Project ECOSite - Well Site Inspection and Compliance

Objective: Ensure oil and gas well sites are being operated without contaminating the surrounding area. When contamination is found, inform and educate the operator and conduct additional inspections in the future to monitor compliance.

How we meet our Objective: With current funding, we aim to conduct site visits of wellsites in the Texas regions, focusing on visual indications of contamination, such as spills and unsecured hazardous materials. With increased funding, the program can be expanded to other geographic areas, and we can also monitor for non-visual signs of contamination, such as Hydrogen Sulfide leaks and more thorough water analysis.

Project Term: This is a ERGF core project, with an ongoing term.

Objective & Quantifiable Success Tracking: Success for Project ECOSite is measured by objective and quantifiable data. We collect data on the number of sites that we visit, sites that we cannot access, sites with or without visible contamination, sites with or without indications of non-visible contamination, number of informational/educational communications with oil and gas operators, and more.

Difficulties We Encounter: Access is the largest difficulty we encounter. Many oil and gas wellsites are located on lands that we do not have legal access to. We can overcome this difficult by owning mineral and/or surface rights to lands, which gives us a right of entry. However, we are dependent on donations of these rights. Another difficult we encounter is Safety. Many wellsites are unmonitored and risk emitting deadly Hydrogen Sulfide gas. To effectively accomplish our goals, we require adequate personal protection equipment, such as H2S detectors, which can be expensive.