Liberal trial lawyer Bill White is still refusing to accept responsibility for the actions of a company that paid him $2.6 million for serving on its Board of Directors.
BJ Services has admitted to Congress that it lied to the EPA in 2003 when it promised to stop injecting diesel fuel into wells in underground sources of drinking water, yet in a new report from the Austin American-Statesman, Bill White’s spokeswoman claimed that he knew nothing about this and said, “The diesel issues did not rise to the board level at BJ Services.” (SOURCE: “Fracking questions: White's ties to well company highlighted,” Austin American-Statesman, 8/16/10, full article below and online athttp://www.statesman.com/news/texas/fracking-questions-whites-ties-to-we...)
“Liberal Bill White is again attempting to deceive Texans by falsely claiming he did not know about BJ Services’ use of diesel fuel while fracturing,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “It is unbelievable for Bill White to say ‘the diesel issues did not rise to the board level at BJ Services’ when the Chairman of the Board received letters of inquiry from Congress.”
Below are actions related to BJ Services’ “diesel issues” that Bill White claims “did not rise to the board level at BJ Services.”
Jan. 22, 2003 – Bill White appointed to BJ Services Board of Directors [1]
Dec. 12, 2003 – BJ Services signs Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the EPA that said, “The companies agree to eliminate diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing fluids injected into CBM (coalbed methane) production wells in USDWs (underground sources of drinking water) within 30 days of signing this agreement.” [2]
June 2004 – BJ Services assistant general counsel and chief compliance officer Mark Airola writes to the EPA, “We have removed diesel fuel from all fracturing fluids used in coalbed methane wells.” [3]
Oct. 2006 – BJ Services sends EPA reaffirmation of its adherence to the 2003 MOA. Harold Brannon, the company's manager for "fracturing product line technology," writes, "The agreement is indeed in effect from BJ's perspective and in fact has spread beyond its original scope." He adds: "It may be of interest to note that there have been several new fracturing services entries into these markets and many are rumored to be ignoring the agreement." [3]
2007 – BJ Services sends EPA reaffirmation of its adherence to the 2003 MOA. [3]
Nov. 26, 2007 – Congressman Henry Waxman writes BJ Services Board Chairman, President, and CEO J.W. Stewart a letter requesting “data on the types and volumes of chemicals used in their hydraulic fracturing fluids between 2005 and 2007.” [4]
Jan. 24, 2008 – BJ Services admits to Congress “it continued to use diesel and BTEX chemicals in the company’s fracturing fluids in coalbed methane wells after signing the MOA,” and “acknowledged these events ‘were in violation of the MOA.’” [4]
2008 – BJ Services sends EPA reaffirmation of its adherence to the 2003 MOA. [3]
Aug. 31, 2009 – BJ Services announces $5.5 billion merger with Baker Hughes. [5]
Jan. 2010 – BJ Services sends EPA reaffirmation of its adherence to the 2003 MOA. [3]
Feb. 18, 2010 – Congressman Henry Waxman announces he is launching a new investigation and writes BJ Services Board Chairman, President, and CEO J.W. Stewart a letter requesting details about the number of wells BJ Services fractured and the chemicals the company used when fracturing, both broken down by state. [6]
March 5, 2010 – BJ Services tells Congress it does not "track whether the wells they fracture are located in underground sources of drinking water" and it “does not track or maintain such data because it is the responsibility of the well operator to drill in compliance with the applicable statutes and regulations concerning subsurface aquifers.” [7]
March 31, 2010 – BJ Services stockholders vote to approve $5.5 billion merger with Baker Hughes. [8]
“Fracking questions: White's ties to well company highlighted”
Austin American-Statesman, Aug. 16, 2010
By Asher Price
As Democrat Bill White runs for governor, he has touted his environmental record as Houston mayor, which included pushing for more monitoring and regulation of toxic air emissions, buying hybrid vehicles for the city's fleet, encouraging homeowners to install solar panels and promoting recycling.
But lately, in the face of attacks from Republican opponent Gov. Rick Perry, he has found himself defending ties to BJ Services, a natural gas company. The company uses a common technique for pulling up gas known as hydraulic fracturing, and its environmental consequences are the subject of a federal inquiry that has raised questions about what BJ Services and other companies have pumped underground.
White served on the board of BJ Services, a Houston -based energy services company that specializes in drilling for natural gas, from 2003 until its acquisition in April by oil and gas company Baker Hughes, and has earned more than $2.6 million in total compensation, according to a story by the Houston Chronicle in March. Most of that money came from payments for his service on the board. White still owns more than 10,000 shares of BJ Services stock, according to personal financial disclosures made earlier this year.
