Texas–Louisiana Border Town Gets Clean Water

The Lone Star Sierra Club is reporting a victory from the small Texas-Louisiana border town of DeBerry, in a longstanding dispute over groundwater contamination caused by improper disposal of oil and gas waste. For four years, the Rev. David Hudson of Panola County has been crusading for the right to clean drinking water for his relatives and neighbors. According to Hudson, an oil and gas company operating in his area collects waste from loading and unloading using pits, which have overflowed into the surface water during heavy rain, while overpressure from pumping waste into old injection wells has cracked pipe casings and leaked toxic lead, radionuclides, and other chemicals into the aquifer, he said. After reportedly appealing unsuccessfully to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency has recently decided to allocate funds to hook residents of DeBerry up to a nearby main water line, giving them access to clean drinking water. The Sierra Club’s Donna Hoffman said, “There are many cases all over Texas where oil and gas companies are causing environmental ruin through irresponsible waste disposal. Reverend Hudson has led the defense and wins the prize for never being silent.”