>House Bill 49 shields oil producers, landowners, and treatment facilities from legal liability if treated water causes harm, unless there is gross negligence or criminal behavior.
These are the same retards who claim fracking water is safe to drink but refuse to drink it when challenged
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/abbott-signs-law-permitting-use-of-fracking-wastewater/287-89df9861-29c7-4faa-b658-d651f94013ae
JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas — For Texas farmers and ranchers, clean land and water aren’t luxuries — they’re lifelines. But a new state law has farmers and environmental advocates raising serious concerns.
Governor Greg Abbott has signed a law that allows oil and gas companies to treat and sell fracking wastewater — also known as produced water — for reuse. That could include discharging it into rivers and streams or even applying it on farmland for crop irrigation.
The move comes as the state faces a growing water shortage due to population growth, aging infrastructure, and prolonged drought conditions. Supporters say the law is a way to supplement water supplies and promote recycling. Critics say it could contaminate the very land Texans depend on for food and survival.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller believes the concept has potential — if it’s done right.
“Well, we need water," Miller said. "We don’t really care what the source is as long as it’s good, clean water that we can grow crops with. Fracking water would be fine."
Miller said the goal won't be just to treat the water, but to fully remove harmful substances like heavy metals to ensure it's clean and safe. He added that there are methods to achieve that, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would be responsible for regulating the process.
“As long as this water meets those strict guidelines, I don’t have a problem with it," Miller added. "We need the water, whatever source we can get it from.”
The agriculture commissioner also suggested that the most logical use for treated produced water may not be on crops at all.
“I would suggest, probably, a better use of it would be fracking. Let this oil industry reuse it," Miller said. "They use millions and millions of gallons in fracking, and we certainly don’t need the deep injection wells. Those are proven to cause earthquakes, so we need to do something different with it."
Miller said technological advancements are bringing the state closer to being able to fully clean and reuse produced water.
“Well, I think we’re pretty close," the commissioner said. "I don’t know that we’re all the way there yet, but with the technology and AI and everything that we’ve got available to us now, we’re in the technology age, so it’s certainly doable and it’s, you know, probably doable pretty quick, I would think.”
He also applauded industry progress in shifting away from fresh water for fracking.
Miller pointed to the oil and gas industry as a positive example, noting that companies are increasingly using brackish water for fracking instead of relying on fresh water. He said about 30% of their operations now use treated brackish water, and praised the shift toward more sustainable practices.
Still, he emphasized the importance of strict oversight.
“Well, it’s the standards that it’s judged by," Miller said. "Obviously, there’s gonna have to be very rigorous, strict guidelines implemented and oversight from the TCEQ. As long as those companies meet all the guidelines that we set out before them and those guidelines are accurate and adequate, I don’t see a problem with it.”
And on the legal protections provided under the new law?
“I think those companies should have some liability protection if they’re doing business in the correct way,” Miller said.
But in Johnson County, where farmers are already fighting toxic sewage-based fertilizer biosolids, there’s outrage that lawmakers gave fracking wastewater the green light, despite it containing many of the same carcinogenic chemicals.
“There was another bill that was put forth that would allow fracking water to be land applied… they’re going to… treat it. And then it’s gonna be safe for land application,” said Dana Ames, a Johnson County landowner and advocate. "Contaminated with all kinds of chemicals. From oil and gas fracking — we don’t even know all the chemicals because they’re proprietary."
She questions how the state plans to regulate PFAS — also known as “forever chemicals” — in fracking water, when it hasn’t been able to do so in biosolids.
“TCEQ is also the permitting authority for biosolids, and they say that they’re not able to regulate PFOs in the biosolids. So how are they going to regulate PFOS and fracking?” she asked. “There would be number one, no criminal charge that could be brought. There would be no civil case that could be brought. And that is very, very wrong."
She believes recycling produced water for oil and gas use makes more sense than spreading it on farmland or dumping it in waterways.