BJ Services is one of a dozen or so companies under scrutiny by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee for the fracturing process, also known as fracking, in which a combination of saltwater and other chemicals is injected into rock to get at natural gas underground. Over the past decade, fracking has grown common in Fort Worth, which sits on the Barnett Shale, a deep reserve of natural gas, and BJ Services says it has fracked more than 2,000 wells in the region.
In at least two news releases since July, Perry's camp has drawn attention to the connection between White and BJ Services. A July 12 release, for example, accused the company of pumping "dangerous chemicals into the groundwater."
That has put Perry crosswise with the natural gas industry.
"Inaccurate statements made in the heat of a campaign ill-serve this important objective and the equally important goal of promoting broad public understanding of the extraordinary commitment and care our community takes every day to ensure we do our work in a safe and responsible manner," America's Natural Gas Alliance, an industry group, wrote in a July 19 letter to Perry.
Some Fort Worth residents have complained that fracking contaminates their water with benzene and other carcinogens, and the state environmental agency has stepped up monitoring of natural gas drilling in the area.
Activists have called for a moratorium on gas drilling around Fort Worth, which is regulated by the state. White, whose campaign has received $50,000 this year from BJ Services President James W. Stewart, according to records with the Texas Ethics Commission, says he opposes a moratorium.
The White campaign has said the former mayor's ties to the oil and gas industry make him well-situated to serve as governor.
"Texans want a governor who understands the technology of the energy industry," said Katy Bacon, a campaign spokeswoman.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has been nosing around fracking for months.
"Hydraulic fracturing could help us unlock vast domestic natural gas reserves once thought unattainable, strengthening America's energy independence and reducing carbon emissions," Henry Waxman, chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, said earlier this year when his committee sent letters to eight oil and gas companies about the process. "As we use this technology in more parts of the country on a much larger scale, we must ensure that we are not creating new environmental and public health problems."
In the previous session of Congress, Waxman had requested and received information from the largest hydraulic fracturing companies — Halliburton, BJ Services, and Schlumberger — on the chemicals used in their fracturing fluids.
BJ Services, along with Halliburton, used diesel fuel in their fracturing fluids from 2005 to 2007 , potentially violating a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cease using diesel, according to Waxman's office. BJ Services reported using 2,500 gallons of diesel-based fluids in several fracturing jobs. Halliburton and BJ Services also indicated that they used other chemicals — including benzene, toluene , ethylbenzene and xylene — that Waxman's office said could pose environmental risks.
Bacon said the diesel issues did not rise to the board level at BJ Services. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
The House committee asked BJ Services and a handful of other committees to provide data on whether it has performed hydraulic fracturing in or near underground sources of drinking water as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
In a March letter signed by Washington lawyer Mark Paoletta, who specializes in congressional investigations, BJ Services responded that it "does not track or maintain such data because it is the responsibility of the well operator to drill in compliance with the applicable statutes and regulations concerning subsurface aquifers."
The letter also said that "personnel and equipment typically travel to a well site, perform the fracturing activities, and depart. Once the fracture has taken place, the extraction process and the disposal of flowback and produced water is entirely controlled by the well operator."
SOURCING
[1] “William H. White Appointed to the Board of Directors for BJ Services Company,” Investor Relations, 1/22/03, http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=75549&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=...
[2] “Elimination of Diesel Fuel in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids Injected into Underground Sources of Drinking Water During Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Wells,” EPA, 12/12/03, http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/pdfs/moa_uic_hyd-fract.pdf
[3] “Oilfield Company Failed to Report Fracking Violations to EPA – Documents,” New York Times, 3/23/10, http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/03/23/23greenwire-oilfield-company-fai...
[4] “Examining the Potential Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing,” U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, 2/18/10,http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20100218/hydraulic_fracturing_...
[5] “Oil Patch may get more consolidation,” Houston Chronicle, 9/1/09,http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/6596216.html
[6] Letter to J.W. Stewart, House Energy and Commerce Committee, 2/18/10,http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20100218/stewart_letter.pdf
[7] “Update on the Committee’s Investigation into Hydraulic Fracturing,” U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, 7/19/10,http://energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100719/Memo.Hydraulic.Fractu...
[8] “Baker Hughes-BJ merger clears antitrust hurdle,” Houston Chronicle, 4/1/10,http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6938074.html
