### Page 1 1 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 2 OIL AND NATURAL GAS SECTOR 3 OFFICE OF AIR QUALITY PLANNING AND STANDARDS 4 5 6 7 8 9PUBLIC HEARING ON EPA'S PROPOSED RULE ON 10 New Source Performance Standards; National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants 11 and Review 12 13 14 15 Corrected Transcript - November 15, 2011 16 17 Arlington, Texas 18 Thursday, September 29, 2011 19Afternoon Session 20 21 22 ATKINSON-BAKER, INC. 23 COURT REPORTERS Telephone: 1-800-288-3376 24 www.depo.com Reported by Christi Sanford, CSR No. 6720 25 FILE NO. A507E0A

### Page 2 1 PARTICIPANTS 2 3 EPA HEARING PANEL: 4 5 Fred Thompson, Hearing Chair 6Associate Director, Sector Policies and Programs 7 Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards 8 Alex MacPherson 9Rob Lawrence 10 Bruce Moore 11 Ruben Casso 12 13 SPEAKERS: 14 15 Ed Eichinger 16Renee Vaughan 17 Dr. Lawrence Cottle 18 Jim Schermbeck 19Tricia Cortez 20 James Wall 21 Kathleen Wazny 22 Margaret Fiedler 23 Sandy Denbraber 24 Carl Dimon 25 Carl Blankenship

### Page 3 1 SPEAKERS CONT'D: 2 Jennifer Schultes 3 Marc McCord 4 Virginia Simonson 5 Helen Bush 6Kay Buie-Nelson 7 Buddy Saunders 8 Kimberly Frankland 9Tim Ruggiero 10 Melanie Sattler 11 Linda Hanratty 12 Ana Andrade 13 Susan Cooper 14 Sharon Wilson 15 Jan Evans 16Larry E. Kitchens 17 Sister Elizabeth Riebschlaeger 18 Michael Wilburn 19Jane Lynn 20 Claudette Fette 21 Susan Reid 22 Gary Hogan 23 Bill Dedecker 24 Kim Feil 25 Cary Clark

### Page 4 1 SPEAKERS CONT'D: 2 Ken Feil 3 Harriet Irby 4 Marilyn Walton 5 Dewayne Quertermous 6Jan Miller 7 Michelle Cline 8 Nina Ashley 9Kerrie Kimberling 10 Penelope Bisbee 11 Rita Beving 12 Mary Owen 13 Faith Chatham 14 Ronnie Stapleton 15 Frank Kuchar 16Ed Pischedda 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

### Page 5 1 PROCEEDINGS 2 (2:00 p.m.) 3 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. This is the public 4 hearing on the Oil and Natural Gas Sector: New Source 5 Performance Standards and National Emission Standards 6for Hazar- -- Hazardous Air Pollutants and Review here 7 in Arlington, Texas. Good afternoon, and thank you for 8 attending this public hearing. The U.S. Environmental 9Protection Agency, EPA, is holding this hearing to take 10 comment on the proposed rules. 11 My name is Fred Thompson, and I am the 12 associate director for the sector's Policies and 13 Programs Division in the EPA's Office of Air Quality 14 Planning and Standards. I will be chairing today's 15 hearing. Joining me on the panel are Bruce Moore to my 16right of the sector's Policies and Programs Division in 17 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Alex Mac- -- 18 Alex MacPherson to my left, he's with the Health and 19Environmental Impacts Division in Research Triangle 20 Park, North Carolina; and Ruben Casso of EPA's Region 6 21 office here in Dallas, Texas. 22 We're here today to listen to your 23 comments on the EPA's proposal, Oil and Natural Gas 24 Sector: New Source Performance Standards and National 25 Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and

### Page 6 1 Review. 2 Today we'll be accepting oral comments on 3 all aspects of our proposal, and we -- and we will 4 prepare a written transcript of the hearing. The 5 transcript for the hearing will be available as part of 6the official record for this rule. The EPA will 7 consider your comments as we move forward to complete a 8 final rule by February 28th, 2012. We are also 9accepting written comments on the proposed rule until 30 10 days after the last public hearing, which is 11 October 31st, 2011. 12 At the registration area, which is located 13 out in the hallway, there are handouts with detailed 14 information for submitting written comments by mail, fax 15 or electronically. 16Now, let me describe the procedures for 17 today's hearing. I will call the scheduled speakers to 18 the microphone in pairs. When it is your turn to speak, 19please state your name and your affiliation before you 20 begin your testimony. You will be asked to spell your 21 name to ensure accuracy. In order to be fair to 22 everyone, please limit your testimony to five minutes 23 each and remain at the microphone until both speakers in 24 a pair have finished. 25 After you finish your testimony, members

### Page 7 1 of the panel may ask clarifying questions. If in 2 addition to the transcript of your testimony you would 3 also like us to put the full text of your written 4 comments into the docket, please be sure to give a copy 5 of any written comments to our staff at the registration 6table. 7 We have a timekeeping system, which is 8 located right here on the table, consisting of green, 9yellow and red lights. When you begin speaking, the 10 green light will go on. You will have five minutes to 11 speak. The yellow light will signal that you have one 12 minute left to speak. When the red light goes on, five 13 minutes has passed and I will ask you to please complete 14 your testimony. 15 Today's hearing is scheduled from 169:00 a.m. and will continue until 8:00 p.m. or later, if 17 necessary, depending on the number of speakers. The 18 hearing will go on recess during the scheduled dinner 19break from 5:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. We will reconvene 20 promptly at 6:30 p.m., respectfully. 21 We intend to stay into the evening until 22 everyone has an opportunity to comment. If you would 23 like to testify but have not yet registered to do so, 24 please sign up at the registration table in the hallway 25 outside the room.

### Page 8 1 For those who have already registered to 2 speak, we have tried to accommodate your requests for 3 specific time slots. We ask for your patience as we 4 proceed through the list of speakers. We may need to 5 make some adjustments as the evening progresses. If any 6questions arise throughout the day, please see a staff 7 member at the registration table for assistance. 8 Thank you again for participating today. 9And at this point, I'd like to get started. 10 I'd like to ask Ed Eichinger and Renee 11 Vaughan to please come forward. 12 Good afternoon. Would you please state 13 your name and spell it for the court reporter, please, 14 before you begin your testimony? 15 MR. EICHINGER: My name is Ed Eichinger. 16Last name is spelled E-i-c-h-i-n-g-e-r. 17 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, sir. 18 MR. EICHINGER: I'm a citizen. 19MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 20 And Ms. Vaughan? 21 MS. VAUGHAN: Renee Vaughan, R-e-n-e-e 22 Vaughn, V as in Victor, a-u-g-h-a-n. I live in Dallas. 23 I'm a citizen. 24 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Thank you very much. 25 Mr. Eichinger, you can begin with your

### Page 9 1 testimony whenever you're ready. 2 MR. EICHINGER: Okay. I've got it wrote 3 down here, so try to listen to the words. I'll just 4 read it. 5 I came here to Arlington in 1983. I came 6to escape the environmental problems in Southern 7 California, San Diego. I served as a corpsman in the 8 U.S. Navy with the Marines at Camp Pendleton. I was 9proficient at medical care for Marines training in the 10 mountain, jungle and desert warfare. When I was 11 honorably discharged, I became an orderly in the 12 hospitals, and my work in allied health care spans 13 14 years. 14 I left California because of the lack of 15 natural water supply and bad air. I remember driving 16north through the San Bernadino Valley and not being 17 able to see the ridgeline around the city. The haze in 18 the air was so thick. I can remember even on clear days 19it was still a hazy yellow. 20 I voted to approve the peripheral canal. 21 It was a measure that was supposed to improve the volume 22 of water supply to the millions and millions of people 23 in Southern California. It didn't pass. So between 24 that and the poor air quality, I felt trapped so I left. 25 There was plenty of work here in North

### Page 10 1 Texas. And my grandparents had a home in Fort Worth, so 2 I stayed with them till I got on my feet. I guess, 3 according to the social statistics, I would be 4 considered blue collar, working class, poor. 5 I earned my emergency medical technician 6certificate twice and worked in hospitals in California 7 and Texas. Along with millions of people here in North 8 Texas, I've had many jobs: Hospital orderly; I built 9bridges; I cleared tree limbs from power lines for the 10 electric company; driven wreckers; worked in factories, 11 warehouses. 12 Until lately, I never felt the need to 13 become a professional because there was always 14 employment. As long as the rent was paid and food in 15 the refrigerator, I was happy. Like everyone else of my 16status, I paid thousands of dollars in sales taxes, 17 purchased cars, lightbulbs, brooms, books, shoes, 18 furniture. It's a long list. 19I lived at my -- I've lived at my current 20 address here in Arlington, 1119 South Davis Street, for 21 22 years. I've raised a family here. Except for the 22 extreme heat and the bugs in the summertime, it's been a 23 good experience. 24 I've been noticing, though, over the last 25 six years or so, the air quality is getting worse. I

### Page 11 1 started to notice that drilling rigs were popping up 2 everywhere, towers with lights at night. I thought they 3 were cool-looking. They have American flags on them. I 4 consider myself a patriot. The lighted towers at night 5 had a sparkle and it broke the landscape, the dark, dull 6landscape. It made me happy to know that people were 7 working. 8 Then one day, I noticed exhaust coming 9from one of them. It was smoke. As I traveled over the 10 Fielder bridge on my way to work every morning, I would 11 look to the west and some days I couldn't even see the 12 buildings in Fort Worth. It reminded me of the skies I 13 had seen in Southern California. 14 I know the effects of poor -- of poor air 15 quality because, with the Marines training at 16Bridgeport, California, I saw strong -- strong young men 17 reduced to puffing heaps at high altitude. I've held 18 the nebu- -- nebulizer for COPD patients in hospitals. 19I've seen people struggle to get a breath. 20 I recently mentioned to my friends that 21 the air is getting bad here, the kind of bad that I 22 remember when I used to live in Southern Cal. The air 23 in Southern California is better now, thanks to the EPA 24 and courageous leaders in the community who fought 25 against big business and their lobbying.

### Page 12 1 In Southern California now, the brown 2 skies are gone. It's all vanished. I'm told there were 3 mistakes in California with the EPA as they undertook 4 the tasks and procedures to get good air quality, but 5 Texas and the EPA can do this right, right from the 6beginning. 7 I live near a busy street. And this -- 8 there's a private school in my neighborhood. Although 9at times in the past I did notice faint smell of car 10 exhaust, I never noticed it an issue with my breathing 11 before the gas wells came. 12 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Eichinger, I'm sorry, 13 your time has expired, sir. 14 MR. EICHINGER: Okay. 15 MR. THOMPSON: I'll have to ask you, if 16you would, please to send that to us if you haven't done 17 so. I'll review your comments. 18 MR. EICHINGER: Thanks for your time. And 19I hope that and pray that you will impose the strictest 20 rules. 21 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much, sir. 22 Ms. Vaughan? 23 MS. VAUGHAN: Thank you for your time and 24 thank you for being here. My comments are brief. 25 I live in North Texas. I've lived here

### Page 13 1 almost all my life. And I've noticed in the last few 2 years that we have more frequent ozone alert days, days 3 that are considered orange or red or even purple, purple 4 being the kind of day when it's not safe for anyone to 5 go outside, regardless of how healthy they may be. 6I work outside about 25 hours a week as 7 part of ful- -- fulfilling my duties for my job. And so 8 even though I'm a healthy person, this does give me 9pause. 10 I would just like to ask, the same as Ed, 11 for you to put the strongest rules in place, not only to 12 protect me and my colleagues here, but hundreds of 13 friends and family that I know who do the same kind of 14 work that I do all across the United States and who also 15 deserve, just like all United States citizens, to be 16protected from exposure to the toxic chemicals emitted 17 from frac wells. 18 We also have concerns about water use, of 19course. Even the industry has admitted that the 20 produced water from frac wells can never be used for 21 anything ever again except for fracking. And I feel, 22 and so do my colleagues, that it's morally reprehensible 23 to ruin what is already a resource that people don't 24 have enough access to in other places in the world. 25 Thank you very much for considering my

### Page 14 1 comments. 2 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Vaughan. 3 Are there any clarifying questions for 4 Mr. Eichinger or Mrs. Vaughan? 5 Well, thank you both very much for your 6time today and your testimony. 7 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask 8 Lawrence Cottle and Jim Schermbeck to please come 9forward. 10 Good afternoon, gentlemen. Please state 11 your -- state your name and spell it for the court 12 reporter, please. 13 DR. COTTLE: My name is Dr. Lawrence 14 Cottle. I am a private citizen from Dallas. My address 15 is 5086 Matilda, Unit 116 in the city of Dallas. 16From what is being said today -- and what 17 will be said, I'm sure -- I think it's going to be very 18 obvious that you, as our government officials, know very 19well the basic concerns of our community, and by 20 listening and following through responsibly, you are 21 fulfilling a basic -- a basic function of our government 22 and that is to help provide a protection for all its 23 citizens. 24 We tend to forget sometimes that 25 government was not put here to get in our way. It was

### Page 15 1 put here to help us and to provide some guidance. This 2 important function of providing protection for us is 3 something that we should expect. 4 Now, there are activities in our lives, of 5 course, which we depend upon for our existence and 6survival outside of the government. Sometimes these 7 activities are greater than we are. Sometimes these 8 activities that we depon- -- depend upon may choose to 9operate in their best interests, which are not always in 10 the interest of the greater public. When this occurs, 11 that's when we need our government to step in and 12 provide the safety and protection that we need. 13 Drilling for oil and natural gas are 14 essential activities to make our way of life possible in 15 this country. Without the end products, we could not 16enjoy our current standard of living. But these 17 activities whose business interests are very powerful, 18 these interests act surely in the -- in the interest of 19the public in that they do provide a very much-needed 20 product or service, something to run our cars, heat and 21 air-condition our homes and our businesses and, of 22 course, many other products and services. 23 There's a strong cry right now, we all 24 know, for jobs in our economy. The oil and gas industry 25 can meet the demands for more jobs as well as providing

### Page 16 1 its end products to make our lives more comfortable, but 2 it is not in the best interest of the public when 3 harmful effects result from their activity. 4 We all know what happens when our water is 5 poisoned and our air is foul. The health care costs and 6lost days of productivity that are also outcomes are 7 uncalled for and not worth the price of allowing these 8 energy industries to operate however they please. 9As citizens, we deserve the safety and 10 protection that is called for first. As citizens, we 11 deserve the safety and protection -- this safety and 12 protection, and it should be your responsibility to see 13 to it that before drilling activities can begin, that 14 adequate safeguards are put into place to assure our 15 safety. To do less than that is irresponsible and does 16a grave miservice (sic) to us all. 17 Thank you. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Dr. Cottle. 19Any clarifying questions for -- okay. 20 MR. SCHERMBECK: Howdy. My name is Jim 21 Schermbeck. I'm here with Downwinders at Risk, the 22 premier defender of the DFW airshed these days. 23 There's many reasons to support these 24 rules: The fact that they reduce toxic -- toxic 25 exposure in neighborhoods, the fact that they reduce

### Page 17 1 greenhouse gasses. I'm here to talk to you about the 2 fact that they can reduce smog in the Dallas/Fort Worth 3 area and other nonattainment areas. 4 I've heard the claim made today that the 5 DFW air quality is just so much better than it used to 6be. And I like Senator Averitt. I worked with him when 7 he was in office and was sorry to see him go. But his 8 claims that the state's air programs are on steroids is 9off-base. Air quality is not getting better in DFW and 10 it has everything to do with these proposed rules as to 11 why that is. 12 We've been in nonattainment for 20 years, 13 basically since 1991, since the clean air amendments 14 were passed. This is the TCEQ's own data about wind 15 direction. During the ozone season, it comes out of the 16south, southeast and east, goes west, northwest and 17 north. Our worst days -- for instance, this week where 18 we've had an orange alert every day and where we've 19exceeded the eight-hour 85 parts per billion standard 20 every day -- are because of light winds out of the east 21 and southeast. 22 Not coincidentally, most of the ozone 23 violations are in the western or northwestern part of 24 the Metroplex, basically in Tarrant and Denton and 25 Parker Counties, some scattered elsewhere, as you see.

### Page 18 1 And this probably -- this number of 70 percent will 2 probably go up after we include this year's violations. 3 Unfortunately, that's also the area where most of the 4 gas drilling is taking place in the Dallas/Fort Worth 5 areas in this western part of the Metroplex, exactly 6where the ozone problems were already bad. 7 This is a chart that many folks in here 8 have seen before, where we are in terms of -- let's 9see -- 2009 wells, I think the number is now something 10 like 14,000, 15,000 wells, which is, according to 11 industry, only a 30 percent build-out. It could be as 12 many as 50,000 wells if they go to 100 percent. 13 This is all information from the Texas 14 Commission on Environmental Quality that shows just over 15 the last six years what kind of impact gas drilling has 16had in this area. There was not even a category for 17 condensate tanks and pneumatic valves in the last 2006 18 inventory or the clear air plan that was put together 19then. By 2012, as you can see, they're a significant 20 part of the dirty air inventory in Dallas/Fort Worth. 21 Here's another chart also from TCEQ that 22 shows you exactly how much each point source or other 23 kinds of sources have gone up in terms of their VOCs. 24 This is just for VOC pollution in the Dallas/Fort Worth 25 nonattainment area.

### Page 19 1 And as you can see, as a result of past 2 clean air plans, almost every other source category has 3 gone down in terms of the total number of VOCs, with the 4 exception of two. One is the area source, which is a 5 kind of broad category that covers lots of different 6things, and the other one is the oil and gas industry, 7 which has gone from 13 to 20 percent in just those last 8 six years. And the result of that is that you have more 9VOCs in 2012 than you do in 2006, despite the presence 10 of two clean air plans that are supposed to take care of 11 this kind of pollution. In other words, the gas 12 industry has outstripped our ability to work clean air 13 plans around it. And since the last one did not include 14 the gas industry -- the State's chosen to ignore it -- 15 this problem is not going away unless your rules are 16proposed and implemented. 17 Let's see. This is just teasing that 18 number out that you just saw. You can see the huge 19difference just in the last six years. Whereas cars and 20 trucks were primarily the largest source of VOC 21 pollution in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, according to 22 TCEQ, now as of this next year it'll be the oil and gas 23 industry. 24 And there's a phenomenon that goes on 25 where dirty air that comes up from the Houston area

### Page 20 1 meets the lignite/coal plant belt, then goes north to 2 Midlothian, hits the cement plant pollution that you 3 heard about earlier today and then goes right into the 4 area where all of this drilling is taking place. 5 There's a phenomenon that wasn't 6considered in the last TCEQ air plan -- the one that 7 hasn't even been submitted to you-all yet, but is 8 already out of date and obsolete and is not going to 9work -- that the air that's already polluted, when it 10 mixes with stuff in the gas so that it actually produces 11 more of an ozone threat than either one of them 12 independently. This phenomenon has never been talked 13 about or studied in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but I'm 14 convinced that it's one of the reasons why we have bad 15 air in the area here. 16Last year, we only had two monitors that 17 were violating the 85 part per billion ozone standard, 18 and I believe one of the reasons is because the dirty 19air coming up from the south meeting the gas well 20 pollution from the northwest. This year, we have seven 21 monitors out of compliance with the 85 standard, the 22 last one coming on Monday or Tuesday of this week with a 23 seasonal high in Parker County of 98 parts per billion. 24 But there's a whole new front of new ozone problems 25 opening up because of the gas wells' location and their

### Page 21 1 emissions. 2 Here's the most severe, fourth highest -- 3 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Schermbeck -- 4 MR. SCHERMBECK: -- violations -- 5 MR. THOMPSON: -- I'm sorry. Your time -- 6MR. SCHERMBECK: I'm getting to the end. 7 Just a second here. 8 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Schermbeck. 9MR. SCHERMBECK: I promise, I've got two 10 more slides. 11 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Schermbeck -- 12 MR. SCHERMBECK: Here are the -- 13 MR. THOMPSON: -- your time has expired, 14 sir. 15 MR. SCHERMBECK: And here are the design 16values for -- 17 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Schermbeck, your time 18 has -- 19MR. SCHERMBECK: -- 2001 through 2011. As 20 you can see, they're going up, not down. We're going 21 the wrong direction. 22 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Schermbeck, your time 23 has expired, sir. 24 MR. SCHERMBECK: That was the last slide. 25 MR. THOMPSON: Does the panel have any

### Page 22 1 questions for Mr. Schermbeck or Mr. Cottle? 2 Thank you very much for your testimony. 3 Have you submitted -- Mr. Schermbeck? 4 Would you hold your applause, please. I need to ask you 5 a serious question. Have you submitted this to folks 6outside yet? 7 MR. SCHERMBECK: I have not. 8 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Because I want it in 9the record; and in order to do that, we have to submit 10 the -- 11 MR. SCHERMBECK: Sure. I understand. 12 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. 13 MR. SCHERMBECK: If you want me to do 14 that, I can do that or -- 15 MR. THOMPSON: Yes. We can't do it for 16you. You have to do it. 17 MR. SCHERMBECK: Oh, all right. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. 19MR. SCHERMBECK: As with most things clean 20 air-wise these days, we have to do it ourselves. 21 Thank you. 22 MR. THOMPSON: Again, thank you. 23 Could Tricia Cortez and James Wall please 24 come forward? James Wall? Is James Wall in the room? 25 Okay.

