Lawmakers debate bill to stop companies' secret practices with waste: 'Compelling testimony'

A long-overdue bill addressing some of Texas' biggest environmental concerns is finally making its way to the state Legislature.

Filed by state Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, House Bill 4572 proposes safeguards for property owners against the dumping of toxic waste on private grounds by oil and gas companies.

It comes on the heels of the Railroad Commission of Texas making updates to the state's waste regulations last year, which addressed similar concerns.

According to Inside Climate News, HB 4572 proposes regulations on reserve pits, which are dug next to oil rigs and filled with waste. The pits remain open during drilling, and the waste is permanently buried underground after the well is complete.

The bill would require the RCT to adopt standards for the location of reserve pits and establish bonding and groundwater monitoring rules. It would also require standards for "providing notice to and receiving permission from" a landowner to permanently bury waste.

A measure that provides private property owners with protection against the indiscriminate and permanent burying of toxic chemicals on their grounds is a win not only for environmentalists but for all citizens.

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Imagine all your plants dying suddenly without explanation or local animals grazing on the grass and becoming violently ill due to chemicals. This is a future nobody desires except for industrialists, who only care about efficiency and profit margins and don't mind inconveniencing or harming others as long as they get what they want.

The bill "empowers landowners with the information and consent they deserve before toxic waste is buried beneath their property," Morales Shaw told the committee, according to Inside Climate News. She also noted that she had obtained "compelling testimony from lifelong industry members."

HB 4572 is pending in the Energy Resources Committee and has until June 2, the last day of the Texas legislative session, to be passed. In the meantime, Morales Shaw has been speaking out vehemently in support of the legislation and against the callous behavior of the state's energy moguls.

"Ranch owners can pour their life savings into their dream homestead, only later to find out that they bought a toxic waste reserve," she said, per Inside Climate News. "This bill will afford landowners the opportunity to make an informed decision and to know when their interests are at risk."