House Bill 49 shields oil producers, landowners, and treatment facilities from legal liability if treated water causes harm, unless there is gross negligence or criminal behavior.
Critics like Ames say that leaves Texans exposed and voiceless.
>>1412346 (OP)The current Texas state government is bought and paid for by a christian nationalist oil billionaire named Tim Dunn, so it's no surprise his cronies think the oil industry is above regulation.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/
>>1412346 (OP)Either buy your own purifier or buy bottle water. Stop relying on water handouts from big daddy government like a child.
>>1412423Water access is a public utility for a reason. It's a basic human right.
>>1412434Not according to nestle, conveniently also the one charging you for it.
If they completely treat it, its a good solution. Otherwise it will pollute groundwater either way.
Theres a technique using supercavitation nozzles that can completely purify water of any organic toxins by reducing them to base elements. Removing heavy metals and the base elements can be done via reverse osmosis after the hypercavitation.
>>1412437Naaah. Nestle sold the Ozarka bottled water company after the disastrous PR from trying to claim they owned all the public water in Texas. Now the only things they own in Texas, to my knowledge, are a Digiorno pizza factory and a couple of solar farms.
>>1412438The issue is they can't get rid of the PFASs and PFOs, and the state government is saying they can't regulate that (because they're paid not to). Ideally the EPA would step in but since Trump gutted the EPA there is no one.
>>1412438If the fracking billionaire who wants to dump their shit water drinks a gallon of the cleaned stuff, maybe
when they inevitably chicken out, you should know its too shitty for everyone else too
>>1412440>Ideally the EPA would step in but since Trump gutted the EPA there is no one.Even if there was an EPA, Ken Paxton would sue them for the state and the state would tie the case up in court for the next 20 years while a whole generation of children grows up drinking cancer water.
>>1412440>>1412442>>1412445God. We are just so completely fucked.
>>1412434>It's a basic human right.Proof? You have the right to the opportunity to survive, usually through work and trade. You don't have the right to survive.
>>1412449https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/human-rights-water-and-sanitation
The human right to safe drinking water was first recognized by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council as part of binding international law in 2010.
https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/64/292
>>1412346 (OP)>Miller said the goal won't be just to treat the water, but to fully remove harmful substances like heavy metals to ensure it's clean and safe. He added that there are methods to achieve that, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would be responsible for regulating the process.As long as it meets epa clean water standards or whatever agency is responsible for that I don't see the issue.
Literally all water anyone on earth has ever drank has at some point in time been undrinkable and contaminated with every substance found on earth
>>1412452Yeah faggot, they're so confident they can make the water clean they're giving themselves immunity from any lawsuits that come out of it.
>>1412346 (OP)Maybe if water’s so important you shouldn’t use it for fucking fracking.
>>1412346 (OP)Why are the amerisharts freaking out? Just switch to soda, you retards don't drink water anyway.
>>1412472Dr pepper was invented in Texas.
>>1412452Your post is so ridiculously short sighted I was convinced by you to be against what you’re arguing. Just browsing, didn’t even read the OP outside of the words Texas and fracking, but you made a post so insane you convince people to steer clear from your position. Thought I should let you know.
>>1412440>>1412440>>1412440>can't get rid of the PFASs and PFOsThere are techniques that can indeed get rid of them. SCWO via hypercavitation nozzles is one of them, it puts water into an extreme high pressure high temperature state that any organic molecules are thermally decomposed into their constituent elements.
In the long run I suspect there will be less fracking overall because solar is getting so cheap. Nat gas wont completely go away but it will be less and less over time.
>>1412527>hypercavitationNice of you to leave out the moderate earthquakes it causes.
>>1412417Why can’t he at least devote some of that influence and money to crushing wokeshit?
>>1412423Or, you know, the sky.
>>1412451Where’s my human right to not be nagged by feminists?
>>1413025Its located inside handgun ammunition.
To apply just suck on a gun barrel and keep pulling the trigger. You'll know when to stop.
>>1413023Because he doesn't care about that. That's for you to worry about while he takes all your money.