### Page 23 1 Good afternoon. Ms. Cortez, could you 2 just state your name and spell it for the court 3 reporter? 4 MS. CORTEZ: Yes. My name's Tricia 5 Cortez. T-r-i-c-i-a, Cortez, C-o-r-t-e-z. 6MR. THOMPSON: Okay. And you can begin 7 your testimony. And, Mr. Wall, we'll get to you after. 8 MS. CORTEZ: Yes. Hello. Good afternoon, 9Chairman Thompson, and thank you for allowing us to be 10 here. 11 I work -- I'm in Laredo, Texas. I work 12 for a nonprofit organization called the Rio Grande 13 International Study Center. We are where the Eagle Ford 14 Shale is. And as y'all know, the Eagle Ford Shale, the 15 boundary is on -- the west is the Rio Grande, before it 16cuts east across South Texas. But now in Mexico, Pemex 17 is about to complete their third test well in Coahuila, 18 which is across from Piedras Negras and Eagle Pass, to 19see how far beyond the Rio Grande the shale play 20 extends. 21 Our organization is part of a new group 22 that formed this spring called The Safe Fracking 23 Coalition, which advocates for safe and responsible 24 drilling and production practices in the Eagle Ford 25 Shale. And as y'all know, the Eagle Ford Shale is very

### Page 24 1 unique. It has three different kinds of windows north 2 to south: Oil, condensate and dry gas. 3 Up to now, we -- our organization, we've 4 been primarily concerned about the impact to water 5 quality and especially water consumption levels. In 6northwest Webb County where Laredo is located, it takes 7 seven and a half to nine million gallons of water to 8 frac a single well. And there is no entity that is 9monitoring the rate at which water is being extracted 10 and used in this new boom. And some of that water is 11 being pulled directly from the Rio Grande. And there's 12 also an issue of millions of gallons being taken from 13 city fire hydrants and water dispensers at colonias that 14 we're also concerned about. 15 We are -- we've also been very interested 16in the issue of waste handling. Ranches that we've been 17 to, there's these waste disposal ponds -- LaMoca Ranch 18 off 83 North, other ranches off Camino Columbia Toll 19Road -- where they're dumping flowback into unlined 20 pits. We have notified the Railroad Commission whenever 21 we learn about this, but it really is hard to gauge the 22 extent to which this practice is occurring. 23 We're also very concerned about the 24 hauling off of waste. Much of this is happening in our 25 area in open-top dump trucks, mainly because the rules

### Page 25 1 for -- from the Railroad Commission are not explicit to 2 stop that. So what's happening is they're bringing all 3 this waste from drill sites in the Eagle Ford Shale that 4 come down Highway 83 South, hook onto I-35 South, come 5 into Laredo and then head south to Zapata County. In 6the process, we are having lots of spills on our city 7 streets that are taking place on a weekly basis, leaving 8 TxDOT to clean up the mess. Many of these trucks are 9headed to two huge, vast waste dump sites in Zapata 10 County, unlined pits, just -- it's vast, with a lot of 11 this stuff just out there. And then there's also been 12 documented dumping of this waste into creeks. And so we 13 hope that the EPA can take all of this into 14 consideration when writing their rules. 15 Now, the Eagle Ford Shale is very young 16compared to the Marcellus and Barnett, but it is 17 expanding at break-neck speed. The number of wells has 18 gone from 26 in 2008 to -- now we have more than 2,000. 19And they are projecting 30 to 100,000 wells to come 20 online. 21 In this whole process and the reason why 22 I'm here and I'm very interested in this and I'm very 23 happy that -- of what these new standards y'all are 24 proposing is because the discussion on air quality in 25 our region has been minimal. Either people don't know

### Page 26 1 about it or there's this notion that the prevailing 2 winds that come from the southeast and go northwest will 3 not affect us; it will affect San Antonio or these other 4 little towns. But in the winter, those winds do shift 5 with the northerners -- with the northern fronts and 6will come back south into Laredo and then across the 7 border into Mexico. So these -- these air quality 8 problems are not stationary. 9Some of the things, Chairman Thompson, 10 that I just wanted to raise very quickly are -- I had 11 questions or we were concerned about what I understand 12 are transition zones. I understand that these new rules 13 that the EPA is proposing do not apply to non-gas wells. 14 However, two-thirds of the Eagle Ford Shale is liquid. 15 And if you drive through there, through La Salle or 16Dimmit or Zavala where they're doing condensate or oil 17 wells, you have huge flares, not just your normal 18 everyday kind of flares, but huge flares that burn 1924 hours, some that have been going for a month and a 20 half. So we would hope, Chairman Thompson, that the EPA 21 would write the rules so that we can find ways to 22 mitigate these emissions. 23 Also, this is very rural area. It affects 24 towns like Cotulla north of us. They just put a rig and 25 moved it across the street from Cotulla High School,

### Page 27 1 next to a public housing project. They've now moved 2 that rig a mile north. We're very concerned about the 3 proximity. Because this is rural, outside of city 4 limits, there's really nothing in the books to protect 5 these people in these rural areas. 6I was impressed by the testimony from 7 Devon Energy that talked about their emission reduction 8 practices. We hope that all operators will embrace 9these new EPA standards to create an even playing field 10 and to safeguard our health. 11 Just -- lastly, I was -- 12 MR. THOMPSON: Your time has expired, 13 Ms. Cortez. 14 MS. CORTEZ: Oh, I'm sorry. I was just 15 very curious about enforcement and studies. And we hope 16y'all put monitors and more studies of all of this. 17 Thank you. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much for 19your testimony. Thank you. 20 Mr. Wall? 21 MR. WALL: Yes. My name is James Wall. 22 It's W-a-l-l. And I'm a citizen of Flower Mound, Texas. 23 I moved to Flower Mound about 25 years ago 24 and -- so that we -- my family and I could enjoy a nice, 25 rural setting in Texas. Well, about three years ago I

### Page 28 1 became aware of gas drilling moving in. It got to be a 2 little noisy in our town about gas drilling in Flower 3 Mound, and so I started paying attention. Before you 4 know it, that nice, little, rural town right now has, 5 like, 65 wells. We've had problems with spills. We've 6got -- every time someone goes out with a -- an infrared 7 camera, they see leaks. And, I mean, it's just 8 ridiculous what's been going on. 9When you look at a Google map of our area 10 now and -- and move it up toward Denton County, you can 11 see from the satellite map that there are all these 12 little pin dots of -- of well pads. I mean, it's just 13 unbelievably out of control in our area, I believe. 14 Sixty-five wells in Flower Mound is way more than what 15 we should have ever allowed or had. And, unfortunately, 16it's not ended there. A lot of those existing pad sites 17 now are being expanded because they were approved under 18 old regulations. 19My concern is we've got a lot of child 20 leukemia. We've got young women with bread can- -- 21 breast cancer -- bread cancer -- breast cancer in our 22 area. We've had several studies that have been, I 23 think, kind of whitewashed or toned down to -- to not 24 show the real effects of all this, kind of similar to 25 the Fort Worth study that was done not too long ago

### Page 29 1 that -- that talked about how clean our air is. 2 I mean, this is ridiculous stuff that's 3 going on in our state of Texas here. And we're really 4 looking forward to the EPA to come in and help us clean 5 up this -- this air and make sure that our water isn't 6polluted here in our -- in our state. Our state 7 officials are not doing it. And you'll hear testimony, 8 I'm sure, all day long that -- that -- that they've 9totally ignored the problem. We've got complaints. 10 In fact, Mr. Schermbeck's slides that he's 11 shown, you'll noticed that Flower Mound is the target 12 where all the arrows are pointing, you know, where the 13 pollution is going. That concerns me. We're looking 14 forward to the EPA of being the calvary coming in and -- 15 and maybe saving our -- our state and maybe improving 16our health. So please, please look at these 17 out-of-control operators here and -- and the situation 18 that they've created for our families. 19Thank you. 20 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Wall. 21 Any -- I think we have -- and I have one 22 as well. So, please, Bruce, you go first. 23 MR. MOORE: The wells that you're talking 24 about in Flower Mound -- 25 MR. WALL: Yes.

### Page 30 1 MR. MOORE: -- the 65 wells, do you know 2 if those are primarily wet gas or dry gas wells? And 3 are there also compression stations there, too? 4 MR. WALL: We've got -- we have some 5 compression stations. I'm not -- I'm not sure about the 6wet and dry wells, to be honest with you. 7 MR. MOORE: Okay. 8 MR. WALL: But we've got a problem with 9them trying to put in centralized collection storage 10 units for the flowback. And, I mean, we're talking a 11 heavy industrialization of a rural -- what used to be a 12 rural community. 13 MR. MOORE: Thank you. 14 MR. THOMPSON: Mr. Wall, I'd like to ask, 15 what's the population? Do you know the population of 16Flower Mound? 17 MR. WALL: When I moved there, I think it 18 was -- I think it was only about 10,000, and now it's 19like -- it's -- it's up to like 50 or 60,000. 20 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Thank you, sir. 21 Any other questions? 22 Okay. Mrs. Cortez and Mr. Wall, thank you 23 both for your testimony. Thank you very much. 24 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask 25 Kathleen Wazny and Margaret Fiedler -- Fiedler to please

### Page 31 1 come forward. 2 Good afternoon, ladies. And let's start 3 with Ms. Wazny. If you could just pronounce and spell 4 your name for the court reporter. 5 MS. WAZNY: Kathleen Wazny, spelled 6W-a-z-n-y. I tell people tough name, great guy. 7 Fifteen thousand gas wells in North Texas, 8 and we're here today scratching our heads and asking if 9we need to monitor the air quality? You've got to be 10 kidding. I live with the gas wells and the tank farms 11 in Denton, in the heart of the Barnett Shale. Our 12 community is not only surround by the wells, but they're 13 in my neighborhood, some as close as 250 feet from a 14 home. We citizens have pushed our city government for 15 air quality monitoring for three years and have run up 16against a brick wall. Even wells that surround senior 17 citizens have no special consideration. 18 Our local government hasn't protected our 19air quality. The state of Texas has not protected our 20 air quality. And now we come to the EPA for a solution. 21 I'm shocked that we have to beg for this protection. 22 Let me remind you that 50 years ago, automobiles had 23 their first mandated emission controls. Fifty years 24 ago. So why are we citizens painted as unreasonable 25 when we ask that 15,000 gas wells be monitored for air

### Page 32 1 quality? 2 Let me tell you what's happening in my 3 neighborhood of senior citizens. We have two industry 4 giants drilling for gas with these wells and tanks smack 5 dab in the middle of homes. We are acutely aware of the 6leaks that occur after drilling. We have had three 7 major incidents in the last six months. All three 8 incidents had to be reported by little old ladies who 9lived next to the tanks. All three were major. 10 My point is this: If these wells and 11 tanks had had 24/7 monitoring on them, we citizen 12 sentinels would not be on the front line as watchdogs. 13 When I asked the new city of Denton gas well 14 administrator about 24/7 air quality monitoring, he 15 replied, "You have 2,000 sets of eyes in your community. 16They're the monitors." You've got to be kidding. 17 Here's the mandate: These wells have to 18 be monitored for air quality. I no longer have blue 19skies in Denton. They're blue-gray. The only time 20 they're blue is after a rain, and that's not often. The 21 pollution haze hangs over Denton County, and it's 22 shameful because it could be prevented. 23 So who pays for the monitoring? Who else 24 but those who profit from the drilling. That's a 25 no-brainer. If I build a factory, I have to comply with

### Page 33 1 air quality regulations. So how did this industry get 2 off scott-free? Not only are they not accountable for 3 air quality, they also have a free pass on the Clean 4 Water Act. That's another bombshell that's waiting to 5 happen when our drinking water and ag water comes out of 6the ground polluted. It may take a while, but it's 7 coming. 8 So make the drillers pay for the 9monitoring. They may cry, Poor me, I have no money, but 10 the industry is spending millions of dollars on 11 television ads, newspaper ads, magazine, radio, 12 billboards telling us how wonderful they are. Let them 13 cut back their ad budget and pay for my clean air. 14 All -- all wells have to be monitored, the 15 wells that are in, the wells that are drilled and the 16wells that are coming. We breathe filthy air because of 17 this industry, and I am here today to tell you we have 18 the technology to solve the problem and you have the 19power to make it happen. 20 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Wazny. 21 Thank you for your testimony. 22 Ms. Fiedler? 23 MS. FIEDLER: Oh, thanks. I should have 24 gone first. 25 I'm Dr. Margaret Fiedler, M-a-r-g-a-r-e-t

### Page 34 1 F-i-e-d-l-e-r. I'm a private citizen, her neighbor. 2 Good afternoon. 3 MR. THOMPSON: Good afternoon. 4 MS. FIEDLER: I'm a 60-year-old 5 grandmother, a retired educator, a retired community 6leader, and I need your help. You see, I'm a citizen of 7 the shale. I live in a community that has gas wells in 8 it. I live on the Barnett Shale. My neighborhood has 9had multiple leaks at our existing gas well sites and at 10 our tank farm. In each case, my neighbors and I called 11 in the leaks. 12 Connie, one of my neighbors, noticed one 13 of the wells next to her house was malfunctioning. It 14 was hissing and releasing some substance into the air. 15 She reported it to the telephone number that was written 16on the fence to call in in case of a problem. I also 17 called that number. The operator that answered said she 18 was the answering service in Oklahoma and would send in 19the report. Weeks later, I received a call from a gas 20 company representative asking me to tell him what the 21 problem was. He had not received any notification of a 22 problem. He didn't even know of the incident. 23 Claudia, another neighbor, heard a 24 horrible squealing noise from one of the well sites as 25 she was walking one of her sons to his car after the

### Page 35 1 Mavericks game and reported the leak. A number of days 2 later, we were notified that the company was working on 3 the problem. 4 Sandy, she lives next door. She called in 5 the terrible noise from the gas tank farm behind her 6house that wouldn't stop for two hours. She said she 7 was too scared to even go to bed. I called TCEQ and 8 9-1-1 when the noise escalated. 9Is this our job? Is this our new job in 10 retirement, monitoring existing gas wells? Are we the 11 citizen sentinels of existing gas wells? According to 12 the City, the answer is yes. We have met with our city 13 leaders and begged them for help, but our response is 14 that it's the gas well's industry to monitor itself. We 15 have talked with the gas well representatives and they 16stated that someone visits each site daily to monitor 17 it, but the leaks occur at night, after a 9:00 to 5:00 18 day and the only one here monitoring it is us. 19When I called CEQ at 7:30 at night after 20 listening to the noise from the tank farm for over an 21 hour and a half, I received a case number and a promise 22 that someone would be calling me back. And, yes, I 23 received a call, 8:44 p.m., almost two hours later, from 24 a gentleman that couldn't even find my location. He 25 said it wasn't on his GPS and that he had to go to

### Page 36 1 Google Earth on his computer to locate the tank farm 2 behind our house. According to Sandy, the leak had 3 started at 6:00 p.m., and now almost three hours later 4 someone from the State is getting back to me, not that 5 he could help me. You see, he said it was too late and 6dangerous to go out at night and that someone would get 7 back to me tomorrow. 8 I reported the incident to the City. They 9notified me that they were requiring the driller to 10 install new safeguards at the tank site, but not 24/7 11 monitoring. So I'm back to work as the citizen 12 sentinel, along with Sandy, Connie and Claudia. But is 13 this really our job? Isn't it the government's 14 responsibility to provide protection for its citizens? 15 Why am I here today? I am asking you, the 16EPA, for protection. Isn't it your job to make sure the 17 air I breathe is clean air? We need protection. I need 18 clean air. I am a cancer survivor. I have battled one 19disease and I don't need another from dirty air. I need 20 better monitoring systems 24/7 than a series of old 21 ladies who happen to be walking, sitting on their back 22 porch or just listening with their windows open. I need 23 these four new air regulations for the oil and gas 24 industry that are being proposed. I need clean air. 25 This is -- I Googled what the

### Page 37 1 ramifications for natural gas leaks, and my response 2 from Just Ask It was only three words, Death or 3 explosion. This is why I monitor. This is why I am a 4 gas well sentinel. But, really, I and my girlfriends 5 are all over 60. We need rest. We need help. We need 6your help. Please, what are you waiting for? 7 Sit. Sit. He has a question. 8 MS. WAZNY: Sorry. 9MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. Thank you both 10 for your testimony. 11 Yeah. We need to give my colleagues an 12 opportunity here. Do you guys have any questions? 13 Well, thank you both very much for your 14 testimony today. Thank you. 15 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask Sandy 16Denbraber and Melanie Sattler to please come forward. 17 Good afternoon. 18 MS. DENBRABER: Good afternoon. 19MR. THOMPSON: And you are which? 20 MS. DENBRABER: I'm Sandy Denbraber. 21 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Is Melanie here? 22 Okay. 23 MS. DENBRABER: The last time I spoke with 24 the EPA, I told them that finally the TCEQ had given a 25 violation with enforcement against Carrizo for making me

### Page 38 1 deathly ill. 2 MR. THOMPSON: I'm sorry. Before you 3 begin -- I haven't started the timer. I want to ask, 4 could you just you state your name and spell it for the 5 court reporter, and then we'll start the timer. 6MS. DENBRABER: My name is Sandra 7 Denbraber, D-e-n-b-r-a-b-e-r. 8 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 9MS. DENBRABER: The last time I was here, 10 I told you about how the TCEQ gave Carrizo Oil & Gas a 11 violation with enforcement for making me so ill. The 12 local TCEQ office got it documented very well and had it 13 approved by Austin. Well, a few weeks ago I got a 14 letter from Austin that was really strange because it 15 starts out with two dates of air sampling and then they 16decide to drop it, saying my medical doesn't support a 17 violation. I sent a letter to the Attorney General's 18 office asking them to make the TCEQ enforce the law and 19they come back and they say they don't enforce the law. 20 So in the state of Texas, it's okay for 21 oil and gas to make you sick. And there are safer ways 22 to drill. There's are preventative methods. There's 23 green completions. There's replacing leaky valves. 24 There's emission controls for condensate tanks. There's 25 better situations for generators -- I mean, compressor

### Page 39 1 stations with diesel generators. I don't think diesel 2 generators should be anyplace in -- in cities with high 3 populations because the diesel exhaust is toxic. That 4 needs to change. We need help. 5 One of the recent articles I read was how 6the Gulf War Syndrome was researched by Dr. Charles 7 Haley at UT Southwestern. He now has shown that minimal 8 exposures over a longer term can cause devastating 9effects because it doesn't go by the air samples. It 10 goes -- because different chemicals react differently to 11 different people. 12 That needs to be addressed because the 13 TCEQ thinks that there was no abnormal air samples, but 14 the TCEQ would never come when the complaints were 15 there, when the gasses were being released. And even 16though their samples would show things like benzene, 17 ethyl benzene and some of the other chemicals my blood 18 tests positive for, they say they were normal. Well, 19there's no normal safe level for any of those chemicals. 20 And so we need somebody that can help us 21 change how the government views what we're being exposed 22 to. I didn't ask to be made sick, and it's a struggle 23 still daily with the chemicals there. I can sit out on 24 my porch and the huge hissing sounds and it's just a 25 mile up the street, because I live just a mile from

### Page 40 1 here. And I live in a highly populated area, and it's 2 on the University of Texas Arlington's property. 3 So, please, I ask you, you need to make 4 changes because the Texas government's not going to do 5 it, and nobody in the Texas government is going to help 6you. If there's a law and they know there's a law in 7 the book to protect you, they won't enforce it. 8 Thank you. 9MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Denbraber. 10 Are there -- are there any questions from 11 the panel? No? 12 Okay. Thank you again for your testimony. 13 Thank you very much. 14 At this time I'd like to ask Carl Dimon 15 and Carl Blankenship to please come forward. 16Good afternoon, gentlemen. Let's start 17 with Mr. Dimon. Could you please state and spell your 18 name for the court reporter? 19MR. DIMON: Yes. I'm Carl A. Dimon, 20 D-i-m-o-n. I'm age 75 -- 21 MR. THOMPSON: Would you move the mic a 22 little closer to you, please? Just move it a little -- 23 yes, sir. Thank you very much. 24 MR. DIMON: I'm age 75. I'm a retired 25 petroleum engineer. I practiced for Mobil Oil

### Page 41 1 Corporation for 34 years. I practiced in -- privately 2 for another 14 years. 3 I'd like to talk to you about two issues 4 concerning gas air quality as a result of hydraulic 5 fracturing. And I'll give this to the front table. 6MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, sir. 7 MR. DIMON: Included in this handout is a 8 article from The American Oil and Gas Reporter. It's 9published by Kevin Fisher of Halliburton-Pinnacle 10 Technology saying, Hot dog, fracking is safe. It's so 11 far from where you frac to the water table that there 12 can't possibly be any problem. Well, horse puckeys. 13 The U- -- the Texas Bureau of Economic 14 Geology says in the Ellenburger formation there are all 15 kinds of sags and they extend clear up to formations of 16Pennsylvanian-age, and gas in the strong sand and in 17 Parker County migrated from the Barnett Shale up to 18 those shallower formations. And we're letting these 19clowns frac at 7,000 pounds surface pressure in a system 20 that has natural fractures that God put there and then 21 they're blaming God for methane gas appearing in Parker 22 County in people's water wells. How long are you going 23 to put up with that kind of nonsense? 24 I watched in Grand Prairie where I live 25 and, thank God, we're on the very eastern edge of the

### Page 42 1 gas field. So it's not economic and they're getting out 2 of there, thank you, Lord. I watched them swab a well 3 after they'd fracked it. Four men on a little platform, 4 they'd pull a string up. About once every five minutes 5 they get a gas kick. The water would come up and down a 6shoot, the gas would go in the air, the four guys would 7 run like hell. For one thing, they didn't want to 8 suffocate. They didn't want to die. How can the U.S. 9Government's Occupational and Safety Health Agency (sic) 10 permit nonsense like that? What is happening? It's out 11 of control. 12 Thank you. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Dimon. 14 Mr. Blankenship? 15 MR. BLANKENSHIP: Hello. My name is Carl 16Blankenship, C-a-r-l B-l-a-n-k-e-n-s-h-i-p. And -- all 17 right. So I'm here and I'm from Haslet, Texas, which is 18 up in the Denton area. It's -- it's actually right next 19to Flower Mound. 20 But I'm actually here -- and I feel like a 21 bit of a minority here. But I am concerned -- I am 22 concerned about the -- the environment and the air, but 23 I'm also concerned about gas prices and also energy 24 prices where if -- if the offset of medical bills -- 25 say -- say I obtain medical bills due to the pollution

### Page 43 1 in the air is -- say that is offset by increasing energy 2 prices due to energy companies having to -- I'm so 3 sorry -- being able to -- having to -- having all those 4 procedures set in place to where they have to raise 5 prices on energy so that gas prices are going up, energy 6prices are going up, to heat my house it costs more, to, 7 you know, run my whatever -- run my washing machine it 8 costs more. 9Then I just ask that whatever the EPA does 10 that they would consider that the prices -- whatever has 11 to be paid by the energy -- energy companies, the -- 12 like, the Barnett Shale companies, that they would just 13 take into consideration that they are -- they are a 14 company out there to make money, but they are also 15 assisting us by giving us cheap energy, by giving us 16cheap gas. And so -- that didn't come out so good. But 17 thank you. Thank you for your time. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 19Are there any clarifying questions? 20 Okay. Gentlemen, thank you both for your 21 testimony. Thank you very much. 22 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask 23 Jennifer Schultes and Marc McCord to please come 24 forward. 25 Good afternoon.

### Page 44 1 MS. SCHULTES: Hi. 2 MR. THOMPSON: Let's start with 3 Mrs. Schultes. Could you state and spell your name, 4 please, for the court reporter? 5 MS. SCHULTES: Yes. My name is Jennifer 6Schultes. That's S-c-h-u-l-t-e-s. I'm a private 7 citizen. 8 Can you hear me? 9MR. THOMPSON: Yes. 10 MS. SCHULTES: First, I'd like to thank 11 the EPA for this step towards some sort of regulation of 12 the fracking process. 13 I'm an IT professional. I live in east 14 Fort Worth. Within a mile or two in any direction of my 15 house, there are all sorts of natural gas operations 16underway: By the dog park, where I no longer take my 17 dog, along the river, behind the 7-Eleven, next to the 18 Waffle House, beside the high school sports field, 19practically in people's front yards. 20 I also can't help but notice how 21 concentrated the operations are in the less affluent 22 sections of town, unsurprisingly. It scares me so much 23 that I do my best to avoid Berry Street, Beach Street 24 and Lancaster Avenue. 25 I know that powerful people with deep

### Page 45 1 pockets have tried to hide this industry technique from 2 any and all regulation. I know that academics and 3 scientists who have spoken out against the dangers of 4 fracking, not to even mention urban fracking, have been 5 silenced systematically and undermined. 6As far as I can tell, the natural gas 7 industry and our, quote, unquote, repetitives and 8 so-called leaders, especially in Fort Worth, have 9decided to gamble on the health and safety of myself, my 10 family and my fellow citizens. Why is that? I guess, 11 because they had big money to make. I really can't 12 think of any other reason. 13 The question I ask myself, that I do not 14 want to ask myself, but I can't help it, no matter how 15 hard I try to push the question out of my head: Am I 16gambling, too, by living here in an urban fracking 17 field? How much am I increasing my risk of cancer? Is 18 my niece going to get leukemia? Should I grab my family 19and run away from my mortgage to someplace else? And 20 where would that even be? 21 I know that since coming here last year, I 22 have headaches most every day, I have a weird flutter in 23 my upper chest, I cough a lot. I started off my career 24 as a -- as a printmaker doing lithography and etching, 25 so I'm -- and I had to stop because of chemical exposure

### Page 46 1 over a period of time. So I -- I know how this stuff 2 builds up in your system. That's why I do computer work 3 now, because I can't be around chemicals. 4 I used to spend -- or I do spend a lot of 5 time in my garden, my nice organic garden where I grow 6vegetables. I -- I wonder about eating those vegetables 7 that are grown in this air and with this water. And I 8 say to myself, Jen, you're being really paranoid. Don't 9sound like a kook, but I don't know who to believe and I 10 don't know that there's anyone out there protecting me 11 because I've seen things like the study that Fort Worth 12 did, which is a joke. 13 A couple weeks ago, passing a Lancaster 14 Avenue Chesapeake operation, there was a smell that was 15 so intense -- I had my car windows down because it was 16not a -- it was not so hot of a day. I almost threw up. 17 Immediately I had an intense headache and for the rest 18 of the day this acrid taste in my mouth. I couldn't 19make it go away. I drank water, everything. 20 I called the TCEQ, spent -- you know, some 21 guys called me a couple hours later. They couldn't find 22 the location, even though from where I told them there 23 were at least four pad sites right there within a 24 stone's throw. Wound up talking to people at TCEQ, back 25 and forth, back and forth, and then they basically told

### Page 47 1 me, well, since it was not on my property, then -- you 2 know, then I couldn't have any -- I don't know what they 3 did. Really, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know 4 if it was ever reported. I have my little TCEQ form I 5 filled out. 6Anyway, this is all to say that I -- I 7 call upon the EPA to regulate the industry as they would 8 any other with strong health- and science-based rules. 9This country can ill afford to clean up the mess that 10 the industry will certainly leave behind. This country 11 can ill afford the resulting health costs which will 12 sadly come in our future. 13 And, please, you must not let existing 14 fracking operations off the hook. That would mean 15 writing off me, my neighborhood, my family, my 16community, because there are already hundreds, if not 17 thousands, of wells here in my neighborhood. 18 Thank you. 19MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Schultes. 20 Mr. McCord? 21 MR. McCORD: Marc McCord, M-a-r-c 22 M-c-C-o-r-d. 23 Several comments I want to make that I 24 hadn't planned on making today, the first regarding a 25 statement made by Ms. Cortez regarding water taken from

