, structural and technical standards, it will be approved by the RRC and will take effect immediately.
The injection well, which pumps materials deep underground for safe disposal, is located near Alligator Bayou, about eight miles southeast of Mont Belvieu, in Beach City, a small community with a population of 1,645. It was built in 1998 and has been under the control of Masters Resources for the last five years.
Beach City has no zoning laws in the books, nor does it have any noise or traffic ordinances. As such, city and Chambers County officials are worried that the lack of such ordinances would leave them powerless to stop activity if it causes excessive noise, water contamination or traffic problems.
Susie Frost, regulatory manager for Masters Resources, said those worries are unfounded.
“There won’t be any extra activity at the site whatsoever,” Frost said. “So residents should know that their life will be completely unaffected by this development.”
Masters Resources submitted the application on behalf of Erskine Energy, based in Lafayette, La. The company will use the well to dispose of excess saltwater from its offshore drilling operations.
Frost said the volume of saltwater that will pass through the well’s pipes is well below the levels of pressure at which the well was tested. She said the well is monitored often for quality control, and that its structural integrity will not be threatened by its new application.
“It’s definitely going to hold up,” Frost said. “There should be absolutely no concern about leakage.”
RRC spokeswoman Romona Nye said the commission has not yet set a timetable for review of the application.
Baytown Sun Published January 23, 2007 A Houston-based resource firm’s efforts to allow an outside company to use an injection well in Beach City has raised concerns from local residents and officials, but the firm insists the transition from private to commercial use will not endanger or inconvenience any residents.
Masters Resources, LLP, submitted an application in October to the Texas Railroad Commission, where it awaits administrative review. If the application meets all environmental, structural and technical standards, it will be approved by the RRC and will take effect immediately.
The injection well, which pumps materials deep underground for safe disposal, is located near Alligator Bayou, about eight miles southeast of Mont Belvieu, in Beach City, a small community with a population of 1,645. It was built in 1998 and has been under the control of Masters Resources for the last five years.
Beach City has no zoning laws in the books, nor does it have any noise or traffic ordinances. As such, city and Chambers County officials are worried that the lack of such ordinances would leave them powerless to stop activity if it causes excessive noise, water contamination or traffic problems.
Susie Frost, regulatory manager for Masters Resources, said those worries are unfounded.
“There won’t be any extra activity at the site whatsoever,” Frost said. “So residents should know that their life will be completely unaffected by this development.”
Masters Resources submitted the application on behalf of Erskine Energy, based in Lafayette, La. The company will use the well to dispose of excess saltwater from its offshore drilling operations.
Frost said the volume of saltwater that will pass through the well’s pipes is well below the levels of pressure at which the well was tested. She said the well is monitored often for quality control, and that its structural integrity will not be threatened by its new application.
“It’s definitely going to hold up,” Frost said. “There should be absolutely no concern about leakage.”
RRC spokeswoman Romona Nye said the commission has not yet set a timetable for review of the application.