{"id":37311,"date":"2014-06-16T09:59:26","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T14:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=37311"},"modified":"2014-06-16T09:59:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-16T14:59:26","slug":"company-man-oil-and-gas-energy-rep-says-industry-understands-quake-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/06\/16\/company-man-oil-and-gas-energy-rep-says-industry-understands-quake-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Company Man: Oil and Gas Energy Rep Says Industry Understands Quake Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

From KERA News:<\/a><\/em><\/h4>\n
\"Alex<\/a>

Texas Alliance of Energy Producers<\/p>

Alex Mills is president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alex Mills is a company man. He heads the largest state oil and gas association in the United States. He\u2019s based in Wichita Falls, 90 minutes northwest of the Azle-Reno area, where a series of earthquakes hit six months ago. This story is part of our series on \u201cWhat\u2019s Behind the North Texas Quakes?\u201d<\/p>\n

As president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Alex Mills represents businesses in nearly 30 states. In a weekly column, he wrote that hydraulic fracturing has become a focal point of attack for many environmental groups that want to deter or ban oil and natural gas production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue with hydraulic fracturing is not really an issue,\u201d Mills said. \u201cBecause hydraulic fracturing is a process that has proven to be safe and reliable to get hydro-carbons out of the ground, oil and natural gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says officials from a number of federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, agree that fracturing is safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has come under the microscope in the Azle-Reno area, north of Fort Worth, is I think people have lumped, mischaracterized, hydraulic fracturing,” Mills said. “Lumped that in with all the other activity that\u2019s going on in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to know the distinction between hydraulic fracturing, he says, and injection or disposal wells.<\/p>\n

\u201cHydraulic fracturing is the process of going in and making a fracture miles below the earth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Injection wells store the waste water from oil and gas drilling. Environmentalists say the water is toxic, and that there isn\u2019t enough oversight. This water is piped underground, in some cases several miles deep.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have one without the other,\u201d Mills said. \u201cYou have to be able to dispose of the water or you can\u2019t produce. If you can\u2019t produce, all the economic benefits that go into the area will be shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills says the industry has been the spark plug for the Texas economy in the last decade, producing both jobs and tax revenues. The industry recognizes that there\u2019s conflict between the public and companies exploring for oil and gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe geology is such that you\u2019ve got to drill where the oil and gas is,\u201d Mills said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s just no two ways about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a series of earthquakes rattled the Reno and Azle region, some locals blamed the nearby oil and gas activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry understands that we\u2019ve got to find the problem and then address the solution,\u201d Mills said. \u201cIf it is oil and gas activity, the industry definitely wants to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

SMU scientists are currently looking into what\u2019s causing the earthquakes, but that study may not be ready for another year.<\/p>\n

This is the fourth story in a series called “What’s Behind the North Texas Quakes?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Earthquake public forum to be held June 18 in Azle<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s behind the earthquakes in North Texas?\u00a0KERA<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0StateImpact Texas<\/a>\u00a0will host a free public event to explore the issues at 7 p.m. \u00a0June 18 at the Azle High School Auditorium.\u00a0Learn more about the forum here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From KERA News: Alex Mills is a company man. He heads the largest state oil and gas association in the United States. He\u2019s based in Wichita Falls, 90 minutes northwest of the Azle-Reno area, where a series of earthquakes hit six months ago. This story is part of our series on \u201cWhat\u2019s Behind the North […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[59],"tags":[211,15,104],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37311"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37315,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37311\/revisions\/37315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}