### Page 48 1 the Rio Grande. I'm a wilderness white water river 2 guide. I paddle the Rio Grande quite frequently. Last 3 March, on a 151-mile trip, it felt like I walked about 4 half of it because the water was too low. I have a 5 Thanksgiving trip coming up that I'm not going to be 6able to do because there's not enough water down there. 7 Anybody that knows the Rio Grande knows that that river 8 is continuously low on water and getting lower. There 9is no water available to spare for it. 10 The issues that this lady here just 11 brought up regarding air quality, I reported to TCEQ one 12 night back in I believe it was June or July when I was 13 canoeing with my club on the west fork of the Trinity in 14 downtown Fort Worth an extremely strong odor that hit me 15 when I was paddling in 46-mile-per-hour wind gusting to 1653 miles per hour from the south, southeast. It gave me 17 a serious headache. It gave me a nasal infection and -- 18 and severe sore throat that lasted for about three and a 19half days. 20 I carry a GPS with me. I gave them GPS 21 waypoints on three different locations, and they 22 couldn't find the well. They were looking on the north 23 side of the river, as if that vapor was moving against a 24 46- to 53-mile-per-hour wind. 25 I'm telling you right now, the people that

### Page 49 1 we have regulating in Texas are a bunch of incompetents. 2 And, quite frankly, and I hate to say it to you, but I'm 3 not that much impressed by what you're doing either, 4 because we've been coming here talking to you for a long 5 time about this and so far it's all talk and no action. 6There's a lot of problems going on. 7 Now, one thing -- I -- I just got here a 8 little while ago and I haven't heard if anybody's talked 9about it, but a major issue that -- that I'm finding is 10 frac sand mining. The mining operation produces 11 incredible amounts of silt crystal and silica dust that 12 penetrate skin and, when breathed, penetrates lung 13 tissue. It can produce incurable silicosis and lung 14 cancer. 15 I just came back from down in -- in an 16area near the -- the Eagle Ford Shale where communities 17 down there are getting very concerned about it because 18 their rural lifestyle is being disrupted by six current 19frac sand mining operations down in Mason County, and 20 three more are proposed and they're trying to get 21 permitted right now. It's destroying these people's way 22 of life. In addition to that comes all the 23 infrastructure damage from the truck traffic, the noise, 24 the pollution, the total disruption of life of citizens. 25 We count on the government to protect us

### Page 50 1 from harmful industry. I will get a ticket if I have 2 too much pollution coming out of my car. If I go for my 3 state inspection, I will not get that inspection if 4 the -- if the pollution coming out of my tailpipe is too 5 much. Every industry just about in the state of Texas 6has voluntarily complied with efforts to clean up our 7 air because we've been in a nonattainment situation 8 for -- for over 20 years, as Mr. Schermbeck testified to 9and showed you evidence of, yet here we are in 2011, 10 headed for 2012, still facing these same problems 11 because our state and federal regulatory agencies are 12 failing miserably. 13 I would say to you, if you can't do the 14 job, resign and let somebody take your positions that 15 will get off their butts and do something for the 16citizens. We don't need you to protect industry. The 17 jobs that are promised, all this BS about protecting us 18 from foreign oil, and especially from all the money 19going to the middle east, U.S. Energy Information 20 Administration says that's not true. Canada and Mexico 21 are the two places we get most of our energy. Saudi 22 Arabia is a distant third, and we don't get much fuel 23 from the Middle East. So all those claims are just 24 industry lies. 25 What's the reality is the industry is

### Page 51 1 polluting our air, they're polluting our water, they're 2 destroying our way of life and making it unhealthy for 3 us to live. And if we're dead, it's not going to matter 4 how much energy we have or at what cost or where it 5 comes from. So I -- I urge you to take strong immediate 6action to curtail the pollution coming out of the oil 7 and gas industry. 8 Thank you very much. 9MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. McCord. 10 Any clarifying questions? 11 Thank you both very much for your 12 testimony. Thank you. 13 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask 14 Virginia Simonson and Helen Bush to come forward. 15 Okay. Ms. Simonson, if you could -- we 16could start with you. Your name and spell it, please, 17 for the court reporter. 18 MS. SIMONSON: Good afternoon. My name is 19Virginia Simonson, S-i-m-o-n-s-o-n. I reside in Flower 20 Mound, Texas. 21 I became involved with efforts to promote 22 responsible drilling about two years ago as gas drilling 23 activities expanded near my area. As a career Army 24 officer, I've always worked through the system, whatever 25 that system may have been. As an activist, I've

### Page 52 1 continued to work the established systems. 2 In 2010, I helped lead a citizen 3 referendum drive that led to a temporary moratorium on 4 new drilling permits and the appointment of an oil and 5 gas advisory board that developed recommendations to 6improve our city ordinances related to drilling 7 activities. I've also spent significant amount of times 8 directly lobbying my city, state and federal 9representatives, pushing for more responsible drilling 10 regulations and advocating for the rights of service 11 owners. 12 I could speak all day on the roadblocks to 13 justice that I and other activists face and still face 14 every day. I'm sure you've heard quite a bit of that. 15 We try -- we've tried everything within the system to 16get our local and state reps to do the right thing, 17 trying to get them to take adequate steps to protect our 18 air, our water, our health. It has become painfully 19apparent to me that our state and local representatives 20 just do not have the wherewithal to take the necessary 21 steps, and that's why I've asked to speak to you today. 22 My bottom line up-front -- and this is 23 about as clear as I can be, although that's not so 24 clear -- I fully support your New Source Performance 25 Standards and your Air Toxic Standards. When the state

### Page 53 1 municipal governments fail to protect the citizens, it's 2 incumbent upon the federal government to do so. 3 I've become jaded and tone deaf to cries 4 for states' rights. Again, I want to repeat, I'm a 5 career Army officer. I protected and defended the 6United States of America, our Constitution from enemies 7 foreign and domestic. But right now, what states' 8 rights mean to me mean the sanctioned elevation of 9corporate rights over my individual rights to breathe 10 clean air, drink clean water and be relatively protected 11 from toxic chemicals. 12 The Clear Air Act, the Clean Water Act, 13 the Superfund Cleanup Act and the Civil Rights Act 14 illustrate how the federal government has had to step in 15 when cities and states fail to protect us, the citizens. 16We're at the point now, and maybe we've been there for 17 the last couple of years, where it's clear that the oil 18 and gas industry has become such an overwhelming force 19in Texas and Pennsylvania -- and you can continue on 20 over the 38 states that have the shale under them -- 21 that we need you, the EPA, to dictate improvements for 22 oil and gas drilling, production, storage and 23 transmission activities. 24 You know, I -- there are a lot of great 25 stories that you've heard today and you'll continue

### Page 54 1 to -- to hear anecdotal stories. And I can tell you 2 some of those myself, but I won't. I'm going to just 3 give you what -- what's out there in -- in the realm 4 of -- of TCEQ, T-C-E-Q, and the Web. I get daily 5 e-mails to tell me that our air is not so hot. And I 6can go back, you know, for a long time. 7 This is August. You know, you can see -- 8 you guys know what these colors mean. I don't have to 9go through that. In September, you know, notice all 10 that green around us. Look at that map. I think that, 11 you know, that says something to me. Why do we in Texas 12 not have some of the same clean air that people in other 13 areas have? I suspect that there'll be more yellow and 14 orange lighting up on that map throughout the country as 15 fracking continues to proliferate and expand. 16Okay. I kind of gave you, you know, what 17 you already know about Texas. I'm from Flower Mound, 18 Texas, and so I want to give you a little bit of what 19it's like at the -- the micro level. You've heard from 20 somebody from Fort Worth. They have their issues. 21 They're similar to our issues in that their municipal 22 government hasn't protected them. 23 We're lucky in Flower Mound because, well, 24 quite frankly, we're an affluent community. And so when 25 we complain -- unfortunately, it's not fair, but when we

### Page 55 1 complain, we do get action of some sort from the State. 2 So our state representatives gave us a TCEQ monitor. 3 And you can see kind of where they placed 4 it. It's that blue cloud in the center of that map. 5 And those little white circles and yellow circles, those 6represent the gas pads in Flower Mound. Each can have 7 up to 20 wells on them. That little blue insert there, 8 that shows the prevailing wind patterns that we have in 9the North Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth area, you guys 10 probably know, prevailing from the south to the north. 11 You know, it looks like that TCEQ monitor is perfectly, 12 you know, positioned to get -- capture all that data. 13 Right? Yeah, I know. 14 Okay. So we've got a monitor. In our 15 town, you know, they have to listen to us because, you 16know, we have the wherewithal to recall them and to take 17 them out of -- of office. So they want to make sure 18 that we feel safe. So in addition to the TCEQ monitor, 19they do ambient monit- -- air monitoring, and these are 20 their conclusions. And these conclusions are generally 21 the same pretty much every month. And the conclusions 22 are we don't have any problems with emissions from oil 23 and gas drilling. In fact, our town is so sure we don't 24 have problems, they put it in our new oil and gas 25 ordinance. It was proposed, but it passed in July. So

### Page 56 1 we don't have any problems with this. And so if we 2 don't have problems, we don't really need any controls, 3 right? Right. 4 Okay. This is just one snapshot in time, 5 and this is from data to the TCEQ monitor. You know, 6all of us -- 7 MR. THOMPSON: Ms. Simonson? 8 MS. SIMONSON: Yes, sir. 9MR. THOMPSON: I'm sorry. I'm so caught 10 up in this great presentation that your time expired a 11 minute ago. 12 MS. SIMONSON: Okay, sir. 13 MR. THOMPSON: So if you could just submit 14 out front. 15 MS. SIMONSON: Okay. 16MR. THOMPSON: I'm going to hold this 17 until Ms. Bush gives her testimony and then I'm going to 18 hand it back to you for you to submit for the record out 19front. Okay? 20 MS. SIMONSON: Okay. Yes, sir. 21 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. 22 MS. SIMONSON: Bottom line, if I could, we 23 need your help. We exceed the air standards and so does 24 Fort Worth and probably so do a lot of other places. 25 Thank you.

### Page 57 1 MR. THOMPSON: So noted. Thank you. 2 Okay. Ms. Bush? 3 MS. BUSH: My name is Helen Bush. 4 MR. THOMPSON: Could you get the 5 microphone? I'm sorry. 6MS. BUSH: My name is Helen Bush. It's 7 spelled H-e-l-e-n B-u-s-h. I'm here as a concerned 8 citizen. I'm from Dallas, Texas. 9I have been watching environmental 10 standards since protest college days in the '60s. I was 11 a biology major, and I learned the words ecosystem, 12 ecology, protection of the environment. 13 In the '60s, I was watching this topic 14 over all these years in Dallas. I arrived here in 1973 15 after living one year in Okinawa, one year in eight 16million people in Seoul, Korea, one year in California, 17 Monterrey, and one year in North Carolina, and six 18 months in Missouri. And I arrived here. I've been here 19ever since. 20 My argument to persuade you to hold the 21 fracking oil corporations to the highest standards of 22 pollution control, which requires an investment of them, 23 is as follows. I want to give you something like a 24 vocabulary list to jog your memory of some of the words 25 that have gone out of the argument. This argument is

### Page 58 1 intense. 2 These fracking platforms have gone up 3 since 2005. I only learned about this process in the 4 last two years. And they're already there. And they 5 went up before people knew they were going to be so 6offensive in noise pollution, volatile chemicals. And 7 so I want to just read you a vocabulary list, like 8 brainstorming, and that will be the extent of my 9argument for the environment protection. 10 Corporate responsibility. Industrial 11 complex. Sustainability. Ecology. Ecosystem. 12 Watershed for the rivers. Fossil fuels, which is the 13 umbrella word for all this going on. Environmentalist. 14 Protected lands. Protected rivers. Quality of life. 15 Quality of air. Volatile chemical compounds. Water 16cycle. 17 The chemical compounds that go up in the 18 air come down in the rain into our rivers and onto our 19farms. Particulates in the air, they come down in the 20 rain. Acid rain kills trees. You may have read about 21 that in biology books. 22 Downsizing. Alternative renewable energy 23 sources. All the technology has been there for years. 24 Solar. Wind. Green architecture. Conservation of 25 energy. Fuel-efficient cars. Attractive, popular mass

### Page 59 1 transportation. Urban sprawl. American dream. Owning 2 your own home. City planning. Jobs, as if the oil 3 industry was the only one company that could offer jobs. 4 Mineral rights. Loss of habitat. Endangered species. 5 Limits to growth. Noise pollution. Gasland, the 6documentary movie. I hope you've seen it. 7 Here's my reading list lately: Under a 8 Green Sky; Plows, Plagues and Petroleum; The Long 9Summer. 10 Okay. My list continues. The Barnett 11 Shale was discovered, according to Wikipedia, in the 12 1930s. Fracking was taking place in the 1950s and has 13 been going on on a small scale for quite a few years. 14 The big thing that happened to Dallas/Fort Worth was in 15 nine -- in 2005, the Texas legislature approved 16something that allowed fracking to explode, to go 17 forward, then to obtain the leases and build their 18 fracking wells. 19So here is a -- a reading list from my 20 college days. The Waist-High Culture. That was about 21 unsustainability, but they didn't know the word then. 22 It was about dead-end products that only go to the trash 23 bin and nowhere to recycle. The Greening of America was 24 a book written about 1970. It had to do with pursuing 25 the American dream and --

### Page 60 1 MR. THOMPSON: Mrs. Bush, I'm -- 2 MS. BUSH: -- setting the limits to 3 growth. 4 MR. THOMPSON: I'm sorry. Your time has 5 expired. 6MS. BUSH: Okay. Thank you. 7 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 8 Any clarifying questions for -- 9MS. BUSH: Ms. Bush. 10 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. At this time we're 11 going to take a five-minute break. And -- did you have 12 a question? 13 MR. CASSO: For Ms. Simonson, did you 14 already give her the documents? 15 MR. THOMPSON: Yes. I'm going to hand it 16to her in just a moment. 17 Again, we're going to take a five-minute 18 break and reconvene -- I guess, that would be about 193:25, 3:26. Thanks, folks. 20 (Short recess) 21 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Before we -- before 22 we -- or before I, rather, ask the next two folks to 23 come up front, I do want to remind everybody -- in order 24 to be fair, I just want to remind particularly those 25 folks who may have come in after I read the opening

### Page 61 1 statement that we do have a timekeeping system up here 2 that has the green, yellow and red lights. And for 3 those of you who are going to speak, when you see the 4 yellow here, it means that you've got one minute. Yes, 5 one minute. 6Generally, folks, because I'm so engaged 7 in what you have to say and I'm so interested, I 8 really -- you're getting an extra 30, 40 seconds, 9sometimes even a minute. So if I ask you to complete 10 your testimony, you've really been given extra. But 11 just as a reminder so that we can be fair to everyone 12 because we've got folks who want to testify and move on. 13 So with that being said, at this time I 14 would like to ask Kay Buie-Nelson and Buddy Saunders to 15 please come forward. 16MS. BUIE-NELSON: How are you? 17 MR. THOMPSON: Great. I hope the both of 18 you are doing well this afternoon. 19MS. BUIE-NELSON: Doing well. 20 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. Thank you both 21 for coming. 22 MS. BUIE-NELSON: I noticed your names 23 weren't printed on anything. Is there a brochure out 24 there that has your -- 25 MR. THOMPSON: Well, my name is -- I can't

### Page 62 1 speak for the other guys. The opening statements have 2 my name on them. 3 MS. BUIE-NELSON: Oh, they do? Okay. 4 MR. THOMPSON: Yes, ma'am. But certainly 5 the folks out front can look into that for us. Angela, 6would you please? Okay. And thank you for pointing 7 that out. 8 MS. BUIE-NELSON: Thank you. 9MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Okay. If we could 10 start with you, Mrs. Simonson (sic). Your name for the 11 record, please. 12 MS. BUIE-NELSON: My name is Kay 13 Buie-Nelson. That's B-u-i-e hyphen Nelson. Can you 14 hear me? Kay Buie-Nelson, B-u-i-e hyphen N-e-l-s-o-n. 15 And I'm not the greatest public speaker. 16I get a little shy. But I'm here because -- and decided 17 to speak because I seem to be the only one here from 18 Haynesville Shale/Bossier Shale. And, you know, despite 19my, you know, meager ability to accomplish much, I 20 wanted to be some voice for that area. 21 All of that is starting to move in from 22 Louisiana into East Texas. I live in Dallas. I've 23 lived in Dallas a considerable amount of my life, but 24 we've always had a family farm in East Texas where we 25 had cows and, you know, my brothers hunt and my dad

### Page 63 1 hunted. It's, you know, God's country. It is so 2 beautiful. You turn down the road and it's covered with 3 trees and you drive way in and it's just absolutely 4 marvelous. 5 So I have here today my mineral lease, 6which I have wanted to just bury this thing. I called 7 the Railroad Commission and yelled at them. I have 8 e-mailed different people, David Proctor, other people 9telling them that they need to look out for our water. 10 And most of us in my family land area only have water 11 wells. 12 When I was down there on Labor Day, I had 13 three fires around me within three to four miles. I had 14 Bear Creek on the other side of Lake of the Pines, I had 15 the Diana fire, and then I had the Harrison County fire. 16They were all three to four miles from me. And my road 17 dead ends. So, you know, it's pretty frightening. And 18 to think that in the future I will have flaring and 19wells and all kind of terrible things there that I don't 20 want. 21 But I've noticed that in rural areas, a 22 lot of the rules and amendments and projected 23 regulations don't seem to apply and reach out into the 24 rural areas. I've noticed, just having studied the 25 small amount I have been able to so far, is that Flower

### Page 64 1 Mound all of a sudden had meetings where they were able 2 to increase their setback from -- to 1,500 feet. I 3 think they started out that the fracking could be as 4 close as 500 feet. And then on the Internet, you see 5 pictures in Mineral Wells of frac units within 250 feet 6of someone's kitchen window and water -- water 7 facilities. 8 So I -- you know, I see in my lease, they 9kind of -- you know, kind of go around about 500. It 10 started out about 250. Now they're kind of about 11 500 feet. Well, I'm going to write in 1,500 feet. 12 But what I seem to notice is that everyone 13 giving their opinion and the work they've done is that 14 things could start right here in this mineral lease. 15 It's very vague. They don't offer you any surface 16damage protection. Of course, they'll take care of your 17 cows if they kill them, which they do a lot. They'll 18 fix your cattle guards. They'll fix your fences. They 19will put gravel roads and spray it with water. But 20 there's only water wells, so how can they go in and take 21 our water when we're in a severe drought? There 's no 22 hay even for the cows right now. 23 So, you know, I just think that if these 24 mineral leases could start out with some general 25 protections of surface and water protections and things

### Page 65 1 that the surface owner is concerned about. If they 2 could start out with those things in the original 3 provision. Because I've seen three of these from this 4 company, one to my uncle, one to my cousin, and they're 5 all different. I mean, they're different because we 6have different interest in ownership of land, but the 7 wording in many of them are different, which I don't 8 quite understand. 9I've tried -- you know, I've been trying 10 to go to several different lawyers. I would really like 11 to get an environmental lawyer to help me. But so far, 12 my mineral bonus pay isn't quite enough to afford those 13 top-tier guys, you know. So I've been trying to figure 14 out how to write the addendum to attach with all the EPA 15 appros- -- you know, approvals and regulations and clean 16water rights, and I've studied all of that with the 17 Chaney Loop and all of those things. 18 And, you know, I noticed back when coal 19was the big, bad problem, we got that solved or pretty 20 much solved in Texas. I remember certain parts of south 21 Dallas, you -- they cleaned up the coal problems that 22 were affecting people's health. And then we all saw 23 that movie with Julia Roberts with Eric Brockovich where 24 she went after the chemical companies for dumping 25 pollution in waters and streams.

### Page 66 1 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Ms. Buie-Nelson, 2 your time has expired. 3 MS. BUIE-NELSON: Okay. Thank you very 4 much for hearing my issues. 5 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 6Mr. Saunders? 7 MR. SAUNDERS: My name is Buddy Saunders, 8 B-u-d-d-y S-a-u-n-d-e-r-s. 9I'll begin by saying that I don't have any 10 connection with the fossil fuel indus- -- fuel industry, 11 but I do support the development of those fuels. In my 12 opinion, there is an organized effort to cripple 13 America's energy industry in the name of sustainable 14 development and a green agenda. And I put sustainable 15 development and a green development agenda in quotation 16marks. If these forces aren't countered and exposed as 17 the Luddites they are, serious damage will be done to 18 our currently -- current fragile economy. Without 19reliable and affordable energy, neither Texas nor the 20 nation will have any hope of restoring the economic 21 growth and prosperity that have for generations been the 22 hallmark of America. 23 Wind, solar and so forth can't fill the 24 bill. It would be nice if they could. What America 25 must have is more oil, gas and coal. The good news is,

### Page 67 1 is that there is plenty available for generations to 2 come and it is both safe and affordable. But these 3 nation-saving fossil fuels do nothing for us if they are 4 left in the ground. We need to develop more natural gas 5 and coal power plants, not shut down those that we have. 6We can and, in fact, are making fossil fuels more 7 productive and less polluting every day. Aggressive 8 development of our abundant native fossil fuel resources 9is the only way to a healthier and more prosperous 10 American future. 11 As a private citizen and long-time 12 business owner here in Arlington, I support the Barnett 13 Shale development, along with the safe and productive 14 development of all our vast fossil fuel resources. And 15 I hope you will take all that into consideration when 16you make whatever decisions you make. 17 And I finished while I was still in the 18 green. Thank you. 19MR. THOMPSON: Good job, Mr. Saunders. 20 Any questions for either Mr. Saunders or 21 Ms. Buie-Nelson? 22 Again, thank you both. 23 MR. SAUNDERS: Thank you. 24 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. At this time I'd 25 like to ask Kimberly Frankland and Tim Ruggiero to

### Page 68 1 please come forward. 2 MS. FRANKLAND: Hi. I'm Kimberly -- which 3 one first? 4 MR. THOMPSON: No. You -- you're on 5 point. 6MS. FRANKLAND: Kimberly Frankland, 7 K-i-m-b-e-r-l-y F-r-a-n-k-l-a-n-d. I live here in 8 Arlington, Texas, and I've been following urban drilling 9since its development in the last five years. 10 EPA's proposed amendments to air 11 regulations for the oil and gas industry are prudent and 12 reasonable. Thank you for pursuing these changes. 13 Texas is all about oil and gas. Texans desperately need 14 the EPA to require the oil and gas industry to do 15 everything reasonable to improve air quality. 16The industry spends millions to promote 17 how clean and safe natural gas is. Insteading -- 18 instead of spending millions on promotional advertising, 19I wish the drillers would use better valves, capture 20 released gasses from tank batteries and compressor 21 stations. Unfortunately, the industry speaks in half 22 truths. We need EPA intervention in North Texas. 23 When the cities that set up their 24 ordinances for oil and gas -- they relied heavily on the 25 drillers to guide them on what to do. You don't ask a

### Page 69 1 dirty, invasive industry to help you write the rules, 2 and that's why we need the EPA. 3 In Arlington, permanent gas well equipment 4 like separators and tank batteries can be 30 feet from a 5 commercial building and 100 feet from homes, churches 6and schools. These are the permanent equipment features 7 that leak raw gas into the air. 8 We had a spill here in Arl- -- not a 9spill, a release into the air. A valve failed and the 10 gas was just spewing into the air. I saw Chesapeake 11 representatives the very next day. I said, What 12 happened last night? Air and water was released into 13 the air. And later they were pressed at a council 14 meeting more about it and they said, Well, raw gas was 15 spewing into the air. 16Well, what they failed to mention was for 17 40 minutes raw gas was spewing into the air, citizens 18 were calling 9-1-1, the operator didn't know what to do, 19she got ahold of Chesapeake and said, What -- you know, 20 should I call the fire department? Chesapeake said, No. 21 Don't call the fire department. We'll send somebody 22 out. It was 20 minutes from the first call to when the 23 fire department of our city was alerted to the fact we 24 had a gas-spewing gas well. 25 And cities just have believed the

### Page 70 1 drillers. They don't know what to the do. They don't 2 know how to set up ordinances that protect the citizens. 3 We need the EPA to step in and protect us. It's 4 ridiculous. 5 I've gone to almost every city council 6meeting for two years, and time and time again I see 7 these drillers say half truths. This week, they -- they 8 permitted a number of wells here in town where drillers 9don't even have a fire extinguisher on the property 10 that's required by city ordinance. And the city lets 11 them do it. The city passed more wells on these sites 12 where they don't even have a fire extinguisher. 13 I'm sorry. You're supposed to have a fire 14 extinguisher and you're supposed to have signs posted 15 with no smoking and phone numbers so you can reach 16emergency personnel. We shouldn't be permitting more 17 wells if the drillers can't follow simple rules. And if 18 they can't follow simple rules, they can't follow big 19rules. 20 So we need federal government to step in 21 and say, Do X, Y and Z and make them do X, Y and Z 22 because we have to live next to these things. We have 23 people who had an empty lot next to them that now have 24 eight gas wells next to them 100 feet from their home. 25 I mean, this is -- it's ridiculous. Texas is really out

