Exxon CEO doesn't want frack trucks in his backyard

Fracking traffic at a PA watering hole

File this under "Chickens Coming Home to Roost". According to a Wall Street Journal article earlier this week,Rex Tillerson doesn't want a water tower built next to his horse farm because it could potentially bring lots of fracking trucks into his neighborhood. And that, he says, would be a profound nuisance.

Tillerson, it turns out, is chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp - the company that engages in ... fracking. The very same company that faces criminal charges over a 50,000-plus gallon fracking waste spill in Pennsylvania. And while he and his company support fracking elsewhere, he doesn't want the inconvenience - and unsightliness- of a water tower in his backyard.

Tillerson and his Bartonville, TX neighbors have filed a lawsuit to block construction of the water tower because it's illegal and it's a nuisance. The 160-foot tower is located adjacent to Tillerson's property and will take away from his enjoyment of the view- an allegation countered by the water corporation that claims he already has power lines running across that view, so what's one more thing?

Residents fear that the water company could provide excess water not needed by residents for use in hydro-fracking. "The construction of the water tower will create a constant and unbearable nuisance to those that live next to it," says the lawsuit (pdf, section 6.06).  The suit declares that... "A water tower will have lights on at all hours of the night, traffic to and from the tower at unknown and unreasonable hours, noise from the mechanical and electrical equipment needed to maintain and operate the water tower..." Furthermore, the residents fear that the water company will "...sell water to oil and gas explorers for fracking shale formations leading to traffic with heavy trucks on FM 407, creating a noise nuisance and traffic hazards."

And there's one other thing: the residents feel that the water utility has to obey local zoning ordinances and the rights of residents who relied on those ordinances and town laws when they purchased their property. Property which, by the way, runs into the multi-million dollar range. Which may explain why an oil company CEO is fighting the same battles as dairy farmers in the Marcellus: the town and people living in an area have a right to expect that corporations will follow their rules. Their Home Rule.

In comments to his Town Council at their November meeting, Tillerson expressed concern that allowing the water tower to be constructed would open the door to runaway development. He said, "I cannot stay in a place where I do not know who to count on and who not to count on."

FrackWaste Truckers Rack up 959 Safety Violations in Three Days

Pennsylvania State Police report that they put 208 trucks out of service during a recent three-day enforcement effort that focused on commercial vehicles hauling waste water from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations.

"Pennsylvania is experiencing heavy truck traffic in areas where Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations are taking place," Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski said in comments to the press. He noted that traffic was particularly heavy in Bradford, Clearfield, Susquehanna, Tioga and Washington counties. "The process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, requires significant amounts of water to be delivered to the sites and later trucked away," he explained. 

Pawlowski said that140 of the vehicles placed out of service were trucks hauling waste water from the drilling operations. The other 68 trucks were being used in support of drilling operations, or non-industry related commercial vehicles simply traveling roads where the inspections took place.

PA police inspected a total of 1,135 during the "Operation FracNET," which was conducted Sept. 27-29. In addition to placing vehicles out of service, they also issued 959 citations and placed 64 drivers out of service. The most common violations cited were faulty brakes, exterior lighting issues and hauling permit violations.

This isn't the first time PA police have caught gas industry trucks flouting safety regulations. During an "Operation FracNET" held June 14-16 the troopers placed 250 trucks and 45 drivers out of service and issued 669 citations.