### Page 71 1 of control in favor of the oil and gas industry. I'm 2 just flabbergasted every time I come to a council 3 meeting and I see our nine elected officials up there 4 approving more wells. 5 The night that it was -- it was less than 648 hours from a raw gas release and they approved six 7 more wells for that site within 48 hours of a total 8 failure. And Chesapeake got up here and they said, 9Redundant safety features worked. They didn't work. 10 The automatic shut-off valve didn't shut it off. That's 11 a failure. If the automatic shut-off valve doesn't shut 12 it off, the redundant safety features failed. 13 They spin it, they tell it, halfway truth, 14 and it's -- it's repeated and it's -- and it's pathetic. 15 And I'm ashamed of our city council. I'm ashamed of how 16they've just totally done everything the oil and gas 17 industry runs and they -- they don't look out what's 18 best for the citizens. You know, I love this state. 19Oil and gas brings a ton of money to this state, but 20 they can do it safer, they can do it better, they can do 21 it more effectively. And I thank you very much for 22 being here. 23 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. Thank you for 24 your testimony. 25 MR. RUGGIERO: Good afternoon. My name

### Page 72 1 is Timothy Ruggiero, R-u-g-g-i-e-r-o. I reside at 2 415 Star Shell Road in Decatur, Texas. 3 A new report out from the Perryman Group 4 states that 65 billion in economic impact and generated 5 more than five billion in tax revenues and more than 6100,000 jobs. Well, I have another way to create even 7 more jobs as well as unsold millions in revenue. Fix 8 and repair all leaking equipment using this supposedly 9new technology to not only prevent leaks, spills and 10 emissions, but to capture the product and then sell it. 11 Forty-nine states follow the Clean Air 12 Act. Texas, as you well know, does not. Not 13 surprisingly, Texas is number one in toxic air 14 emissions. Once again, one does not need a Ph.D. in 15 economics to figure this one out. 16We only have the TCEQ and the Texas 17 Railroad Commission to protect us, but one is powerless 18 and seemingly uninterested and the other is mired in 19ineptitude and politics. Given both agencies, 20 especially the TRCT's lack of experience and expertise, 21 I would think that they would welcome assistance from 22 the EPA. Instead, both agencies lash out and not only 23 publicly criticize the EPA, but concerned citizens as 24 well. 25 The TRC has been critical of me and people

### Page 73 1 like me who have the audacity to demand enforcement of 2 current regulations. In my case and that of my 3 neighbors, the Texas Railroad Commission has had two 4 years' worth of complaints of multiple spills, leaks and 5 faulty equipment to take action and they have not. Only 6until the EPA started their study on hydraulic 7 fracturing did the Texas Railroad Commission begin to 8 express an interest in examining the multiple 9violations. 10 The Texas Railroad Commission is 11 predisposed to never finding violations. And since 12 that's the case and then I told them no, perhaps this is 13 why Commissioner David Porter refers to me and people 14 like me as unsatisfied landowners. I couldn't be more 15 unsatisfied. I'm unsatisfied with the Texas Railroad 16Commission and their lack of action and accountability. 17 I would urge the EPA to not only set a new 18 standard, but to keep fighting the good fight. What is 19critical is to include all existing wells in the 20 proposal. That is probably one of the most important 21 things that we can do is include all the existing wells. 22 If you take a look around in the state, you will find, 23 particularly on the Barnett Shale, we have hundreds upon 24 hundreds upon hundreds of complaints and painfully few 25 actual enforcement actions or where the report says no

### Page 74 1 violations found. 2 As a conservative, I am not necessarily 3 that much in favor of having the federal government step 4 into state's business, but when the state has faily 5 cleared time -- failed -- clearly failed time and time 6again, then I would welcome any effort by -- on the part 7 of the EPA to step in and help us, particularly the 8 future of our children. 9Thank you very much. 10 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 11 Are there any questions? 12 Okay. Again, thank you both for your 13 testimony. Thank you very much. 14 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask 15 Melanie Sattler and Linda Hanratty. 16Good afternoon, ladies. Ms. Sattler, 17 we'll start with you. 18 MS. SATTLER: My name is Melanie Sattler, 19M-e-l-a-n-i-e, last name S-a-t-t-l-e-r. 20 I'm speaking today as a citizen. I do 21 work at a local university. My expertise is air 22 quality. And I'm a registered professional engineer in 23 the state of Texas. But I cannot speak for my 24 university, so I'm speaking for myself today. 25 I'd like to speak particularly in

### Page 75 1 support of the NSPS for pneumatic controllers. It's 2 Section VI.B.4.b. The measures requiring low-bleed 3 pneumatics are a win-win for both the natural gas 4 industry and air quality. They're a win for the natural 5 gas industry in terms of preventing salable product from 6escaping into the air. 7 And they're a win-win in terms of air 8 quality for three reasons: First, being climate change. 9Methane, as I'm sure you're aware, has a global warming 10 potential of 21 times that of carbon dioxide on a 11 per-molecule basis over a 100-year time horizon. 12 Volatile organics, which are released as a part of 13 natural gas, contribute to ground level ozone formation, 14 the second problem. And then the third problem is air 15 toxics. 16I authored a report on the amount of 17 emissions that could be reduced, particularly by 18 reducing emissions from pneumatics. And I brought a 19copy of that to give to you and also to put in the 20 record. The date of the report is May, and so the 21 report is based on TCEQ emission estimates from natural 22 gas facilities as of May. I've been told that there 23 have been some updated estimates that have been put 24 forward recently that indicate that pneumatics are even 25 a higher percent of the emissions coming from natural

### Page 76 1 gas facilities, but the -- the report that I have here 2 is based on current information as of May. 3 Thank you. 4 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. Okay. 5 MS. HANRATTY: My name is Linda Hanratty, 6and I live in Fort Worth, Texas, and I'm here speaking 7 for the League of Women Voters of Texas. And Hanratty 8 is H-a-n-r-a-t-t-y. 9LWV Texas applauds the Environmental 10 Protection Agency for proposing national air emission 11 standards for the oil and natural gas industry. We are 12 particularly gratified that these proposed standards 13 cover the process of recovering natural gas through 14 hydraulic -- through hydraulic fracturing, commonly 15 known as fracking. These proposed regulations are in 16conformance with LWVUS's support for strengthening 17 federal regulation of gas drilling in a manner 18 consistent with the preservation of a healthy 19environment. 20 Obviously, the oil and gas industry has a 21 huge economic and environmental impact on Texas, and we 22 are pleased that EPA chose Texas as the site of one of 23 three hearings on these proposals. 24 The standards listed below are especially 25 important to LWV Texas and we strongly endorse their

### Page 77 1 adoption. Source performance standards for volatile 2 organic compounds, which would cut VOCs by nearly 3 one-fourth across the oil and gas industry, including a 4 nearly 95 percent reduction in VOCs emitted from new and 5 modified hydraulically fractured gas wells. The process 6to meet the new standard captures natural gas, thus 7 saving the industry an estimated nearly $30 million 8 annually. And that refers some of -- some to her 9testimony. 10 Source Performance Standards for sulfur 11 dioxide, Air Toxic Standards for oil and natural gas 12 production, which includes reducing air toxics from all 13 large dehydrators by 95 percent and requiring crude oil 14 in condensate tanks at major sources to control 15 95 percent of their air toxic emissions. 16Air Toxic Standards for natural gas 17 transmission and storage that are estimated to reduce 18 the maximum risk level for cancer from 90 per million to 1920 per million. 20 Elimination of exceptions for startup, 21 shutdown and malfunction events, since many of the 22 highest levels of hazardous emissions occur at these 23 times. 24 These rules are important for health and 25 environmental quality in the 16-county Barnett Shale

### Page 78 1 region of Texas and the over three million people who 2 inhabit this region. As gas drilling moves into Dallas 3 County, the population impacted by gas drilling could 4 increase by nearly 2.4 million. 5 The city of Fort Worth's air quality study 6dated July 13th, 2011, recommended -- recommended that, 7 and I quote, All reasonable precautions to reduce 8 emissions from the wellheads and compressor stations 9should be made. This is particularly important for 10 tanks in lined compressor engines because these two 11 sources accounted for the greatest portion of the risks 12 observed for the pollutants selected for further 13 evaluation, end quote. 14 These proposed regulations will reduce air 15 toxic emissions, provided the regulations are adequately 16enforced, and make our air less toxic to breathe. 17 Thank you. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 19A question for you, Mrs. Hanratty. You 20 just referenced a study -- I'm sorry -- and I was 21 writing something else. It was -- 22 MS. HANRATTY: The air quality study. 23 MR. THOMPSON: Was that it? 24 MS. HANRATTY: What? 25 MR. THOMPSON: Did you just reference the

### Page 79 1 Fort Worth -- 2 MS. HANRATTY: Yes. 3 MR. THOMPSON: -- air quality -- 4 MS. HANRATTY: Yes. 5 MR. THOMPSON: -- study? 6MS. HANRATTY: Yes. I know that it said 7 that everything was wonderful, but the recommendations 8 are in line with your proposals. 9MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Thanks. I was 10 taking notes as you were reading. I apolo- -- 11 Any questions? 12 MR. MOORE: Yeah. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. We have a question 14 here. Ladies, if you can remain seated, I think there's 15 some questions here. 16MR. MOORE: I had one for Ms. Sattler 17 with regard to your looking into pneumatic devices. If 18 you have information that you've uncovered that would 19help us identify specific situations where high bleeds 20 are still necessary, that's one place where we -- I 21 believe we -- I don't know -- I believe we sought 22 comment on that in the -- in the proposal. But that is 23 one place where we really want to try to get specific 24 information on. So if you -- if you have information on 25 that, we would like to have that sometime.

### Page 80 1 MS. HANRATTY: That's not something I have 2 information on at the moment, but I can look into that. 3 MR. MOORE: Great. Thank you. 4 MR. THOMPSON: Any other questions? 5 Ladies, thank you both for your testimony. 6Okay. At this time I'd like to ask Ana 7 Andrade to please come forward. 8 Good afternoon. 9MS. ANDRADE: Good afternoon. 10 Okay. I'm a Texan, but I've been living 11 up in Pennsylvania for a while. And -- 12 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Before we start -- 13 before we start the timer, could you state your name and 14 spell it -- 15 MS. ANDRADE: Okay. 16MR. THOMPSON: -- for the court reporter? 17 MS. ANDRADE: Okay. My name is Ana 18 Andrade, which is A-n-r-a-d-e (sic). 19MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 20 MS. ANDRADE: I'm a Texan. It was -- I've 21 been living up in Pennsylvania. And there's a serious 22 issue with the Marcellus fracking, which more has to do 23 with water. So most of my comments and anecdotes have 24 to do with water, the problems I experienced up there. 25 But since this hearing is on air quality, I have decided

### Page 81 1 to put together a little something about the chemicals 2 used in hydrofracking fluids. Okay. So bear with me in 3 my efforts to pronounce some of the chemical names. 4 Please feel free to correct me. 5 Concerns about environmental and human 6health effects associated with hydraulic fracturing 7 include the contamination of groundwater and risk to air 8 quality. The migration of gasses in hydraulic 9fracturing chemicals to the surface and the potential 10 mishandling of waste, the potential costs associated 11 with possible environmental cleanup processes, loss of 12 land value and human and animal health concerns are 13 proven facts. 14 A 2010 EPA study discovered contaminants 15 in drinking water, such contaminants as arsenic. 16Arsenic contamination of groundwater is already commonly 17 found in the southwest United States. It is known to 18 cause increased liver or skin cancer, bladder cancer and 19is causative in the development of diabetes. 20 Copper. Copper is an essential nutrient 21 required by the body in very small amounts. However, 22 the EPA has found copper to potentially cause the 23 following health effects when people are exposed to it 24 at high levels. Short periods of exposure can cause 25 gastrointestinal disturbances, includ- -- including

### Page 82 1 nausea and vomiting. Use of water with high levels over 2 many years can cause liver or kidney damage. 3 Va- -- Vana- -- nandium -- Vanandium 4 (phonetic) induces iron deficiency, cirrhosis by 5 interfering with iron absorption. 6Okay. Adam- -- mo- -- monatan derivatives 7 exhibit a broad spectrum of activity and are used in 8 complex therapy for many somatic diseases. However, the 9insufficient amount of data on the side of toxic effects 10 makes further study advisable. Petroleum remains the 11 only natural source of Admantanu- -- tanun. 12 Okay. Methane gas. Methane gas can 13 become explosive when mixed with other chemicals at 14 levels as low as five percent. You can smell methane 15 when a utility company works on the sewer system and 16hydrogen sulfide naturally mixes with methane. If you 17 are in a place where you can detect unpleasant rotten 18 egg smell, the methane levels may be high enough to 19become explosive. In high concentrations, methane gas 20 can be deadly when ignited. Natural methane from 21 beneath the earth has caused disastrous mining and oil 22 explosions. 23 Although it is nontoxic, methane is a 24 simple asphyxiant because it can displace oxygen which 25 is needed for breathing. Oxygen levels below 16 percent

### Page 83 1 can be dangerous and levels below 10 percent can be 2 deadly. There is no standard governing the permissible 3 amount of methane in the air at home or in the 4 workplace, but the minimum oxygen content for any place 5 where people need to breathe is 18 percent. 6Biocides. They are used to kill bacteria 7 and reduce the risk of falling in fracking wells, are 8 intended to kill living organisms. Many biocidal 9products pose significant risk to human health and 10 welfare. Great care is require when handling biocides 11 and appropriate protective clothing and equipment should 12 be used. The use of biocides can also have significant 13 adverse effects on the natural environment. Okay. Such 14 toxics can cause severe eye, throat, nose, throat, lung 15 irritation, along with headaches, drowsiness and 16dizziness. It is the main source of occupational asthma 17 among health care providers when using as a strong 18 disinfectant. 19Breakers. Breakers are chemicals used to 20 facilitate the entry of particles in small cracks in the 21 hydrofracking process. Common uses are as bleach in 22 hair care products, etching mixtures for circuit boards. 23 Okay. Clay stabilizers are used to 24 stabilize the clay in the fracking wells. 25 Quaternary ammonium compounds --

### Page 84 1 MR. THOMPSON: I'm sorry. Mrs. Andrade, 2 your time has expired. 3 MS. ANDRADE: Oh, okay. 4 MR. THOMPSON: Before you leave, are there 5 any questions for Ms. Andrade. 6Okay. Thank you very much for your 7 testimony. 8 At this time we're going to recess until 94:20, which is when our next speaker is scheduled to 10 testify. Thank you. 4:20. 11 (Short recess) 12 MR. THOMPSON: Okay, ladies and gentlemen. 13 We're going to get started here again. 14 At this time I'd like to ask Susan Cooper 15 and Sharon Wilson to please come forward. 16Good afternoon, ladies. And we're going 17 to start with Mrs. Cooper. 18 MS. COOPER: I am Susan Turrets (phonetic) 19Cooper of Richardson, Texas. Please record that I have 20 brought my nebulizer and inhaler to my presentation 21 today. I have bronchiectasis and a lingering case of 22 bronchitis causing continual shortness of breath. I am 23 convinced that air pollution and global warming are 24 exacerbating my respiratory affliction. 25 So often, I have spoken here and pleaded

### Page 85 1 for clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. Both 2 are necessities of life. None of us can live without 3 them; not global warming deniers, not even officials of 4 oil and gas companies. 5 I am staggered that fracking is allowed. 6Josh Fox, the director of the movie Gasland, says that 7 9- -- 596 different chemicals are used in the fracking 8 process and that the gas industry is exempt from 9revealing their names because the information is 10 proprietary. Emissions from leaks are fearfully 11 poisonous, and leaks are known to occur. 12 Human health should be considered the 13 foremost priority. Their rights end where my air space 14 begins. How sad it is that their profit motive is so 15 high that they are willing to jeopardize the health of 16human beings, especially children, to compound the 17 problems of respiratory diseases, to cause high rates of 18 cancer in communities located near gas pipelines, and 19they are so callus about the possibility of poisoning 20 our precious water sources. 21 The American Lung Association, which 22 obtains its data from the EPA's air quality system 23 database, consistently rates Texas with a grade of F for 24 failure. In our area, Dallas County has had 24 orange 25 days, two red days; Denton County, 33 orange days and

### Page 86 1 three red days; Tarrant County is far worse with 59 2 orange days, four red days and, heaven help us, one 3 purple day. 4 In round numbers, figures from the 5 American Lung Association indicate the following risk 6implications for our area due to high ozone and chemical 7 and particulate pollutants in our air: Pediatric 8 asthma, 56,000; adult asthma, 113,000; chronic 9bronchitis, 71,000; cardiovascular disease, 566,000. 10 211,000 adults are at risk. 690,000 children under 18 11 are at risk. When these numbers translate to human 12 beings, the effect is staggering. No profit, no 13 corporate greed is worth these colossal risks to life 14 itself. 15 The Sierra Club reports that in 16Dallas/Fort Worth, pollution from oil and gas fields is 17 worse than the exhaust of all cars in some of our 18 biggest cities. Reducing oil and gas pollution will 19protect our communities, create jobs, will often pay for 20 itself as companies stop leaks and keep the natural gas 21 in the pipeline and out of our air. 22 It further says each new oil or gas well 23 contributes to the millions of tons of harmful -- 24 harmful pollutants spewed into the air from this 25 industry and that the dirty oil and gas industry is the

### Page 87 1 second largest stationary source of global warming 2 pollution in the U.S. Even worse, every year industry 3 emits more than 300 million tons of pollutants like 4 methane and sulfur dioxide. 5 Emissions from vehicular traffic, 6coal-fired power plants, fracking and tar sands 7 pipelines all accumulate and contribute to global 8 warming. Every one of us on earth has a moral 9obligation to nurture and protect this precious planet 10 earth. This is our only home. 11 I wholeheartedly support the EPA in 12 regulating these industries. Regulations must be 13 immediate, stringent and strictly enforced. EPA, we 14 need you, our planet earth needs you and my bronchitis 15 and I need you. 16Thank you. 17 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. 18 Thank you very much. 19Mrs. Wilson? 20 MS. WILSON: My name is Sharon Wilson, 21 S-h-a-r-o-n W-i-l-s-o-n. I am Texas and Gulf region 22 organizer for Earthworks' Oil and Gas Accountability 23 Project. We are a nonprofit organization working 24 nationally to protect communities from the impacts of 25 irresponsible mineral and energy development. We will

### Page 88 1 submit technical comments. 2 Last year, EPA invited me to your Research 3 Triangle Park offices in North Carolina and then to 4 headquarters in D.C. to help open your eyes to the 5 severity of the problems gas patch residents face every 6day. I presented to you real life examples of health 7 effects, environmental damage, diminished property value 8 and how family and community well-being has suffered in 9the Barnett Shale. 10 This is what we call the map of 11 destruction. We already have over 15,000 existing wells 12 in the Barnett Shale. Although you seem to have heard 13 our cries for help, and the new rules are a step in the 14 right direction, without including existing sources, 15 these rules are very little help to drilling saturated 16areas. The very same people whose stories you heard 17 will continue to suffer. You can ease the suffering by 18 strengthening EPA's proposed rules to immediately 19include all new and existing wells and storage tanks, 20 compressor and processing facilities and all related 21 equipment. 22 We have heard from industry about all the 23 jobs they provide, and in today's economy we need jobs. 24 But how much is a job worth? Is a job worth sacrificing 25 the health of our children? Are these our choices then,

### Page 89 1 jobs or health? 2 On EPA's Natural Gas STAR Program Web 3 site, you list nearly 100 proven, cost-effective, 4 industry developed technologies and practices that 5 improve operational efficiency and reduce methane 6emissions. Methane is a surrogate gas that carries 7 toxic compounds with it. Yet from all those 8 technologies, EPA has chosen only five for these new 9rules. 10 If this industry can't employ its own 11 technologies to protect public health and provide jobs 12 and make a profit, then they need a new business model. 13 Stop coddling this industry. Help them step into the 14 21st century and operate more efficiently by reducing 15 all -- by requiring all the best available technologies 16for all emission sources at all stages of extraction, 17 production and processing. 18 Argyle and Bartonville citizens conducted 19baseline testing to measure the quality of their air 20 before large scale gas development took hold. In 21 baseline testing, only seven of the 84 air contaminants 22 typically tested for by TCEQ showed up in their air 23 samples. After drilling, fracking and additional oil 24 and gas facilities moved into the air, TCEQ testing on 25 the high school band practice lot one-half mile from the

### Page 90 1 offend- -- offending facility detected 65 of the 84 2 contaminants. You scientists, can you tell us what the 3 increased risks are when children go from breathing 4 seven chemicals to breathing a cocktail of 65 different 5 chemicals? That science needs to happen. 6They currently have only two of the 22 7 planned wells in place. When they have all 22 wells in 8 place, because of a loophole in the Clean Air Act, it 9will be considered as 22 different emission sources, 10 each with a separate permit. By promising not to exceed 11 the 25-tons-per-year emission cap per well, all of those 12 22 emission sources are allowed to po- -- pollute from 13 the same pad site up to 550 tons per year of VOCs 14 without triggering further scrutiny and regulation. 15 Please close the loophole in the Clean Air Act so that 16oil and gas emissions are aggregated. 17 We support the draft rules as a first step 18 and request that you go further to include existing 19sources, employ all available technologies, include all 20 emission sources and events and aggre- -- aggregate 21 emissions. 22 Thank you for being here. 23 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Wilson. 24 Before you go, did you want to say something about what 25 we have here?

### Page 91 1 MS. WILSON: I would like for y'all to 2 take a look. This is -- this is what we live with every 3 day. 4 MR. THOMPSON: Ms. Cooper, thank you 5 very -- one moment. Thank you for -- Ms. Cooper, let 6me -- 7 MS. COOPER: I'll take her that. 8 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. 9Ms. Cooper, she's going to submit your 10 hard copy out front for you for the public record. 11 Okay? You understand? I know. Okay. She'll take care 12 of it. Thank you. 13 I'm sorry. 14 MS. WILSON: These -- this is as of May 15 the wells in the Barnett Shale. 16MR. THOMPSON: So the red -- 17 MS. WILSON: Right. 18 MR. THOMPSON: The red indicates wells? 19MS. WILSON: These -- the little -- what 20 is that? 21 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible.) 22 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Those -- I see now. 23 MS. WILSON: Those are the pad sites. You 24 can see where these are the horizontal legs. This -- 25 we're saturated. We are saturated. And most of these

### Page 92 1 are in areas where people live right next to them, 2 homes, schools. 3 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. All right. Thank 4 you. 5 MS. WILSON: Thank you. 6MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. Thank 7 you both for your testimony. 8 At this time I'd like to ask Jan Evans and 9Larry Kitchens to come forward, please. 10 Good afternoon, folks. Let's start with 11 Mrs. Evans. If you just state your name and spell it 12 for the record and then you can begin your testimony. 13 MS. EVANS: My name's Jan Evans. I'm a 14 resident here in Arlington, Texas. 15 I'd like to comment that the Arlington 16residents went to the gas meetings prior to drilling. 17 The gas companies have experience with the gas wells. 18 They covered a lot of information, including safety. 19We, as citizens, approved the drilling. 20 As a city, we should be thrilled at this 21 new source of income, especially in these hard times. 22 Aren't we lucky that when the cattle industry came to 23 our area that there weren't citizens to block it? 24 Aren't we lucky that years ago oil wells were welcomed 25 in Texas and the state and citizens benefitted?

### Page 93 1 I have not seen or been affected by any 2 ill effects due to gas wells. We, as citizens, should 3 be welcoming the gas industry and the good will and the 4 income that it will provide to this area. 5 Thank you very much. 6MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Evans. 7 Mr. Kitchens? 8 MR. KITCHEN: My name is -- 9MR. THOMPSON: I'm sorry. One moment, 10 please. There's a question for Ms. Evans. 11 MR. MOORE: You had mentioned that you had 12 not seen any ill effects or anything like that. Are 13 there any -- are there any gas wells or facilities near 14 you? 15 MS. EVANS: Yes, there are. 16MR. MOORE: Okay. What is the -- I mean, 17 just -- just for -- what is the nearest one to 18 your home? 19MS. EVANS: Well, they're not actually 20 produced -- I mean, they're not up yet. They're being 21 drilled right now. One is at Pioneer and west of Green 22 Oaks Boulevard on the west side. There's another being 23 built right down the road from me. 24 MR. MOORE: Okay. 25 MS. EVANS: I am not concerned in the

### Page 94 1 least. 2 MR. MOORE: Thank you. 3 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Any additional 4 questions? 5 Okay. Thank you. 6MR. KITCHENS: Are you ready? 7 MR. THOMPSON: Yes, sir. 8 MR. KITCHENS: Yes. My name is Larry 9Kitchens. I live in Hurst, Texas. K-i-t-c-h-e-n-s, 10 just like a room in a house. 11 First of all, I thank you for the 12 opportunity to give all of us a chance to speak to you 13 today and I also thank you your patience to sit through 14 what has to be a very long day and I appreciate your 15 patience. 16For the sake of brevity, and hopefully not 17 to be repetitive of some of the speakers that have gone 18 before me that have been speaking either for or against, 19I'm just going to make some general observations and 20 comments. And I've left a copy of my presentation at 21 the registration desk. 22 I have taken time to read the basic 23 information provided by the EPA and I am convinced that 24 this is a move in the right direction. It is using 25 prudent technologies and best practices. There

### Page 95 1 obviously are some areas that we can still move towards, 2 but this is a definitely a move in the right next. 3 I'm not a scientist. I'm not an expert in 4 the field. I am concerned on two levels about the 5 quality of air that we have in the Dallas/Fort Worth 6area, and this is why I am supporting the proposed rules 7 that we have before us. 8 One of my professional responsibilities 9and privilege is to serve on the city council for the 10 city of Hurst for the past ten years. It is my 11 capacity, it is my duty to become aware of all of the 12 issues that come before our city council for 13 consideration. Obviously, with the development of gas 14 exploration in this Barnett Shale area, this is one that 15 we have given a lot of attention to in consideration of 16the economic benefits and the rights of the landowners 17 who have reasonable access to their mineral rights and 18 the rights of those who live in the immediate area of 19gas wells to be protected from harmful pollutants. 20 Recently our city council updated our city 21 ordinance as it relates to gas drilling operations in 22 our city by strengthening our testing requirements. 23 These changes were reflective of proven industry 24 standards and of similar actions taken by other councils 25 in this area. While I am not speaking for our council

### Page 96 1 today, I think it's safe to state that our council 2 strongly believes that testing is important to the 3 environment and in the protection of our citizens is 4 allowed under state and federal law, but more 5 importantly, it's the right thing to do. 6The best proof that a company is not 7 harming the environment is regular and systematic 8 testing for pollutants in the air, water and soil. We 9feel our testing requirements are responsible and 10 reasonable in meeting our obligations to our citizens to 11 protect them and at the same time provide companies 12 reasonable and responsible ways in which they can drill 13 in our neighborhoods. It seems to me that this is a 14 goal of the proposed standards. 15 Second, as a citizen living in the 16footprint of the Barnett Shale, I am personally 17 concerned about the quality of the air in the 18 Dallas/Fort Worth area. This is not to say that the oil 19and gas industry is the sole contributor. It certainly 20 isn't. But it is a contributor. And it contributes 21 organic vol- -- volatile organic compounds, a group of 22 chemicals that contribute to the formation of ground 23 level ozone or smog. 24 Exposure to ozone is linked to a wide 25 range of health effects, including aggravated asthma,

### Page 97 1 increased emergency room visits and hospital admissions 2 and premature death. This means increased cost in 3 health care, an issue that should not be taken lightly. 4 On a more personal note, it is an issue 5 that directly affects my family. My wife suffers from 6asthma. On orange pollution days, such as we have 7 today, it is not safe for her to venture outside, but 8 she has chosen to come today to hear the testimony. Her 9doctors even suggested that we leave the 10 Dallas/Fort Worth area so we can find some clean air to 11 breathe. In fact, if we travel 85 miles south to our 12 place on Lake Whitney, within an hour of arriving, she 13 can breathe much better than if she were to go outside 14 in our backyard. 15 My goal and my hope is that EPA will stay 16the course with these proposed changes. I am very much 17 aware of the pressures being made by the oil and gas 18 industry, by lobbyists for the industry and by 19politicians who express fear this will be too expensive 20 and cost jobs. In fact, it will probably create more 21 jobs and provide a better environment for all of us. 22 I am not opposed to oil and gas 23 exploration and drilling. In fact, I would love to have 24 the economic benefits of a monthly check from a gas 25 company. What I am in favor of is a reasonable and

### Page 98 1 responsible way of ensuring our future in energy and at 2 the same time a safe place to live and enjoy those 3 benefits. It is my belief that these standards will 4 help move us in that direction. 5 Recently, a top executive of one of the 6companies that is involved in gas drilling in the 7 Barnett Shale at a conference made this statement, that 8 critics of shale drilling are fear-mongering extremists 9who want Americans to live in a world where it's cold, 10 it's dark and we're all hungry. May I suggest that if 11 we have all of the energy in the world at our disposal 12 and we live in a place that is uninhabitable, we will 13 live in a place that's cold, dark and we will all be 14 hungry. 15 Thank you. 16MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. 17 Are there any questions for Ms. Evans or 18 Mr. Kitchens? 19Thank you. Thank you both. And, 20 Ms. Kitchens, thank you for coming out as well today. 21 We appreciate it. 22 Yes, ma'am. She had something else 23 written. Yes, ma'am. You got it. Michael Wilburn. 24 That's the phonetic, right. Sometimes I do better 25 without the phonetics, but --

### Page 99 1 MS. RIEBSCHLAEGER: When I saw that look 2 on a person's face, I know they're looking for me, so... 3 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. And Michael 4 Wilburn. 5 Okay. Good afternoon to the both of you. 6And I would like to start with Mr. Wilburn. Your name 7 for the public record, please. 8 MR. WILBURN: Hello. My name is Michael 9Wilburn, W-i-l-b-u-r-n, and I am here today with the 10 Southern Methodist University Environmental Society. 11 Okay. Now, I would like to begin by 12 stating I am definitely in favor of the regulation of 13 the fracking because it -- I believe it is far too long 14 that the oil and gas companies have been able to run 15 amuck and not be regulated. 16Now, many claim -- you know, many of the 17 oil and gas companies make it seem kind of like children 18 are with their parents. You know, we don't need rules; 19we can do what we want. But many times, like the 20 parents, these rules are for the benefit of us all. 21 Now, what's the problem with making sure, you know, that 22 this is as safe as possible? 23 You know, on some of the nightly news 24 accounts I see now with fracking, you know, the spills, 25 you know, getting in drinking water, that -- the water

### Page 100 1 from the tap is flammable and actually not lighting on 2 fire. And many people may say, Well, it's not like that 3 now, but what's to stop that from, in a few years if we 4 let more drilling happening, one day that the water from 5 your tap will suddenly become toxic like that and you 6won't know. Now, it's just a hazard that's potentially 7 there. And if all it takes is some more regulation to 8 prevent it, why -- it just makes common sense to be able 9just to prevent it, so... 10 Next, you know, and many say, you know, 11 Well, what about the jobs created? Well, honestly, if 12 you have all the jobs and we all have all the money we 13 could ever want, but we're all sick and can't go outside 14 and enjoy ourselves, what good is the money doing us? 15 You know, jobs really aren't completely everything, you 16know. And, really, if they wanted jobs, they may look 17 to alternative energy sources. There are jobs there, 18 you know, and investment there. And for what is being 19invested in more fracking and more drilling could be 20 used for alternative energy sources, you know, which I 21 think is a better route. 22 But even with what -- I realize we just 23 can't go there all of a sudden. And what -- what gas 24 and natural -- and oil we're going to have to use should 25 be regulated to ensure that it is, you know, for the

### Page 101 1 benefit of all of our health, you know. Because we are 2 seeing -- this is -- fracking is relatively new. And a 3 lot of times with something new, the health benefits and 4 hazards take time to come out, you know, and sometimes 5 years. So I -- there's nothing wrong with regulating 6things to begin with to ensure they are safe. 7 You know, and just an example -- it may 8 not relate directly -- but I grew up in a small rural 9area and the farmers were unregulated and used 10 fertilizers. And it just so happened that, you know, 11 the groundwater was unsafe to drink. You know, we got a 12 notice that says, Do not drink water from the tap, 13 because this water had so many nitrates in it that even 14 after you boil it, it could kill infants. So I'm, you 15 know, kind of -- if you don't regulate something that's 16harmful, it can have disastrous effects that won't be 17 able to be fixed or at least in the near term. 18 So I am definitely in favor of the 19regulations. And I thank -- would like to thank you-all 20 for allowing me the opportunity to voice. And I just 21 hope one day that we might have an alternative energy 22 source where we won't have to worry about these issues. 23 Thank you. 24 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Wilburn. 25 MS. RIEBSCHLAEGER: Good afternoon.

### Page 102 1 MR. THOMPSON: Good afternoon. 2 MS. RIEBSCHLAEGER: First of all, before I 3 begin, I would like to thank you for this opportunity. 4 This is democracy at its best because it allows citizens 5 to speak directly to -- to officials who can make a 6difference in their lives. We can truly be represented 7 without the intervention of media interpretation, 8 without lobbyists intervening, so we appreciate it very 9much. 10 I also want to thank my fellow citizens 11 who've come forward today to testify and tell their 12 stories. I've been deeply moved, as a fellow citizen, 13 at their stories and I thank them for having the courage 14 to come forward. And I'm happy to see America at its 15 best also when citizens come together to speak and give 16each other courage to do the right thing and to ask for 17 the right thing. So thank you. 18 And now I'd like to begin my testimony. 19My name is Sister Elizabeth Riebschlaeger. I'm a Sister 20 of Charity of the Incarnate Word from San Antonio, 21 Texas, but I'm a born and raised Texan from Dewitt 22 County, Texas, Cuero, deep in the heart of Eagle -- the 23 Eagle Ford Shale where oil and gas activities can only 24 be described as frantic and furious. 25 Our once quiet streets and country lanes

### Page 103 1 are now overrun by diesel trucks hauling hazardous 2 materials. Our beautiful fields of wildflowers struck 3 baron by this historic drought are overwhelmed with 4 drilling rigs, fracking units, batteries of storage 5 tanks, flares, pipeline facilities. Seventeen -- seven 6to 13 million gallons of water per week is being taken 7 from under our feet as our aquifer is drained and -- and 8 the water destroyed. And even a 24-inch pipeline is, as 9I speak, being laid underneath the Guadalupe River, 10 which is -- which is also vital to farming and ranching 11 interests. There is no doubt that toxic vapors, 12 including methane and sulfur dioxide and other gasses, 13 are pouring out of these motors and other facilities. 14 In another country in the -- county in 15 Eagle Ford Shale, one family's rural home was 16overwhelmed by the toxic smell from a compressor station 17 across the county road. One member was hospitalized 18 intermittently over a year with symptoms similar to 19pneumonia and arsenic was found in their blood. Doctors 20 warned that if this family did not move out of their 21 home, that member would be dead in a year. 22 The name and place where this occurred 23 cannot be divulged here because a lawsuit was filed and 24 settled out of court. As is usually the case, the 25 company's agreement insisted on a nondisclosure clause

### Page 104 1 which prevents this family from letting anyone know of 2 the illness brought about by the compressor station, not 3 even their neighbors who are also complaining of odors. 4 Four of their closest friends and neighbors sold their 5 property and moved away from the compressor, some to 6other parts of the state, hopefully to one where the air 7 is still safe to breathe, if they can find one. 8 It is our strong request that 9consideration be given to formulating a legal way for 10 the practice of nondisclosure requirements to be ended. 11 Nondisclosure keeps the public -- keeps from the public 12 important information about health that should be made 13 known to all to prevent others from suffering the same 14 consequences of an oil or gas company's safety failures 15 or disregard of EPA rules and regulations. 16You might ask, Well, then how do you know 17 of this event? Policies can be made and documents 18 signed after the settlement is reached, but in the 19meantime in these small rural communities, thank God, 20 neighbors grow up still looking out for one another, and 21 that becomes a life commitment. They know. Extended 22 family members care about their loved ones and they 23 know. 24 As Shakespeare said, The truth will out. 25 And it lies in the lives and experiences of the grass

### Page 105 1 roots people who usually have no resources to help them 2 understand what is happening to them, not the power to 3 -- nor the power to stand up for their rights to 4 powerful corporations owned and operated by their more 5 powerful fellow Americans. This is not patriotism. 6Some of you are hearing those stories today. 7 This dangerously frantic development by 8 oil and gas companies as they try to beat the clock on 9these new regulations continues through shale regions. 10 Daily more and more toxins pour into the air at an 11 alarming rate as new wells are drilled. This rush for 12 the money is a dangerous policy that risks irreversible 13 damages to the environment and millions of dollars in 14 public health costs in the near and distant future. 15 The time to act is now, not later, not 162013, 2011. No toxic emissions -- I mean, so that toxic 17 emission -- emissions can be contained and stopped. 18 Specifically, all these new -- all these new and 19existing sources of toxic emissions should be covered 20 under these new rules. 21 There is certainly a moral imperative 22 involved here. If I could quote Pope John Paul, II, To 23 care for creation is a moral duty for all human beings, 24 to govern nature as a responsible administrator and not 25 as a merciless exploiter. I repeat, and not as a

### Page 106 1 merciless exploiter. 2 The mission assigned to the EPA by the 3 American people is to do just that, to protect the 4 common good from those who would only exploit the energy 5 resources that creation provides for us. Our 6environmental house is on fire, and the USA cannot 7 afford to sit around and discuss any longer which door 8 we're going to use for an exit. We need to move and we 9need to move now. 10 Thank you. 11 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 12 Are there any clarifying questions? 13 MS. RIEBSCHLAEGER: Thank you very much. 14 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you both, again, for 15 your testimony. Thank you very much. 16All right. I'd like to ask Jane Lynn to 17 please come forward. 18 Good afternoon. 19MS. LYNN: Hello. My name is Jane Lynn, 20 J-a-n-e L-y-n-n, and Lynn is my last name. I am a 21 resident of Arlington, Texas. 22 I am a conservative wife and a mother who 23 has lived in the same community for 25 years. There are 24 at least a half a dozen drill pad sites within two miles 25 of my home, some of them having up to 20 wells. The

### Page 107 1 drilling for natural gas less than 2,000 feet from our 2 home has dramatically impacted my family's quality of 3 life and, consequently, has propelled me into a fight to 4 protect our lives and the environment. 5 Since the onset of drilling operations, I 6have been having -- experiencing negative health 7 effects, so I personally began logging these symptoms in 8 October of 2010. The most prevalent symptom has been 9long-term headaches lasting up to ten days. And a 10 neighbor that lives right near me has reported also of 11 having severe headaches lasting three weeks at a time, 12 and she also believes it's due to the well site in close 13 proximity to our home. I'm also experiencing a lot of 14 fatigue, another symptom that neighbors are testifying 15 to. 16And some other symptoms in my immediate 17 area are nosebleeds, burning eyes, sore throats, slurred 18 speech, weak extremities, dizziness and blurred vision. 19We hear strange noises and smell strange odors. The 20 fear of the unknown with lack of regulation has had a 21 real physical as well as emotional impact upon us. 22 One day, I decided to call our Chesapeake 23 neighborhood representative to share with her these 24 negative health effects I had been experiencing which I 25 believed was a direct result of the toxins being emitted

### Page 108 1 into the air. She said, Prove it. At that moment, I 2 realized I was up a creek without a paddle. 3 And speaking of water, I would like to 4 mention that just last month, Chesapeake was found in 5 another violation at our well pad site, this time for 6illegally trucking water across the city line to frac a 7 well in a city that had water restrictions in place due 8 to the drought. Although our city knew what they were 9doing, they didn't cite them until the media exposed 10 their actions, yet the maximum fine of $2,000 will be 11 considered just a mere cost of doing business. 12 And this brings up another important 13 issue: What will be the long-term ramifications of the 14 billions and trillions of gallons of water that are now 15 being removed from the water cycle forever? Mankind has 16survived thousands of years without natural gas, but has 17 always required water to sustain life. 18 Now I want to tell you what happened on 19April 11th, 2011, at around 2:30 a.m. A storm had blown 20 through the area knocking out power, which, in turn, had 21 thrown a compressor station offline, which then caused 22 two separate malfunctions to occur at our drill pad 23 site. Anyhow, since the storm had blown in a cool 24 front, we opened the windows and went back to sleep. A 25 little while later, a terrifying sound like loud jet

### Page 109 1 engines woke us up. It would not stop. 2 We called 9-1-1, but the operator was 3 unable to provide us with clear direction on what to do 4 since our city did not have emergency protocols in place 5 for this type of situation. Simultaneously, a similar 6incident was occurring on the other side of town which 7 had probably confused the 9-1-1 operator. 8 Our entire home was quickly filling with a 9filthy smelling stench of chemical odors and gasses. My 10 husband and I stepped outside to see what was happening 11 and we could feel the weight like a heavy blanket of 12 fumes covering the neighborhood. The whole experience 13 was surreal. We went back inside and scrambled to shut 14 all the windows of our home. I was feeling utterly 15 helpless seeing my 11-year-old daughter lying in bed, 16getting a chemical exposure in her sleep. 17 After some time, my husband proceeded to 18 start his truck and drive over to the Fulson pad site to 19see what was going on or if an emergency crew was there, 20 totally unaware at the time that his vehicle could have 21 exploded from the gasses which had settled over the 22 neighborhood. There was no one at the site, but the 23 well was still venting gasses. It vented for 24 approximately one and a half hours. 25 Meanwhile, back at the house, I reported

### Page 110 1 the incident to TCEQ. TCEQ's report came out four 2 months later, stated that no violations were found. 3 Mind you, they did not arrive on the scene until 4 approximately eight hours later to investigate, but by 5 that time reported no odors detected. 6How much longer will this powerful 7 unregulated industry be permitted to legally poison us? 8 I am weary of living this nightmare. All we want to -- 9all we want is to be able to -- 10 MR. THOMPSON: Mrs. Lynn? 11 MS. LYNN: -- live peacefully on this 12 property. Almost finished. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Finish your -- 14 MS. LYNN: One more sentence. 15 MR. THOMPSON: Finish your sentence. 16MS. LYNN: Okay. As American citizens, we 17 are asking the EPA to, once and for all, put an end to 18 the self-regulating of a very dangerous industry right 19next door to our homes, our schools, our churches and 20 our parks. Human life must trump corporate profits. 21 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. 22 Before you run -- before you run, 23 Mrs. Lynn, just check, see if we have any clarifying 24 questions for you. 25 MS. LYNN: Okay.

### Page 111 1 MR. THOMPSON: Any? Any? 2 Again, thank you very much for your 3 testimony. Thank you. 4 At this time we're going to break for 5 dinner and we will reconvene back here at 6:30 p.m., 66:30 p.m. Thank you-all. 7 (Recess was taken) 8 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. We're going to go 9ahead and begin. 10 This is the public hearing on the Oil and 11 Natural Gas Sector: The New Source Performance 12 Standards and National Emission Standards For Hazardous 13 Air Pollutants and Review here in Arlington, Texas. 14 Again, good afternoon and thank you for attending this 15 public hearing. 16The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 17 the EPA, is holding this hearing to take comment on the 18 proposed rules. My name is Fred Thompson, and I am the 19associate director for the sector's Policies and 20 Programs Division and EPA's Office of Air Quality 21 Planning and Standards. I will be chairing today's 22 hearing. 23 Joining me on the panel are Bruce Moore to 24 my right of the sector's Policies and Programs Division 25 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Rob Lawrence,

### Page 112 1 who is also to my immediate right, from EPA's Region 6 2 office in Dallas, Texas; Alex MacPherson to my left, who 3 works in the Health and Environmental Impacts Division 4 at EPA RTP in North Carolina. That's Research Triangle 5 Park. 6We're here today to listen to your 7 comments on the EPA's proposal, Oil and Natural Gas 8 Sector: New Source Performance Standards and National 9Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and 10 Review. 11 Today we will be accepting oral comments 12 on all aspects of our proposal and we will prepare a 13 written transcript of the hearing. The transcript for 14 the hearing will be available as part of the official 15 record for this rule. The EPA will consider your 16comments as we move forward to complete a final rule by 17 February 28th, 2012. We are also accepting written 18 comments on the proposed rule until 30 days after the 19last public hearing, and at present, that is 20 October 31st, 2011. 21 At the registration area, which is located 22 in the hallway outside of this room, there are handouts 23 with the detailed information for submitting written 24 comments by mail, fax or electronically. 25 Now, let me describe the procedures for

### Page 113 1 today's hearing. I will call the scheduled speakers to 2 the microphone in pairs, which is located here in front 3 of me. When it is your turn to speak, please state your 4 name and your affiliation before you begin your 5 testimony. You will be asked to spell your name to 6ensure accuracy. 7 We have a timekeeping system which is 8 located right here on the table in front of me, 9consisting of green, yellow and red lights. When you 10 begin speaking, the green light will go on. You will 11 have five minutes to speak. The yellow light will 12 signal that you have one minute left to speak. When the 13 red light goes on, five minutes has passed and I will 14 ask you to please complete your testimony. 15 Today's hearing is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. 16and will continue until 8:00 p.m., or later if 17 necessary, depending on the number of speakers. We 18 intend to stay into the evening until everyone has had 19an opportunity to comment. 20 If you would like to testify but have not 21 yet registered to do so, please sign up at the 22 registration table in the hallway outside of this room. 23 For those who have already registered to speak, we have 24 tried to accommodate your request for specific time 25 slots. We ask for your patience as we proceed through

### Page 114 1 the list of speakers. We may need to make some 2 adjustments as the evening progresses. 3 If any questions arise throughout this 4 afternoon, please see a staff member at the registration 5 table for assistance. Thank you all again for 6participating in this hearing. 7 At this time I'd like to get started. I'd 8 like to ask Claudette Fette and Susan Reid to please 9come up front. 10 Good evening, ladies. 11 MS. REID: Good evening. 12 MR. THOMPSON: And we'd like to start with 13 Ms. Fette. If you'd just give us your name and spell it 14 for the record, please. 15 MS. FETTE: My name is Claudette Fette, 16and it's spelled F-e-t-t-e. 17 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 18 MS. FETTE: I want to thank you first for 19the process of -- of beginning the clean air rules. 20 My family, a couple of years ago, bought a 21 100-acre farm. My dad sold his in Central Texas so he 22 could teach my 19-year-old son how to farm. And -- and 23 the farm that we purchased is in southwest Cooke County, 24 which is in Rosston, right in the middle of the Barnett 25 Shale. It has somewhere around 150 mature native

### Page 115 1 pecans. And I have a picture for you of my husband 2 standing next to one of them. They're absolutely 3 gorgeous. We have planted -- and it has dozens of old 4 black walnuts and all kinds of native oak and willow 5 and -- and all kinds of species. We've planted 38 6chestnut trees and done some improvements that way. And 7 it has a beautiful hundreds year -- hundreds of year old 8 live oak tree that my husband and I planned to build a 9house next to and grow old and die next to and then will 10 to my children. 11 There were just a couple of wells when we 12 went looking for land. There were no mineral rights to 13 purchase. There were just a couple of wells around. 14 And it's Texas. We had no idea that we were about to be 15 in the middle of an explosion of drilling. The seller 16told us nobody would want to drill on our land because 17 it was long and skinny. 18 This summer, the number of wells around us 19exploded. There are seven horizontal wells under our 20 farm. There are 50 horizontal wells within two miles of 21 our farm and 70 to 75 vertical wells. And it's 22 continuing. They just flattened the hill across the 23 road for another pad site. 24 I want to argue for the need for adequate 25 regulatory capacity, as well as public information. An

### Page 116 1 example, a couple of months ago TRC helped us -- helped 2 us figure out -- our land backs up on Clear Creek, which 3 feeds both Lake Lewisville and Lake Ray Roberts, which 4 feed several different communities in our area. And 5 there -- these socks appeared on the creek, and we 6didn't know what they were or where they came from. So 7 we called the Railroad Commission and they came out and 8 said, oh, well, they were related to a spill that 9happened five or six weeks before that. 10 But there was no -- there's no mechanism 11 for anybody to tell us. And we're out there all the 12 time. I'd be looking. I could help figure out what's 13 going on and report it to somebody, but nobody -- 14 there's no -- there's no mechanism for even contacting 15 us to find that out. So I think you need to be using 16surface owners, and we need public info. And we need 17 public info on each of the drilling companies and that 18 needs to be something that we can find readily. 19I'm also concerned about the lack of 20 regulatory staff. In Texas, the TRC folks are 21 responsible for inspecting the completions for those 22 drills -- or for those wells, and they only work during 23 the daytime. But as I understand it, many, if not most, 24 of those wells are completed overnight. So there's 25 nobody in any regulatory capacity looking to see what

### Page 117 1 that cement looks like. There's nobody there. And as I 2 understand it as I've been reading this, there isn't -- 3 there doesn't begin to be adequate numbers of regulatory 4 staff to even be doing -- providing the oversight that's 5 necessary. So we need to have adequate oversight. 6I wrote a letter that I gave up there 7 that -- that suggests supporting the SAEB 90-day report 8 and their recommendations, and I wrote that to my 9senators in Texas and copied my state senator, whose 10 office called to inform me that actually because we did 11 not own the mineral rights we were not actually 12 landowners, that the people that owned the mineral 13 rights actually owned the land and we only have surface 14 rights. 15 You need to understand that so that you 16understand how essential it is that we have federal 17 oversight, because my state is not capable of protecting 18 me. And I want to grow old on that farm and I want to 19grow old with that tree, and I want my children and my 20 grandchildren to do that. 21 And I want health -- I want you to be 22 looking at health effects. I work in health care. That 23 is my day job. I want you to be looking at health 24 effects. Asthma, autism, cancer, all of those need to 25 be tracked and followed so that we can see what that is.

### Page 118 1 Nobody's looking. Please keep us safe. And thank you. 2 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Fette. 3 MS. FETTE: And I've got pictures for you. 4 MR. THOMPSON: And if you don't mind, I'd 5 like to look at your photographs, if you -- 6MS. FETTE: I'm giving them to you. 7 MR. THOMPSON: -- if you don't mind. 8 MS. FETTE: They're gorgeous. And, 9remember, you're keeping us safe. 10 MR. MACPHERSON: I do have one follow-up. 11 MR. THOMPSON: Sure. Absolutely. 12 MR. MACPHERSON: Thank you for your 13 comments. 14 You mentioned the ^ SEAB? SAEB report. 15 MS. FETTE: Uh-huh. 16MR. MACPHERSON: Could you just clarify 17 what you mentioned that for and -- 18 MS. FETTE: The -- the letter that I wrote 19to my senators followed that report and kind of gave 20 recommendations, both in line with that report, as well 21 as asking for -- for more landowner, surface owner, 22 whatever you want to call us, involvement and 23 engagement. But it was looking at that, because that's 24 what I -- I -- this is not my -- 25 MR. MACPHERSON: That was one of the

### Page 119 1 recommendations from the report? 2 MS. FETTE: Huh? 3 MR. MACPHERSON: That was one of the 4 recommendations from the report, for the landowners? 5 MS. FETTE: No. That was one that I had 6said in addition to. 7 MR. MACPHERSON: Oh, okay. 8 MS. FETTE: But the -- the letter was -- 9was referencing that -- support for those 10 recommendations -- 11 MR. MACPHERSON: Thank you. 12 MS. FETTE: -- of the 90-day. Thank you. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Please don't leave us. 14 Please remain -- 15 MS. FETTE: Oh, I'm sorry. 16MR. THOMPSON: -- unless you just have to 17 go. 18 MS. FETTE: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. 19You can keep them if you want to just 20 remember them. I want motivation. They're gorgeous. 21 MR. THOMPSON: They are gorgeous. Thanks 22 for sharing those. 23 Mrs. Reid? 24 MS. REID: Good evening. 25 MR. THOMPSON: Good evening.

### Page 120 1 MS. REID: Thank you for being here. My 2 name is Susan Reid, and I live in Grand Prairie, Texas, 3 and I'm associated with the Westchester-Grand Prairie 4 Community Alliance. We formed the group last year. And 5 I live within a two-mile range of at least three shale 6gas drilling pad sites. 7 Members of the Westchester community 8 formed the Westchester-Grand Prairie Community Alliance 9in the summer of 2010 when we realized that there was a 10 serious problem in our community. Seismic testing 11 trucks had descended on our community of over 2,000 12 homes without warning in June of 2010, even though our 13 Westchester Association of Homeowners had decided that 14 we would not, as a group, sign a lease way back in 2007. 15 In the meantime, one site, the Corn 16Valley A -- and there's a B, too; this is the Corn 17 Valley A pad site -- 850 feet from the Joe Pool Lake dam 18 and 537 feet from homeowners, had been permitted by the 19Texas Railroad Commission in 2009 and our city was ready 20 to permit it. We held a community-wide meeting on 21 July 19th, 2010, attended by more than 500 Westchester 22 neighbors thinking that we might stop it, but even with 23 so many opposed to all of it, our city permitted this 24 pad site the day after this meeting. 25 Soon we realized that there had never been

### Page 121 1 any public discussion about any of it and that this was 2 because we had no SUP for gas drilling; meaning, with 3 few exceptions, all gas drilling permits submitted 4 through the Texas Railroad Commission were being 5 approved administratively by the Grand Prairie, Texas, 6Environmental Services Department. After attending 7 planning and zoning commission meetings, we discovered 8 that this commission knew less than we did about shale 9gas drilling and they had never had any presentations 10 about any of it. 11 It didn't take long to realize that we 12 were in serious trouble. Through meetings and a lot of 13 hard work, we realized that our city's gas drilling 14 ordinance was basically an open door for gas drilling in 15 our neighborhoods and then we got to work. Through a 16petition-signing effort, a neighborhood blog, The 17 Westchester Gazette -- we're on Facebook, too -- and 18 speaking regularly before our city councils, lots of 19e-mails, by November 18th, 2010, we had a moratorium on 20 all shale gas drilling so that the ordinance could be 21 strengthened. Yay. That was great. 22 Then Chesapeake began their campaign. 23 That campaign included a public meeting held on 24 December 7th, 2010, that requested all those lessors, 25 the landowners who had signed leases with them,

### Page 122 1 Chesapeake wanted everyone to go to City Hall and 2 present -- and protest this moratorium and the 3 1,000-foot setback that might be part of a revised and 4 new ordinance. 5 To see a corporation telling a community 6to come together and go against protective actions that 7 our community group had worked so hard to make happen, 8 well, it was unbelievable to us. They even told this 9large gathering of well over 700 or 800 people stuffed 10 into a community building that they would invoke force 11 majeure if necessary and if the city kept this 12 moratorium in place very long. They mentioned that we 13 probably didn't even know what that was, force majeure, 14 but they would explain it to us. 15 When one of our group yelled out from the 16center of the room, What about the process? The 17 response back was, Oh, we're not going to address the 18 process tonight. And we won't be taking any questions, 19either. 20 One young man came up to me after this 21 meeting trying to convince me and others that there 22 wasn't anything wrong with hydraulic fracturing. I 23 asked him who he worked for. It was clear to me that he 24 was trying to keep me from talking to people in the 25 room. And he told me, Chesapeake, and I -- and that he

### Page 123 1 was a hydraulic engineer and hy- -- that hydraulic 2 fracturing was God's laws of physics. And that is a 3 direct quote. 4 More shocking experiences were to follow 5 when our city, in fact, did lift the moratorium only two 6months later. And it was to have been a six-month 7 moratorium, but pressure from the industry was too great 8 for our city. 9What we have here are huge gaps in the 10 regulation of the very dangerous shale gas drilling 11 industry. Our communities are under siege by these 12 people physically, psychologically and economically. 13 After seeing that our city and state are firmly in the 14 grip of the oil and gas industry, our community group, 15 the Westchester-Grand Prairie Community Alliance, has 16come to the conclusion that the EPA is our last hope for 17 change. 18 We thought that the very name of the oil 19and gas regulation agency, the Texas Railroad 20 Commission, would finally get a new name on this last 21 legislative session this last spring, and our state 22 legislature could not even get that changed. This is 23 unbelievable in America. 24 People are suffering. I've talked to many 25 of them. They are suffering and will suffer more and

### Page 124 1 more in the very near future unless we stop this 2 industry's rampage. More shale gas drilling 3 infrastructure is going in as we sit here tonight. I 4 see it. It's going in right now. They do all their 5 work ahead of time, and by the time they ask for the 6rubber stamp from the state regulators, it's a done 7 deal. 8 We will do whatever we can as a group and 9as a community to support the efforts of the EPA to gain 10 regulation of this industry. It's a matter of life and 11 death. And we need help now. 12 Thank you. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Reid. 14 MS. REID: Thank you. 15 MR. THOMPSON: Are there any clarifying 16questions or follow-up questions for Mrs. Reid? 17 Okay. Both Mrs. Fette and Mrs. Reid, 18 thank you both for being here this afternoon and thank 19you for your testimony. Thank you very much. 20 At this time I'd like to ask Gary Hogan 21 and Bill Dedecker to come forward, please. 22 Mr. Hogan, we'd like to start with you. 23 Just state your name for the record, please. 24 MR. HOGAN: My name is Gary Hogan, 25 H-o-g-a-n. I'm representing -- I'm vice president of

### Page 125 1 the North Central Texas Communities Alliance. 2 The North Central Texas Communities 3 Alliance formed about two years ago as kind of an 4 umbrella or oversight committee to help citizens deal 5 with issues related to gas drilling, everything from 6leasing to working with legislation, working with the 7 cities on ordinances where we could and helping citizens 8 prepare to have the knowledge base to get up to speed to 9deal with the issues that were confronting them as gas 10 drilling expanded out of Fort Worth and into the other 11 communities and, now as we speak, into -- into Dallas. 12 We've actually been working with -- a little bit with 13 Dallas on their preparation for this as it advances to 14 them. 15 We are a nonprofit agency, and we work on 16a volunteer basis that's available to citizens all over 17 the Barnett Shale region. In this capacity, we've 18 had -- been privileged to all the things that people 19have been trying to be confronted with with this issue. 20 And we have seen firsthand the suffering of people and 21 the, if nothing else, anecdotal consequences of what 22 grass drilling is doing to polluted gas -- polluted 23 water wells all over the region being polluted with 24 drilling debris and muds that make wells un- -- 25 unusable, to being involved with Mayor Calvin Tillman in

### Page 126 1 Dish, Texas, who first raised the flag about what was 2 going on in his community. 3 And we're seeing these effects every 4 single time drilling moves even close to a populated 5 area, and the rural areas are even more at the mercy of 6our state regulatory agencies who have been working for 7 the industry. There's no other way to put it. Our -- 8 our railroad commission has stated publicly that they 9are working, first of all, for the economic benefit of 10 the gas operators in this state, for the economic boom 11 that is tied to it. 12 Public health and safety is a fight for 13 every citizen that ever has to call them for action. We 14 have seen this firsthand wherever these cases have come 15 up that the citizens, when they cry for help from the 16TCEQ and from our railroad commission, even when they 17 respond, they -- they lean toward industry, trying to 18 make them be able to defend their cases against us. 19I -- I pulled this off your Web site today 20 and I couldn't agree with it more. The EPA has pro- -- 21 proposed a suite of highly cost-effective regulations 22 that could reduce harmful air pollution from the oil and 23 natural gas industry. I agree 100 percent. And I want 24 to beg the EPA -- the political climate we are seeing 25 came on real strong. I want to say when -- when we

### Page 127 1 heard Dr. Al Armandariz was going to be our director, 2 people were doing a happy dance in Texas because we 3 really thought we had a chance. 4 Now, I'm -- I'm not from Texas, and people 5 point that out to me all the time. I'm not from Texas 6and I don't understand, but I've been here a long time 7 and I do love Texas and I do a lot of work to make Texas 8 better. But it's heartbreaking when you see what people 9are suffering from. And this air quality issue is -- is 10 something that we need help on. You do not have to be a 11 scientist to understand that we were a nonattainment 12 zone for many, many years and Texas was given a lot of 13 lead rope to not follow even what other states had to 14 do. 15 So we need your help. I wish our 16agencies -- that we could have faith in them. I've even 17 seen our agencies attacking our federal EPA and saying 18 they don't trust your testing standards. But somebody's 19got to start working for the citizens, the good health 20 and safety of the citizens. I think we can acquire this 21 natural gas resource, but this industry needs to be made 22 to do it in an environmental and protective way. And if 23 they can't do that, then we can't do it until we can do 24 it that way, because we're not a third world nation here 25 and we should not be treated like we are a third world

### Page 128 1 nation. 2 So let's do this. If we're going to do 3 it, we need to do it right. And we need the help, 4 unfortunately, from the federal EPA to be strong and 5 come in and stand up for us and do not bend to these 6political pressures. Carry that back to the highest 7 level, please, that there are Texas citizens here that 8 are begging for your help. 9Thank you. 10 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Hogan. 11 Are there any follow-up questions? 12 If you could share the microphone. 13 MR. HOGAN: I'm sorry. 14 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. 15 MR. DEDECKER: Yes. Good evening. My 16name is Bill Dedecker. That's spelled D-e-d-e-c-k-e-r. 17 I live on the Riverview Drive in Arlington, in northwest 18 Arlington. I've lived there for 30 years. I should say 19right up front that we did lease our mineral rights to 20 one of the gas companies, and so far it's been a good 21 relationship. I -- I am speaking here not against the 22 regulations as such, but to add a note of caution and a 23 strong note of caution. 24 As I said, we've lived here 30 years. We 25 have three wells within roughly one mile of us. I've

### Page 129 1 been to one of them several times because I believe it 2 is the well -- and I don't believe -- I know it's the 3 well that is going to go underneath our house and suck 4 out the gas from underneath our house, which I think is 5 a marvelous thing. 6And I've been here. These folks are 7 responsible. These folks are hard-working. The -- the 8 -- the area around the well is clean. I've been there 9several times. There is never any dirt, slop. They 10 seem to be very conscientious folks. And the other well 11 is near where I get my -- my -- my coffee every morning, 12 and I have not smelled a thing. I have not seen a 13 thing, other than a bunch of hard-working people. 14 So the -- based on that, the fact of the 15 matter is that there are lots of anecdotes, lots of 16stories, lots of pictures of beautiful live oak trees, I 17 grant you; but the fact of the matter is when you start 18 digging for the hard facts, they're few and far between. 19In fact, there are almost none of them, as best as I can 20 tell. So the -- and I do live in a very populated area, 21 like I said, with three wells within a mile or within 22 about a mile. 23 Now, the -- in your statement here, 24 there's a statement made that the savings are 25 potentially $30 million per year, which is a wonderful

### Page 130 1 thing. However -- where is it here? It's -- I 2 highlighted it. Right. The -- the cost of the proposed 3 requirements would be 754 million. They're the costs. 4 And the savings would be $783 million. 5 Now, I'll be very honest with you 6gentlemen. I'm in the business of cost analysis. 7 That's what I do for a living for the aviation industry. 8 And when you're that close to talk blithely about a net 9savings of 20 -- $29 million a year, you're blowing 10 smoke. The fact of the matter is that at -- at best you 11 could say that this is a wash. And probably, given 12 previous estimates of what EPA and other government 13 agencies that I've worked with directly, their estimates 14 of benefits and their estimates of costs, they're often 15 off by a factor of two, particularly the benefits or the 16costs, usually in the negative direction. 17 In other words, this has the potential of 18 being very, very expensive for the oil and gas industry. 19And that's my whole point. Because I wish to point out 20 that in the current recession -- and in case you hadn't 21 noticed it and you may not, but we are in a deep 22 recession. And one of the reasons that Texas has done 23 reasonably well is because we do have oil and -- we do 24 have all these gas wells. It has been a tremendous boom 25 to our economy. It really has. I am not saying that

### Page 131 1 there shouldn't be a reasonable amount of sensible 2 regulation. I believe the Texas Railroad Commission 3 does that. I believe they're a very conscientious 4 organization. 5 If you compare the boom that we're having, 6it's comparable to the boom that Pennsylvania is 7 experiencing. New York has heavily regulated gas 8 drilling. They are suffering. Their unemployment rate 9is significantly higher than Pennsylvania. They have -- 10 they have -- they -- they -- they share a shale field 11 system, Marcellus shale. If you look at New York, they 12 are suffering because they're not drilling there. They 13 can't. And as a result, the economic pain is 14 tremendous. 15 In Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania has 16turned -- that region of Pennsylvania is turning into a 17 boom area. The same thing for the Dakotas where the -- 18 the Bakken formation is, which is actually oil, not gas. 19The point here is that in this deep 20 recession, which nobody seems to have any idea of how to 21 get out of, least of all our government, the last thing 22 we need is our government coming up with more 23 regulations that make it more difficult, more expensive, 24 et cetera, to actually influence an area -- areas 25 where -- where -- where shale gas is being drilled and

### Page 132 1 that are booming. 2 My question to you would be is: How 3 confident are you in your cost and benefit analysis? 4 What are the resulting costs in -- in -- in loss of 5 jobs? And I'd like to know that. And if you have a 6copy of the study someplace or you can give me a Web 7 site, I would like to go to it and I'll study it and 8 I'll give you further written follow-up. 9Thank you. 10 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Dedecker. 11 Any follow-up questions? 12 MR. MOORE: I have one. Who is the 13 operator that -- that has your three -- the well that 14 you were talking about on your property? 15 MR. DEDECKER: Chesapeake. 16MR. MOORE: Thanks. 17 MR. THOMPSON: Okay, gentlemen. 18 MR. DEDECKER: By the way, they have been 19responsive to the questions I've asked. 20 MR. THOMPSON: Okay, gentlemen. Thank you 21 both for -- 22 MR. HOGAN: Thank you. 23 MR. THOMPSON: -- your comments. Thank 24 you very much. 25 At this time I'd like to ask Kim Feil and

### Page 133 1 Cary Clark to come forward, please. 2 MS. FEIL: I'm Kim Feil. And you can 3 spell that K-i-m F as in Frank, e-i-l. 4 Just before we broke for lunch between 5 speakers today, one of your EPA panel members, Mr. Bruce 6Moore, inquired of where Mr. Benzene, the guy sitting in 7 the back with the respirator, was. I told him that I 8 was by myself this morning and was just too weak 9physically to bring him. 10 I believe I'm your canary, having eight 11 years of living and working in the refinery town of 12 Norco, Louisiana. I moved here to Arlington 20 years 13 ago, but being exposed to drilling in the last five 14 years was the tipping point for me and my ill health. 15 I have been under the care of Dr. Lewis 16Cone, and my most recent detoxification prescription 17 yesterday was 7,000 milligrams of Vitamin C to rid my 18 body of lifelong mercury buildup and to help with the 19pain in my hip that started last November and for the 20 pain in my elbows and the loss of the strength of the 21 grip in my left hand that started a few months ago. 22 Last week, I failed the muscle stress test for 23 formaldehyde in my body that was affecting my liver and 24 gall bladder and was prescribed charcoal ingestion. 25 This is what the hospitals give people

### Page 134 1 with chemical poisoning. I am not shy to tell this 2 panel that since my treatment started eight days ago, I 3 have been having foaming bubbles in my urine. This, in 4 itself, has me worried that any surfactants or other 5 foaming agents used in the gas drilling industry have 6somehow entered possibly in my system. 7 I have been downwind from the UTA 8 Arlington drill site for five years, and they now have 922 gas wells. My son has suffered other BP symptoms 10 like health effects, too, in the past during what I 11 believe was a cooling inversion. I also live near the 12 General Motors plant and regularly smell a slick -- a 13 sickly sweet odor and wonder now if it is the GM plant 14 I'm smelling or the gas wells they put on that property. 15 The epitomizes the greed the shale rush has caused when 16a heavy hitter on air quality like GM gets to put gas 17 wells on their site. 18 Toxic rock -- toxicrisk.com reports show 19GM produced 858 pounds of benzene in 2007, the total 190 20 tons per year emissions showed that 45 percent of that 21 was xylene, which is highly reactive in the formation of 22 ozone. I found it funny that the Perryman report 23 compared the economic benefit of the Barnett Shale in 24 the last decade to be almost as -- twice as large as 25 that of the GM and its associated suppliers. But how

### Page 135 1 ironic that last Tuesday I spoke before our city council 2 in these very chambers and shared my analysis of the 3 TCEQ Phase 2 Emissions Inventory which had a disclaimer 4 that emissions from the drilling, fracking, flowback 5 were not included. 6This unknown pre-production emissions 7 information was also a huge gap in the ERG Fort Worth 8 air study, too. And when I crunched the TCEQ numbers, 9not looking at compression emission stations, I 10 estimated that the aggregate emissions of our 60 gas 11 well pad sites just here in Arlington approached the GM 12 plant's annual emissions. 13 Since TCEQ told me that there's less than 14 half a percent of benzene in the Barnett Shale, I 15 multiplied that 190 times per year by .004, which was 16three-quarters tons of benzene. If you spread that over 17 the 60 drill sites just here in Arlington, that could be 18 25 pounds a year present benzene at each site near homes 19and schools. This proves how outdated and unprotective 20 the PBR is and blatantly shows it is not intended to be 21 applied to urban drilling. 22 But it gets worse. Recently, DFW 23 Midstream Summit reported to me that GM's annual 24 emissions are actually 414 ton per year, which is one 25 ton of benzene per year, plus all the drilling. How

### Page 136 1 convenient that no air monitoring stations are near the 2 GM plant or by the Cowboy stadium. And since our local 3 leaders refuse to listen to my pleas to not allow any 4 more drilling in that already overburdened airshed, I 5 turn to you, EPA, knowing that this damage has all been 6done and it's going to be all grandfathered in. And I 7 look to you to correct this so my town can be livable 8 again. I believe I'm in your -- I'm a -- 9Based on the air study results of the 10 BSEEC and the Titan -- that's the air study they did -- 11 and then the ERG Fort Worth air study, I was able to 12 direct my doctor to test for formaldehyde poisoning. 13 And I did meet somebody who worked for Exxon that was 14 telling me the corrosion inhibitor is one of the funky 15 smelling things that I was asking him what Jane Lynn was 16smelling she testified earlier. And he went on to say 17 that, you know, his daughter has brain lesions and the 18 wife was complaining how dirty his clothes smelled. We 19talked about methanol. We talked about ethanol 20 poisoning and how convenient that their -- their 21 daughter has lesions. 22 You know, it's -- it's just too much when 23 I can tell my doctor to look for formaldehyde because I 24 think that's what I've been exposed to. That's what the 25 ERG study found out. That's what the BEC study found

### Page 137 1 out. 2 I firmly believe we need to ask Chesapeake 3 to not drill and any of the other drillers until they 4 can get electric compression stations, electric 5 generators. Let's hold off until we get the technology 6in place. 7 Thank you. 8 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Feil. 9Are there any follow-up questions? Bruce? 10 MR. MOORE: I would like to -- you 11 mentioned that the ERG Fort Worth study did not include 12 the -- the air emissions from the flowback period of 13 completions following hydrofracking. Is that -- is that 14 true? Or was I -- did I mishear that? 15 MS. FEIL: Well, repeat your question 16because I want to go back to my notes. 17 MR. MOORE: You -- all right. Did -- 18 MS. FEIL: It was -- 19MR. MOORE: Did I hear you correctly -- 20 MS. FEIL: It was the TCE- -- 21 MR. MOORE: -- when you said -- 22 MS. FEIL: It was the TCEQ that did not -- 23 when they -- when they collected the Phase 2 emissions 24 inventory equipment, there was a disclaimer that said 25 they didn't have the drilling, flacking, flowback

### Page 138 1 information included. 2 MR. MOORE: Oh, okay. 3 MS. FEIL: And then when I looked at the 4 ERG study, there's been information that shows that 5 there's similar gaps in the pre-production numbers 6because they -- they didn't test drilling sites that had 7 diesel rigs. The only drilling site they looked at was 8 an electric rig, which isn't representative of what we 9see when we drive by. We -- 10 MR. MOORE: Okay. Thank you. 11 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Mr. Clark? 12 MR. CLARK: My name is Cary Clark. I'm 13 63 years old and I'm a lifelong resident of Tarrant 14 County. I live south -- I live in Fort Worth now, south 15 of TCU. I'm a jogger. I get outdoors as often as I 16can. I breathe the air and I drink the city water. 17 There's a lovely biking and jogging trail 18 that runs for many miles along the Trinity River here in 19Tarrant County. And that's about a mile north of TCU. 20 It's a fairly densely populated area around here, around 21 the area where I live and around this trail and around 22 TCU, lots of apartments, individual residences, 23 businesses. 24 A while back, I was jogging along the 25 trail with a buddy of mine. It was a pretty crowded

### Page 139 1 day. A lot of people were out. And there's a well 2 that's in -- maybe a couple hundred, 200 or 300 feet 3 from the river. And it's close to Rogers Road -- Rogers 4 Road and the Trinity River. 5 And we were jogging by it that day and 6there was -- this happened more than just one day. But 7 one day in particular, there was a really bad odor in 8 the air and it was stifling, and my friend and I just 9kind of looked at each other and gagged. And there was 10 literally a film that kind of became evident on my lips 11 and my nose and my nostrils, my mouth. I was trying 12 to -- trying to spit it out and -- you know, when you 13 get something like that in -- kind of coating your 14 tongue and your throat and your nostrils, it's pretty 15 yucky. 16I'm not a scientist. I haven't done any 17 research. I'm just giving you my experience. 18 I don't have any idea what it was. I know 19it was bad. I know you wouldn't want to have that stuff 20 in your face, in your body. You wouldn't want your 21 children to ever have that happen to them. You just 22 don't know what that is. 23 Other days, I've been by that well. And 24 there's a big silver stack. And one day it -- we could 25 hear it before we got inside. There was an enormous

### Page 140 1 roar and a big fire coming out of that. Another day, 2 that -- some stuff was in the air. It was -- it was 3 really bad. 4 I don't think anybody really knows what 5 those chemicals were. As far as I know, I never -- I 6looked. I never saw anything in the paper about it. I 7 don't know if there was any monitoring. But I do know 8 that's a densely populated area. There was no place for 9that stuff to go, except around people, their homes, 10 their yards, their children playing and the joggers, 11 hundreds of us that go up and down there. 12 By the way, I don't go up -- I don't go on 13 that trail nearly as much as I used to because of that 14 problem. 15 I'm here really to urge the Environmental 16Protection Agency to -- to apply 21st century 17 technology, the best that we have, whatever that is, 18 21st century safety standards to monitor these drill 19sites, these well sites 24 hours a day, seven days a 20 week. We really need to find out what's happening, what 21 these emissions are, what is going into the air that we 22 breathe and the water that we drink. 23 I really believe there are some things 24 that are more important than short-term profit for one 25 particular industry. One thing that is more important

### Page 141 1 is the public health because that's a long-term concern 2 for all of us, a very personal concern. And we need the 3 monitoring that will ensure that our water and that our 4 air are safe to do the most basic, fundamental things 5 necessary for life, which is to breathe and to drink 6water. 7 In Texas, our water, as everybody in this 8 room knows, is very precious. We don't have an 9unlimited supply of water. Anybody who goes along the 10 river in Texas or a lake now sure as heck knows that. 11 We really have to take care of it, and I beg your help 12 in helping us to do that. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Clark. 14 Are there any questions for Mr. Clark from 15 the panel? 16Okay. Thank you both for your testimony. 17 Thank you very much. 18 Okay. At this time I'd like to ask Ken 19Feil and Harriet Irby to come forward. And that's Ken. 20 Good evening. 21 MS. IRBY: Good evening. 22 MR. THOMPSON: Let's start with Mr. Feil. 23 MR. FEIL: Good evening. Ken Feil. I've 24 been an Arlington resident for about 35 or so years now. 25 I just have a letter written by --

### Page 142 1 MR. THOMPSON: Could you put the mic just 2 a little closer to you? 3 MR. FEIL: Okay. Sure. 4 I have a letter written Jim Bradbury that 5 was in the Star Telegram I'd just like to read, 6especially since there's been so much emphasis on the 7 EGR's Fort Worth gas study nationally and 8 internationally. I just want to make y'all aware of 9this. 10 The length and complexity of Fort Worth's 11 recent air quality study makes it difficult to decipher 12 and its information thus virtually unavailable to most 13 residents. While we now have information that we did 14 not have before, we do not have the crystal clear 15 answers that we need. 16We must do far more. I encourage the 17 mayor and City Council to not place this report on a 18 shelf as a question answered, but instead use it as a 19foundation to address emission controls for natural gas 20 production activities over the long term. The value of 21 royalty income will prove fleeting if we discover all 22 too late that the health of our young and old was 23 diminished because we are unwilling to press this issue. 24 The $1 million cost of the air quality 25 study was enormous for the results that were provided.

### Page 143 1 The city staff failed to take a significantly aggressive 2 approach in managing the work and a contractor and 3 allowed the final cost to run significantly over budget. 4 Credibility was key for this work. After 5 the protocol was developed and Eastern Research Group 6selected to do the work, the city staff folded back into 7 a behind-the-scenes process of developing the contract. 8 The process was not open -- was not open to the air 9quality study committee or the public. 10 Eastern Research was asked to conduct air 11 quality sampling to determine the existence of and 12 prevalence of harmful emissions from natural gas 13 operations citywide. The ambient air monitoring report 14 revealed relatively consistent signs of important air 15 quality issues. 16Benzene, the contaminant that has drawn 17 much of the current attention on air quality, was 18 detected 94 percent of the time. It is the best marker 19for an emission problem. 20 Seven other VOCs were detected at rates 21 higher than 90 percent. That these values were 22 collected citywide underscores the gravity of the 23 situation. 24 The report identified seven key pollutants 25 for Fort Worth. Eastern Research's analysis appears to

### Page 144 1 judge the presence of the pollutants only by whether 2 they produce an urgent health hazard. That leaves open 3 a very important question about Fort Worth's overall 4 near- and short-term air quality. This may be too 5 simplistic for air scientists, but if we find benzene 694 percent of the time, we have a problem. 7 The most important part of the study was 8 to be point-source testing at every natural gas site in 9the city. The air quality committee was surprised but 10 also impressed that Eastern Research assured us that so 11 many sites would be closely evaluated. 12 The committee discussed at length the use 13 of testing and detected rates of emissions instead of 14 oil and gas book estimates. Unfortunately, as the 15 details of the report made clear, the consultant 16utilized surrogate emission profiles and 17 industry-estimated values in its analysis. 18 Stunningly, the report reflects raw 19averaging and wholesale assumptions that nontested 20 equipment was not leaking. This was not what the city 21 asked or paid for. Not withstanding the consultants' 22 assurances, the report acknowledges that not all of the 23 sites' emissions were even tested. For example, certain 24 parts of storage tanks, wastewater and condensate 25 loading equipment and flaring -- flaring, excuse me,

### Page 145 1 were not tested. 2 The report highlights compressors as well 3 as gas treatment plants as the greatest source of 4 obvious emissions. The reported values for the one gas 5 treatment plant examined are significant. The city 6should inventory all gas treatment plants that are just 7 outside city boundaries and produce emissions that can 8 or do drift into the city. 9Certain emissions were detected by 10 infrared camera as well as completion sites but were not 11 measured otherwise. The evaporative units at the city's 12 waste disposal pilot project were not tested for 13 emissions. 14 Despite requests, testing in heavily -- in 15 heavy condensate production areas outside of Fort Worth 16was not done. We have no sense of the value -- I'm 17 sorry. We have no sense of the volume of emissions that 18 drift into our city from production areas that are known 19to emit VOCs. 20 The real question facing the city and its 21 residents concerns Barnett Shale gas development's 22 cumu- -- cumulative effect on air quality and good 23 health. The answer still eludes us. 24 And just for closure, I'd like to say -- I 25 know how long you've been here in North Texas, but we're

### Page 146 1 just bombarded by campaigns from the industry saying, 2 you know, what has gas well drilling done, you know, for 3 us. Sure, we need the jobs, but at what cost? 4 Thanks. 5 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Thank you. 6Before you slide that over, let me ask: 7 Any questions? No? 8 Okay. Thank you. 9Okay. Ms. Irby? 10 MS. IRBY: Harriet Irby. Last name, 11 I-r-b-y. 12 The recent exploitation of the Barnett 13 Shale gas play in populated North Texas areas has 14 contributed to the already unacceptable levels of air 15 pollution in the Metroplex. For example -- and you've 16already been told this -- but peak ozone on 17 September 27th, 2011, in zip code 76013 -- mine -- was 18 127. I celebrated that by having an asthma attack at 194:30 that day. By contrast -- and I believe in compare 20 and contrast -- I've been keeping track of ozone peaks 21 in the San Francisco bay area, and it was 31 for zip 22 code 94116. I did this -- I tracked these comparable 23 ozone levels for a month. San Francisco runs at roughly 24 a quarter of this area. 25 Do we have an ozone problem? You bet we

### Page 147 1 do, in spite of the fact of what our local and federal 2 officials would have you believe. We are out of 3 compliance for decades, and that has economic and health 4 consequences. 5 I love it when they say you gotta have 6drilling because it means jobs. I would like to remind 7 those folks that the unemployment rate in Texas is 8 currently on the uptick. I would also remind them that 9the Perryman study talked about 100,000 jobs over 40 and 10 50 years. 11 And where are they going to get the water? 12 We are out of water. This summer we have been hit by a 13 triple whammy. We've had a high pressure system that 14 has sealed in the pollutants and we've been hit with 15 searing heat and a devastating drought. We have already 16lost $5.2 billion in this state. Our good governor in 17 his campaigns doesn't use the word drought very much. I 18 wonder why. 19Texas air pollution laws and agencies have 20 failed to protect us in our environment. We have been 21 hit, as I said, with a triple whammy. But your name 22 says it all, Environmental Protection Agency. State and 23 local governments do not protect us. 24 The complaint process for TCEQ takes 25 months. TCEQ uses outdated summa canisters that let

### Page 148 1 them ignore emissions peaks. When a complainant finally 2 gets to complain, it only offers excuses and cover-ups. 3 I am certain people have died waiting on a TCEQ answer. 4 As individuals, we face forces that we can't fight 5 alone. 6Specifically, I am here to request vapor 7 recovery systems on all wells and compressor stations. 8 Drillers should execute green completions. 9On September 3rd, 2011, my friends and I 10 outlined our struggle with the Dalworthington Gardens 11 Gathering Station Number 1 in the Star Telegram article. 12 It was titled, Women Are Sure Something Smells At 13 Compressor Station. 14 As a -- as an aside, if the gas companies 15 are doing so well, why did I, on September 4th, get a 16phone call from Carrizo requesting a royalty payment 17 back? Oh. We overpaid you. They didn't get their 18 check back. 19TCEQ has had eight citizen complaints on 20 this site since June 2011. Open valves were found in 21 June. A sickening sweet smell was noted by citizens and 22 station employees. On August 18th, a TCEQ employee 23 experienced health effects while inspecting the station. 24 VOC levels were high but citizens are still waiting on 25 results.

### Page 149 1 August 22nd, more odor. Citizen health 2 complaints led to another inspection. This time, the 3 police said the leak wasn't harmful because the station 4 employee said it wasn't. The substance was not 5 identified. TCEQ later said they found a storage tank 6emissions valve -- that storage tank emissions had 7 ceased after yet another valve adjustment. Our pet cats 8 and chickens have suddenly died during these episodes. 9We have experienced shortness of breath, rapid heart 10 rates and itchy eyes and throats. It is sometimes 11 difficult to remain outside. 12 MR. THOMPSON: Ms. -- Ms. Irby, I'm sorry. 13 Your time has expired. 14 MS. IRBY: Okay. Well, I've got some 15 handouts. I received, on my request for vapor recovery 16station systems, a response from Midstream, and I have 17 my response and my notes and Midstream's refusal 18 (inaudible). 19MR. THOMPSON: Now, you want these as part 20 of the public record? 21 MS. IRBY: Yes. 22 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. You need to submit 23 those at the table outside. Yes, ma'am. 24 MS. IRBY: All right. 25 MR. THOMPSON: And before you go, are

### Page 150 1 there any questions for Mrs. Irby? None? 2 Okay. Thank you both for your testimony. 3 Both Mr. Feil and Mrs. Irby, thank you both. 4 At this time I'd like to ask Marilyn 5 Walton and Dewayne Quertermous to come forward. 6Good evening. 7 MS. WALTON: Good evening. 8 MR. THOMPSON: Let's start with 9Mrs. Walton. Your name for the record and then you can 10 begin your testimony. 11 MS. WALTON: My name is Marilyn Walton. 12 M-a-r-i-l-y-n, Walton, W-a-l-t-o-n, as in John-Boy. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. 14 MS. WALTON: I am an artist. I am a 15 singer. I'm also a graduate urban planner. I must tell 16you that I'm also a member of MoveOn.org. 17 I live in the City of Dallas in the 18 southwestern sector, one of the most windy areas of the 19county. I have developed, as a result of the 20 atmosphere, respiratory illnesses, asthma that affect 21 the way I do my job and if I can do my job as a singer. 22 I worked for the Bolshoi in Russia for five years, yet I 23 never had that problem. I worked in China for two 24 years. I never had that problem. I worked in South 25 America for as long, but somehow when I came home, I had

### Page 151 1 those problems with the atmosphere affecting my voice. 2 The fracturing in oil and gas has made 3 this an issue for me and it has made it an issue that I 4 had to speak to. Economics should not affect the lives 5 in the way that it does. I am aware that gas and oil is 6necessary and the drilling of gas and oil is necessary, 7 but is it vital? Is it vital? 8 I own property in Irving, Texas, across 9from the airport. I own property in Oklahoma. Both are 10 oil drilling areas. But when I found out about the 11 fracturing, I suddenly stopped wanting the drilling to 12 occur. 13 I had the feeling that the earthquakes we 14 were suffering from in Oklahoma, in Dallas County -- I 15 live on I-20 and I-35. For over 3,000 years there have 16not been earthquakes there, but suddenly Ellis County 17 has had them. Tarrant County has had them. Parker 18 County has had them. I'm not technologically savvy but 19I will tell you that geologists have not been able to 20 determine whether they are the result of fracturing or 21 not. But because they didn't start until the 22 fracturing, I think they are. And common sense says 23 that they are. 24 Just as emissions have affected all the 25 counties that I have mentioned, the national atmosphere

### Page 152 1 and the national future of our nation should not be held 2 hostage to corporate financial interest. Therefore, 3 should they be allowed to do this or should they not? 4 Fracturing has caused earthquakes, and the 5 environment has resulted in a -- a drought, and the 6drought has resulted in waterways and lakes and water 7 tables being sincerely -- severely affected. 8 Years ago, a man by the name of Bill Saul 9Estes -- 10 MR. THOMPSON: Mrs. Walton, I'm sorry. 11 Your -- your time has -- has expired. 12 MS. WALTON: Okay. Sorry, sir. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 14 Are there any follow-up questions for 15 Mrs. Walton? 16MR. QUERTERMOUS: Yes. My name is Dewayne 17 Quertermous, D-e-w-a-y-n-e Q-u-e-r-t-e-r-m-o-u-s. 18 As Ms. Marilyn just said, our air in DFW 19is no longer conducive to being able to breathe easily 20 during normal daily activity, much less strenuous 21 outdoor activity. Each passing year, our air becomes an 22 increasingly toxic soup despite reductions in air 23 emissions from traditional sources. The reason our air 24 is not as clean as it should be is the practice of gas 25 drilling by hydraulic fracturing which spews millions of

### Page 153 1 tons of harmful pollutants into our air and which now 2 basically equals the emissions that are emitted by 3 mobile sources and airports in DFW. They're roughly 4 equivalent. 5 This will only get worse as the Barnett 6Shale play is drilled out to its estimated total of 7 50,000 wells. And it's -- I think it's currently about 8 15,000. Yet these virtually unregulated emissions are 9totally unaccounted for in the official plan to bring 10 the DFW nonattainment area into compliance. This state 11 of affairs is frankly absurd. 12 The industry is very effective at lobbying 13 local and state levels. They're also very good at 14 intimidation at the local level by threatening legal 15 action to any city who does not give them any exemption 16they ask for. 17 Since it is obvious that effective 18 regulations cannot be achieved at the local and state 19levels, the EPA and these proposed regulations are the 20 best hope for DFW and other areas affected by gas 21 drilling and its effects on air emissions. The industry 22 will argue that these regulations will kill jobs and 23 hurt the industry. However, the unregulated nature of 24 this industry and the excesses it has caused has led to 25 having a deserved reputation for being a bad neighbor

### Page 154 1 and not caring about the environmental cost of its 2 activities. 3 This reputation has led to a bevy of 4 countries announcing bans and many others putting in 5 place moratoriums until effective regulations are put in 6place. This fear and caution elicited in outside 7 observers should be a wake-up call for the public, the 8 EPA and the industry itself that the current practices 9of this -- of the industry in this country is causing 10 significant damage to public health and the environment. 11 I ask the EPA to do its job of protecting 12 the public and the environment by implementing these 13 proposed regulations and making them apply to as many 14 wells as possible. At the same time, you will be 15 helping this industry to become the responsible 16corporate citizen it claims to be. 17 Thank you. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 19Are there any follow-up questions? 20 Thank you both for your testimony. Thank 21 you very much. 22 Would Jan Miller and Michelle Cline please 23 come forward? Jan Miller and Michelle Cline. 24 Good evening, ladies. We'll start with 25 Mrs. Miller, please.

### Page 155 1 MS. MILLER: Good evening. My name is Jan 2 Miller, J-a-n M-i-l-l-e-r. I live in Arlington, Texas. 3 MR. THOMPSON: Pull the microphone just a 4 little closer to you. 5 MS. MILLER: Okay. Is that better? 6MR. THOMPSON: A little, yeah. 7 MS. MILLER: Okay. Thanks for -- thanks 8 very much for coming to Arlington tonight and all day 9today. I'm sorry. I appreciate your -- your being here 10 and taking our testimony. 11 My name is Jan Miller. I live in 12 Arlington. I have lived here all my life. I am a 13 scientist, professionally employed. I'm not 14 representing either my employer here tonight, certainly. 15 I drive about 10 miles -- I live in 16southwest Arlington. I drive about 10 miles to work in 17 Fort Worth. On the way to work, I pass approximately 18 five well sites. I also pass a compressor station. I 19have two well sites within sight of my office door -- 20 sorry, my office window. At home, I now have a well 21 site of 20 plus wells within 600 feet of my back door. 22 There are routes around Arlington that I 23 no longer go because I know that I will pass a 24 compressor station or a well site and I'm going to -- 25 I'm going to breathe those -- those fumes when I pass

### Page 156 1 by. I'm careful to keep the recirculation on my car. 2 I'm now -- thanks to the well site that's close to home, 3 I can smell those -- that -- that -- emissions from 4 that site as well on a fairly routine basis. It depends 5 on -- of course, on which way the wind's blowing. But 6this is now part of our lives. 7 I live in a very ordinary suburb. I never 8 dreamed that any available space would be taken up by 9wells, well sites so close to residences. The sites 10 have been permitted and they're unavoidable in our -- in 11 our daily life here. 12 The city and state governments have not 13 provided adequate protection for human health or for the 14 environment. The exemptions are frequently granted to 15 the -- to the regulations that we do have in the former 16state ordinance -- or local ordinances. The industry 17 has taken advantage of the lax and nonexistent 18 regulations and they've been granted the exemptions on 19top of what paltry regulation does exist, including 20 on -- on the federal scale the Halliburton loophole, 21 which has granted the whole industry exemptions. 22 Any regulations from -- from local 23 ordinances are -- are retroactive and come at a cost at 24 our -- at our expense. We are -- we feel like guinea 25 pigs here in this -- in this area because the -- the

### Page 157 1 industry has moved in and moved into suburban and urban 2 areas without -- without adequate regulation. 3 I only wish that the regulations that are 4 proposed would -- would apply to -- retroactively to 5 existing wells. As some other people have said, 6monitors would be great, but, again, it's just proving 7 what's already there. But we -- we really do fear for 8 our health here and for the environment, not only the 9health emissions, but the -- the methane and the 10 greenhouse gas emissions. 11 But, again, I'll be very grateful for 12 whatever this -- these regulations can provide for us -- 13 for us here. And, again, I appreciate your coming to 14 Arlington and listening to our testimony. Thank you 15 very much. 16MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Miller. 17 Are there any questions for Mrs. Miller? 18 Okay. Thank you. 19Ms. Cline? 20 MS. CLINE: Good evening. My name is 21 Michelle Cline, M-i-c-h-e-l-l-e. Cline is C-l-i-n-e. 22 I'm joined this evening by Andy and 23 Julianne Bidanado (phonetic). They're not speaking, but 24 they are part of my community. We live in the Grace 25 Meadows HOA in North Richland Hills. We're a very small

### Page 158 1 homeowners' association comprised of only 30 homes. I 2 have been a past member on the board. Julie's been 3 active in the committee -- I'm sorry, on the board, as 4 well as the past secretary. And Andy is our present HOA 5 president. 6And we're here tonight because we are -- 7 live on, I believe, the single biggest site going into 8 North Richland Hills. There's 12 completed sites. And 9on about two, maybe three acres, they are slated for 22. 10 North Richland Hills is a northeastern suburb of 11 Fort Worth. And the tip that we're in borders 12 Southlake, Colleyville, Hurst and Keller. So this is 13 clearly a very populated area. Twenty-two wells in one 14 site that's a few thousand yards from our homes. 15 Unfortunately, on Memorial Day weekend, 16some of our no- -- neighbors noticed some unusual 17 activity, including fire trucks, folks out taking 18 samples along the creek bed in the middle of the night, 19et cetera. 20 We e-mailed our good friends at Chesa- -- 21 I'm sorry, good neighbors at Chesapeake and didn't get a 22 response. Started inquiring at the city as 24 hours 23 approached about what was going on. I actually ended up 24 calling the EPA, got in touch with Steve Mason at Region 25 6. He got ahold of the folks at the Railroad

### Page 159 1 Commission. They did come out and apparently there had 2 been a spill. The site was in violation of statewide 3 Rule 8. 4 Long story short, I had to fight to get 5 some of the testing. And if anybody would like to see 6this, I'm happy to e-mail it to Steve or anyone at 7 the -- the EPA. I do have scans of those. I don't have 8 them with me tonight. 9The water that was tested 16 hours after 10 the fire department showed up did test positive for 11 carbon chains that are indicative of diesel. And -- and 12 by the way, my background -- I work in pathology. And 13 the folks that are with me tonight are both pharmacists. 14 So we know a little bit about chemistry and the effects 15 of these things on folks' bodies. 16So we have some significant concerns about 17 that because the Railroad Commission -- I received a 18 letter last month that basically said it's all cleaned 19up. I haven't seen any of this data, but they said it's 20 all cleaned up, the violation is over, et cetera. So 21 I'm in a position where I don't feel that our local 22 authorities can or will take care of us, so I'm looking 23 to you folks at the EPA to help us out. 24 But I know that we're not here today to 25 talk about water. We're here today to talk about the

### Page 160 1 air. Now, obviously since this happened Memorial Day 2 weekend, the 22 wells going in behind us have been 3 pretty high on my radar. 4 I don't know how clear this picture is. 5 Oh. Do you mind? Thank you. First, I shouldn't have 6got -- shouldn't have got it done in glossy, but I'll 7 remember that the next time. 8 You can see some smoke coming out over 9the -- some trees there. Our neighborhood's right in 10 front of that. And I noticed that one day when I was 11 talking my little girl out for a walk in the stroller 12 and I heard all the noise and I looked and there was 13 black smoke pouring. And this went on for about three 14 weeks in July, daily, Monday through Friday, from -- 15 between 7:00 and 8:00 till about 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. And 16I have a hard time believing that this kind of activity 17 going on on these sites isn't a major contributor to the 18 issues that we have here in Dallas/Fort Worth. 19And if you can't see the smoke in the 20 picture, I'm sure -- especially those of you coming from 21 other areas and aren't used to seeing how bad the 22 pollution is here notice it just driving around or 23 landing in Dallas every day. 24 One thing I would like to ask is for these 25 federal air quality standards to not only apply to new

### Page 161 1 sources, but to grandfather in old sources. As someone 2 else pointed out, these rules are going to be worthless 3 where an area is already saturated and with 22 within a 4 few hundred -- or, I'm sorry, a few thousand yards of 5 where I raise my daughter, those rules would be 6completely worthless for us. 7 I'm very concerned about the benzene. 8 Someone spoke to that earlier. Despite what the 9industry wants to say, working in pathology, we know for 10 a fact that benzene causes lymphoma and leukemia. I've 11 actually had somebody from the industry tell me that I 12 shouldn't worry about benzene because it's a colorless 13 and odorless gas. 14 We also know that Texas has some of the 15 highest breast cancer rates in the United States, and 16those rates aren't going down. I don't have any proof 17 that they're related to the oil and gas industry, but 18 even in some of the oil and gas industry's own studies, 19women, even in administrative positions, seem to have 20 higher rates of breast cancer than the rest of the 21 general population. So I think that these are things 22 that we need to look at. And considering some of the 23 things going on with hydraulic fracturing, this is not 24 the drilling of the '70s. We really need to look into 25 this.

### Page 162 1 And just so you know where I'm coming 2 from, I think that there's a -- a tendency to think that 3 the folks that come and speak out against it fit a 4 concern stereotype. 5 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You can say it. 6MS. CLINE: I'm a Republican. I'm a 7 conservative. My daddy worked on the oil fields as a 8 roughneck in the '70s, and I have family that works in 9the gas industry at present. 10 My time's up? 11 MR. THOMPSON: Your time's up. 12 MS. CLINE: Thank you. 13 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 14 Before you go, the pho- -- I want to ask 15 you a question about the photo. 16MS. CLINE: Yes. 17 MR. THOMPSON: Was that from your 18 backyard? Your community? 19MS. CLINE: That photo is taken on Kirk 20 Lane. If you enter the community from Precinct Line, 21 you can follow Kirk Lane. Our HOA is to the right. 22 This is a road that curves around past the farm behind 23 us where these wells are actually in at and around a 24 curve. So you're looking -- our houses would be right 25 in front of this tree line.

### Page 163 1 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Okay. Thanks. 2 Are there any questions from the panel? 3 And, Mrs. Miller, you're hiding behind the poster. Do 4 we have any questions for her as well? 5 Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you both 6for your testimony. 7 MS. CLINE: Thank you-all for your time 8 tonight. We appreciate you coming out to Texas. 9MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 10 I'd like to ask Nina Ashley and Kerrie 11 Kimberling to come forward. 12 Good evening, ladies. 13 MS. ASHLEY: Good evening. 14 MR. THOMPSON: I'd like to start with you, 15 Mrs. Ashley. Spell your name for the record and then 16you can begin your testimony. 17 MS. ASHLEY: My name is Nina Ashley. 18 That's N-i-a (sic) and then Ashley is A-s-h-l-e-y. 19I just come to ask people to have a little 20 common sense. If our air is polluted, if our water is 21 polluted, birds are going to fall out of the air, fish 22 are going to die, the animals are going to die, all our 23 food is polluted; therefore, everything is polluted. 24 This is kind of silly. 25 Miners use canaries to go into mines to

### Page 164 1 find out if there's gas escaping. When the canary dies, 2 the people -- the miners know to get out. We don't need 3 more regulation and more expense. That's foolish. We 4 don't need to do that. 5 That's what I have to say. Thank you. 6MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Thank you for your 7 testimony. 8 Are there any questions for Mrs. Ashley? 9Okay. 10 MS. ASHLEY: Oh. I have -- excuse me. I 11 do have a couple more comments. 12 I survived breast cancer, fourth stage 13 breast cancer and cancer of the thyroid and I got those 14 from hormones that were female hormones. I didn't get 15 it from the environment. So we should ask about a lot 16of drugs, but the environment did nothing to do with 17 that. Now I'm clear. I have no problems. I'm a sixth 18 generation Texan. Nobody that I know has been getting 19problems from the environment here in Texas. And I know 20 a lot of people. 21 Thank you. 22 MR. THOMPSON: Again, thank you. 23 MS. KIMBERLING: My name is Kerrie 24 Kimberling. It's K-e-r-r-i-e, Kimberling, 25 K-i-m-b-e-r-l-i-n-g. I live in Richardson, Texas.

### Page 165 1 I'm here to support the new gas drilling 2 regulations. I -- my land isn't being destroyed and I 3 don't have any health problems, but health problems 4 don't happen overnight. Cancer can happen over a long 5 period of time. And environmental effects are having 6an -- an impact on us. I believe it was the Susan G. 7 Komen Foundation who recently stated that the 8 environmental impacts are having an effect on breast 9cancer in women. 10 In Texas, polluters are rarely held 11 accountable. The Dallas/Fort Worth area continues to be 12 in violation of the Clean Air Act. I'm trying to do my 13 part, but my coasting to every stop sign doesn't seem to 14 be doing the trick. Industry has to do their fair 15 share. 16These rules can make a difference if they 17 are enforced. We will need your help with the 18 enforcement. The TCEQ is a joke. The EPA has allowed 19them to continue to be a joke. We need these 20 regulations, we need them enforced, and we need you to 21 act on the fact that TCEQ is not doing their job. 22 Texans need your protection. 23 Thank you for your time. 24 MR. THOMPSON: And thank you for your 25 time.

### Page 166 1 Are there any questions for 2 Mrs. Kimberling? 3 Okay. Mrs. Ashley and Mrs. Kimberling, 4 thank you both for your time and your testimony. Thank 5 you. 6I'd like to ask Penelope Bisbee and Rita 7 Beving or Beving -- Beving -- Beving, is that it? Three 8 time's a charm. Got it right on the third shot. Thank 9you. 10 Good evening, ladies. Let's start with 11 Mrs. Bisbee. State your name for the record and -- 12 MS. BISBEE: Okay. 13 MR. THOMPSON: -- then begin your 14 testimony. 15 MS. BISBEE: Okay. My name is Penelope 16Bisbee, P-e-n-e-l-o-p-e B-i-s-b-e-e. Good -- good 17 evening, Alex, Fred, Rob and Bruce. 18 MR. THOMPSON: Good evening. 19MS. BISBEE: Okay. I -- I'll be brief. 20 I -- I'm an artist and a concerned 21 citizen. I'm concerned about the current boom in oil 22 and gas drilling, especially in this region in this 23 state of Texas. No doubt Texas is open for business, 24 oil and gas business closed for taking care of public 25 health.

### Page 167 1 Two -- two quick points. One, The 2 Railroad Commission has 12 -- yes, 12 inspectors for 3 potentially 17,000 wells. Well, they'll have everything 4 inspected by 2050, 2100. 5 Number two, EPA, Alex, Fred, Rob and 6Bruce, stay strong. Ensure that all reasonable measures 7 are taken to control harmful emissions. Our health 8 depends on it. 9Lastly, thank you, EPA. In my book, you 10 guys are rock stars. 11 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you for your 12 testimony, Mrs. Bisbee. 13 Any questions for Mrs. Bisbee? Guys? No? 14 Okay. 15 MS. BEVING: My -- my name is Rita Beving. 16I reside at 13214 Glad Acres Drive in Farmers Branch, 17 Texas. I am on the regional clean air steering 18 committee for Dallas/Fort Worth, and I'm also here 19representing -- and I am the public citizen Sierra Club 20 representative on that committee. 21 Before I get in my comments on air, I want 22 to implore the EPA to do something else for me since I 23 have you in front of me. Last night the state -- well, 24 yesterday the state department had hearings on tar 25 sands. I implore the Agency to intervene on this

### Page 168 1 national interest determination because Entrix did the 2 study on the FEIS and the EIS and the SEIS for tar 3 sands. They used outdated EPA material and references. 4 Now we are facing the dirtiest fossil fuel 5 on the planet, tar sands, that puts water at risk for 660 -- for almost 10 to 12 million people in 60 counties 7 in East Texas with the tar sands pipeline coming 8 through. Just like today that we're asking you to hold 9frackers accountable, we cannot have Canada put us at 10 risk for refining oil to go to China. So with that, I'm 11 going to go into my fracking comments. 12 Like I said, I'm on the regional clean air 13 steering committee. That's 19 or -- 19 to 21 officials 14 from the area serve on that committee. 15 For those who want to claim nothing is 16wrong in this region, I suggest they go to the Cooke's 17 medical study and find out that asthma is 25 percent 18 higher than the national average. There's another 19medical study, I believe it's by one of the Methodist 20 Hospitals in the region, that also point out we have an 21 elevated level of sick children and sick people. It is 22 documented. So with that, I say frackers shouldn't be 23 exempt from the Clear Air Act. 24 I'm just going to mention that at a 25 Railroad Commission -- with the Railroad Commissioner

### Page 169 1 testifying before the Natural Resources Committee this 2 year in Fort Worth, this is how many inspectors the 3 Railroad Commission has for all of these wells in the 4 North Texas area, 12. Twelve inspectors for 17,000 5 wells. That's unacceptable. So that is why we need the 6EPA to intervene with rules. 7 Colorado and Wyoming already use these 8 reg- -- types of regulations of green com- -- 9completions wherever it's possible. There is no reason 10 we can't do that everywhere. 11 Now, of course, the standard industry line 12 is delay and deny. It doesn't matter whether you're a 13 coal plant or cement kiln. After 15 years of doing 14 this, I see it all the time, hoping a new administration 15 will be elected and make sure that no rules and no 16enforcement go forward threatening to shut down the EPA. 17 I've seen it for over a decade. 18 The industry can do this because the 19technology exists. Methane, benzene, formaldehyde, it's 20 very detrimental to public health. We have to clean 21 this up. It's not just about CO2 and VOCs and NOCs. We 22 have to clean up the industry. 23 So on behalf of public citizens and those 24 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that don't like seeing 25 their garden hoses catching fire and their water

### Page 170 1 catching on fire, I urge you to adopt these rules. 2 Thank you. 3 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mrs. Beving. 4 Are there any questions for Mrs. Beving? 5 Mrs. Beving, could you spell your last 6name for the court reporter? 7 MS. BEVING: It's B as in boy, e as in 8 Edward, v as in Victor, i-n, g as in girl. Thank you 9both. 10 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you both. 11 Would Mary Owen and Faith Chatham please 12 come forward? Thank you. 13 Good evening, ladies. Yes, Mrs. Owen. 14 MS. OWEN: Okay. I -- I wanted to -- 15 about three weeks ago -- 16MR. THOMPSON: Mrs. Owen, could you start 17 by giving us your name for the court record? 18 MS. OWEN: Mary Owen. That's M-a-r-y 19O-w-e-n. 20 Three weeks ago, I was sitting there and 21 it was one of those really super hot nights when the 22 wind was blowing and it was just -- there was a lot of 23 other dirt in the air. But I was smelling this gas and 24 it was so -- like natural gas, but was super nasty and 25 dirty. Well, I didn't panic and didn't call 9-1-1.

### Page 171 1 So the next day, I called the EPA. They 2 said that if I smell that again, I should call 9-1-1. 3 We have those big blow-off stations right down on 4 Truman. I live on East and Truman and Davis and North 5 Street. 6So the next day I did. And when I smelled 7 it again, it was so strong it would have knocked you 8 out. So I called 9-1-1. 9They came out and they did their little 10 search around, even at the blow-off part. There was no 11 problem. But what I did find out is that the -- it's 12 not the transfer station. It's what they -- that lady 13 was talking about a while ago where they -- where they 14 filter the gas through stuff and it has a pop-off valve. 15 Well, it popped off. When it popped off, it was awful 16and it was so strong it -- it -- it was scary. And it 17 killed one of my trees. It was one I had watered and 18 I'd been watering very well. 19So the guy -- the next day when Atmos 20 Energy came out and they did their little thing all the 21 way around and he went down to that place. He said, 22 Okay. It's not dangerous to breathe. Okay? Well, it 23 does not say that it isn't dangerous to plants because 24 it killed one of my trees. And it wasn't from the heat 25 because I'd been watering well.

### Page 172 1 I want to know why that wasn't filtered 2 better. And I want to know -- okay. From what I've 3 been hearing, they're selling water from Arlington's 4 water to the gas places so they can clean whatever it is 5 they clean. And it's never reclaimed. That's bad. We 6need the water, especially right now when we're in such 7 a drought. We do not need to be spending that water, 8 our natural water that we can drink to use for that 9purpose. That is bad. 10 And I went by the -- the retention pond, 11 which is right around the corner from me. Okay. It's 12 not -- it does -- I don't know how deep they are, but 13 they're big. And if you -- they're cutting down Olympic 14 swimming pools for kids to swim in now because of the 15 lack of water. Okay? 16And another question is what can be 17 reclaimed -- how can that be reclaimed even if they put 18 up those little filter things? And I've see them up and 19down the road. Is that good enough? You know, it blows 20 in the air and it's just not good. It's really bad. 21 And what can we do? 22 That's why I try to keep plants. And 23 we're going to have re- -- I want us to think about 24 replanting that -- the plant that they're talk- -- that 25 I'm talking about that's there at Truman and North

### Page 173 1 Street where they haven't drilled yet, but they've got 2 the ponds. They need to replant more, more, more trees. 3 And all plants that they had put out, most of them have 4 dried. And we need to plant more trees, more plants 5 because all the heat has killed so many plants this 6year. 7 Now, that's not because of any gas well. 8 That's a natural thing that's occurred. But that just 9goes to show that we need to replant, replant. Have 10 anybody that has a -- a cyclone fence, a wire fence, 11 have vines growing on it. That helps our air. Any 12 grass that's growing helps our air. Any Johnson grass, 13 even. We shouldn't even cut down Johnson grass because 14 it cleans our air. Okay? Anything -- and we need to go 15 with drought-resistant plants because even the cactuses 16and essentially plants, they clean our air. 17 I'm an analyst. I analyze every plant, 18 every tree. There's nothing in our air that I don't 19analyze. And my nose is really sensitive. 20 MR. THOMPSON: Mrs. Owens, I'm sorry. 21 Your time has expired. 22 MS. OWEN: My time is up? Well, thank 23 you. I hope you -- I hope you -- 24 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Before you -- 25 MS. OWEN: I hope I made my point.

### Page 174 1 MR. THOMPSON: Before you move the 2 microphone, though, we want to ask for any questions. 3 Okay. 4 MS. OWEN: Thank you. 5 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you. 6MS. CHATHAM: I'm Faith Chatham, F-a-i-t-h 7 C-h-a-t-h-a-m. I'm a ninth generation resident of 8 Texas. And I grew up in the oil fields of East Texas. 9I am one of the cofounders of DFW Regional 10 Concerned Citizens. We consider ourselves an 11 independent think tank because we do not accept money 12 from industry or governmental entities. However, in 13 full disclosure, I will say that all of us are graduates 14 or have been trained at the UT Urban Institute. We have 15 multiple degrees from UTA, but we're not on staff at 16UTA. And in full disclosure, all of us own at least one 17 parcel of land in Texas which is leased for oil and gas 18 production. 19That being said, in this multi-year 20 journey of examining natural gas production and policy 21 from many different directions and examining research 22 studies coming from all kinds of sources, I'd like to 23 share our conclusions. Now, mind you, DFW Regional 24 Concerned Citizens concentrates on public policy in the 25 North Central Texas Council of Government region. This

### Page 175 1 is 16 counties, all of which are in the Barnett Shale. 2 So I'm speaking from the very local perspective and also 3 from a regional perspective. 4 In this endeavor of deciding how to 5 produce and regulate or not regulate natural gas, there 6is more than merely the billions of dollars of industry 7 investment in energy sector profits on the table. How 8 we develop natural gas as a bridge fund does impact our 9national fence, but failing to develop and implement 10 green completion and industry best practices nationwide 11 will deter the implement- -- or deterring the 12 implementation of these proposed air standards will 13 result in lost profit for investors, the industry and 14 will result in higher health care expenditures and time 15 lost from school, work and community service by 16citizens. 17 The economic impact of not implementing 18 these rules as fast as possible and of refusing to allow 19grandfathering will be much more costly than we can 20 afford. We believe that adoption and implementation of 21 these rules are an important step in sensibly developing 22 natural gas as a bridge fuel for current consumption, 23 but current economic gains must be balanced with 24 long-term economic sustainability. And these air 25 standards are one step in protecting our environment.

### Page 176 1 And without air, water, plants and human beings, we have 2 no economic growth and it's a loss-loss. 3 While there is some short-term economic 4 benefit from lax air standards, delay of adoption of 5 these standards will have dire long-term consequences 6both economically and environmentally. These proposed 7 standards are all based on implementation of practices 8 that are used in other states and have been proven by 9the industry to work and are cost-productive. 10 We have seen some improvement in the air 11 quality at North Central Texas Council of Regions in the 12 past eight years. Most of this came from changes in the 13 automobile standards and also from taking bad cars off 14 the road and from closing down a horrible cement kiln. 15 In the past few years, the air quality has steadily 16gotten worse. And in the past few years, there's been 17 more and more wells come online. 18 You can look at the Dallas/Fort Worth 19area, and the counties that had gas wells first had bad 20 air quality first. Dallas County, although it continues 21 to have more population and more automobiles, has better 22 air than Tarrant. 23 At this time there is a very alarming 24 increase in breast cancer in six counties in Texas. 25 They are all in the Barnett Shale. This is dangerous.

### Page 177 1 The National Center For the Prevention of Disease 2 Control has identified Tarrant, Denton, Parker, Wise, 3 Hood and Johnson as being those counties with the 4 highest incidences of breast cancer. 5 We realize that although natural gas is 6considered a environmental issue, it's really a child 7 endangerment issue. It's an old person endangerment 8 issue. It's a family endangerment issue. And the rules 9that you implement and when you implement them and how 10 you implement them and how you demand that they are 11 complied with from the bottom to the top will determine 12 this. There is no will from the bottom to do it. It 13 must be done from the top. 14 With an alarming incidence of increases of 15 501(c)(3) nonprofit -- 16MR. THOMPSON: Ms. Chatham -- 17 MS. CHATHAM: -- organizations -- 18 MR. THOMPSON: -- I'm sorry. Your time 19has expired. 20 MS. CHATHAM: Okay. Thank you. 21 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Are there any 22 questions for either Mrs. Owen or Mrs. Chatham? 23 Thank you both very much for your 24 testimony. Thank you. 25 I'd like to ask Ronnie Stapleton and Frank

### Page 178 1 Kuchar to come forward. 2 Good evening, gentlemen. If we could 3 start with Mr. Stapleton, please. 4 MR. STAPLETON: My name is Ronnie 5 Stapleton, R-o-n-n-i-e S-t-a-p-l-e-t-o-n. I'm a 6resident of Fort Worth. 7 I've got a pretty short-and-sweet thing to 8 say here. The Texas Railroad Commission has state 9regulatory authority over a very productive and safe oil 10 and gas industry in Texas. The industry has in- -- was 11 invented in Texas, and we know how to regulate it here. 12 The Texas Water Quality Board has regulatory authority 13 over Texas's groundwater and has done a stellar job of 14 protecting our water resources. The Texas Commission on 15 Environmental Quality protects Texas's air quality and 16has state regulatory authority. We do not need federal 17 regulations. EPA, we don't need you. 18 Thank you very much. 19MR. THOMPSON: And thank you for your 20 testimony. 21 Are there any questions for Mr. Stapleton? 22 Okay. All right. Mr. Kuchar? I'm sorry? 23 MR. STAPLETON: Somebody had a 24 question over here. 25 MR. THOMPSON: No. Questions from this

### Page 179 1 panel. 2 MR. STAPLETON: Oh, okay. I'm sorry. 3 MR. THOMPSON: That's quite all right. 4 If you could share the mic. Thank you 5 very much. 6MR. KUCHAR: Evening, gentlemen. 7 MR. THOMPSON: Good evening. 8 MR. KUCHAR: My name is Frank Kuchar, 9K-u-c-h-a-r. 10 I have a question. Most of the testimony 11 here tonight, since I got here late from work, has been 12 about fracking and air quality, but are other issues 13 that the EPA is looking to regulate also on the table 14 for discussion? 15 MR. THOMPSON: Sir, we don't respond to 16questions. You can give us -- 17 MR. KUCHAR: All right. 18 MR. THOMPSON: -- your comments -- 19MR. KUCHAR: Okay. 20 MR. THOMPSON: -- but we don't respond to 21 questions. 22 MR. KUCHAR: My concern is the fact that a 23 couple times this past summer when things got so hot, 24 thanks to the unconstitutional intrusion put into my 25 home by the energy and part of your agency in having

### Page 180 1 Smart Meters on our house, my air-conditioning and power 2 was shut down. There was nothing we could do with the 3 thermostat to turn it back on until they decided to let 4 the air-conditioning unit come back on. It didn't lose 5 all power, just the air-conditioning. The thermostat 6wouldn't work. 7 And so because of the regulations that 8 your agency is about to implement, we're going to be 9losing some power plants here in Texas. You -- I don't 10 know if you gentlemen live here in Texas or you're from 11 somewhere further up north, but we've had 71 days this 12 year, one out of every five, in excess of 100 degrees. 13 That's hot. 14 If we lose more power plants because of 15 the excessive regulations that you are going to be 16imposing upon our power facilities, we're going to be in 17 a world of hurt. We talk about old people dying because 18 they can't have -- their homes get too hot or perhaps 19they can't heat their houses. If you insist on putting 20 down some of the regulations such as what is proposed in 21 the Cross-State Air Pollution Rate imposing a 47 22 percent, I believe it is -- yeah, 47 percent in- -- 23 decrease in SO2 emissions, that's going to cause our -- 24 a severe strain upon our power grid. And we're already 25 in a world of hurt as it is. More people are moving to

### Page 181 1 this state. More power's being required. 2 And I -- the point I just want to make is 3 really quick. I think that the notice that the EPA 4 has given the power plants here in Texas, the short 5 notice -- they were first told they would not be 6required to be compliant. This summer they've been told 7 they will be and they have to be compliant by 8 January 2012. The short notice time is not reasonable. 9The reduction percentage is unrealistic. 10 And the question is then -- of course, you 11 can't answer it -- is what is the basis for these 12 reductions? Who determined them and how? People from 13 within the agency who have an agenda and a bias or those 14 from an objective outside third-party? 15 The impact is going to be had upon 16unemployment when people lose their jobs from the coal 17 mines and the power plants that are shut down. That was 18 not taken into consideration. Where's the balance 19between life quality and -- as well as our economy? 20 The inflationary impact on struggling 21 families during the recession when energy costs go up -- 22 when energy costs go up, the price of everything goes 23 up. Yes, we want to have clean air and water. We want 24 to have that. But it doesn't do you any good to have 25 clean water if you can't afford to pay for it.

### Page 182 1 And, finally, your agency -- if a company 2 wants to build a new power plant, well, make them jump 3 through innumerable hoops of compliance with 4 environmental impact studies. And if one little T is 5 not crossed, one little I is not dotted, they get shut 6down and made to wait and wait and wait while we are 7 without power. 8 And my question to the EPA is: Why is it 9that you require industry to commit these environmental 10 impact studies, but when you come out with these 11 regulations upon regulations, you are not required to 12 conduct an economic impact studies on your regulations? 13 That's my complaint. And if I am 14 successful in my run for United States Congress to 15 represent the sixth district here in Texas, perhaps I 16can address these issues on a higher level. 17 MR. THOMPSON: Okay. Thank you for your 18 testimony. 19Before you go, any questions? 20 Gentlemen, thank you both for coming out 21 tonight and thank you for your testimony. 22 At this time I'd like to ask Ed Pischedda 23 to come forward. 24 Good evening. 25 MR. PISCHEDDA: Good evening. Ed

### Page 183 1 Pischedda, 1104 Auburn Drive, Arlington, Texas. 2 I'd first like to thank you folks for 3 spending your time listening to the citizenry of this 4 area. This is a very important issue. 5 I support the proposed regulations. If 6anything, they are too timid. I wish they were 7 stronger, but we'll take what we can get. 8 The air quality of this area has been on a 9downward slide, at least in Tarrant County, since the 10 advent of drilling in the Barnett Shale. It's been 11 getting better in Dallas. It's not in Tarrant County, 12 and I think there's a reason for that. It's the 13 increased drilling activity. And we need to see some 14 regulations put in place that will reverse that trend. 15 And I think these are a good first step in getting that 16started. 17 I'm not clear on whether these regulations 18 will have much of an impact on wells and gas facilities 19that are already in place and if these will just impact 20 future equipment, but so be it. I wish we could get 21 regulations that would impact all wells and equipment 22 that have been put -- put in place since the drilling 23 started, but we'll take what we can get at this point. 24 Something needs to be done. 25 That's it. Thank you.

### Page 184 1 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you, Mr. Pischedda. 2 Are there any questions for Mr. Pischedda? 3 Mr. Pischedda, I've been asked to have you 4 spell your last name, please, for our court reporter. 5 MR. PISCHEDDA: Yes. P as in pickle, 6i-s-c-h-e, dog, dog, a. 7 MR. THOMPSON: Thank you very much. And 8 thank you for your testimony. 9Well, as I understand it, Mr. Pischedda 10 was our last one to testify tonight. I want to thank 11 everyone for coming out. And this will conclude the 12 public hearing on the Oil and Natural Gas Sector: The 13 New Source Performance Standards and National Emission 14 Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and Review here 15 in Arlington, Texas, on this day Thursday, 16September 29th, 2011. 17 Thank you very much. 18 (Whereupon, at 8:22 p.m., the proceedings 19were adjourned) 20 21 22 23 24 25

### Page 185 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 I, Christi Sanford, CSR No. 6720, State of Texas, 3 do hereby certify: 4 That the foregoing proceedings is a correct 5 transcription from the proceedings in the above-entitled 6matter. 7 That the foregoing is a true and correct 8 transcript of my shorthand notes so taken. 9I further certify that I am neither counsel 10 for, related to, nor employed by any of the parties to 11 the action in which this proceeding was taken, and 12 further that I am not financially or otherwise 13 interested in the outcome of the action. 14 DATED this 11th day of October, 2011. 15 16 17 18 ____________________________________ Christi Sanford, Texas CSR 6720 19Certificate Expires: 12/31/11 Firm Registration No. 32 20 ABI Expiration Date: 12/31/11 21 Atkinson-Baker Court Reporters 500 North Brand Boulevard, Third Floor 22 Glendale, California 91203 (800) 288-3376 23 (800) 925-5910 Fax 24 25