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<\/span><\/a>All told, the Aliso Canyon leak thrust an estimated<\/a> 96,000 metric tons of potent methane\u2014not to mention benzene, nitrogen oxides and other noxious substances\u2014into the atmosphere<\/a> over a period of months. So vast was the impact of the leak, it has been likened<\/a> in impactful scope toBP\u2019s Deepwater Horizon<\/a> oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n California, however, isn\u2019t the only state dealing with mammoth methane leakage.<\/p>\n Texas<\/a> is dealing with a comparable disaster that has been overlooked by officials and the media, in part, because the state\u2019s methane emanates from a powerful industry\u2019s infrastructure.According to the Texas Observer<\/a>\u2019s Naveena Sadasivam:<\/p>\n \u201cEvery hour, natural gas facilities in North Texas\u2019 Barnett Shale region emit thousands of tons of methane\u2014a greenhouse gas at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide\u2014and a slate of noxious pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and benzene.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Aliso Canyon leak was big. The Barnett leaks, combined, are even bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n At its peak, the SoCal Gas leak emitted 58,000 kilograms of methane per hour. By comparison, researchers with universities in Colorado and Michigan, partnering with the Environmental Defense Fund, estimate around 60,000 kilograms<\/a> are spewed every hour by more than\u00a025,000 natural gas wells in operation on the Barnett Shale\u2014with the Dallas\/Fort Worth Metroplex at the center. This amounts to around 544,000 tons of methane every year. But contrary to the magnitude of the Aliso Canyon event, emissions caused by oil and gas extraction from the Barnett Shale\u2014and a second large formation, Eagle Ford Shale\u2014won\u2019t cease as long ashydraulic fracturing<\/a> remains the boon it has been to the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n An eight-month long study<\/a> of Eagle Ford by the Center for Public Integrity, Weather Channel and\u00a0InsideClimate News found \u201ca system that does more to protect the industry than the public.\u201d<\/p>\n Due to a scarcity of air quality monitoring stations, with only five permanent monitors to cover Eagle Ford\u2019s nearly 20,000 square miles, state officials simply don\u2019t know the extent of pollutants in the air. Many facilities are permitted to police themselves and aren\u2019t required to submit those findings. Not that regulators would have an easy time enforcing a reporting mandate, as the \u201cTexas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which regulates most air emissions, doesn\u2019t even know some of these facilities exist.\u201d<\/p>\n David Sterling, chair of the University of North Texas Health Science Center, told InsideClimate News, \u201cAs much as I would like to believe that industry can police itself, history has shown that that has not worked without sufficient oversight.\u201d With TCEQ\u2019s budget having fallen 34 percent<\/a> between 2010 and 2014, it\u2019s virtually impossible to imagine such oversight increasing in the future.<\/p>\n There is a dearth of accountability for lawbreakers in Texas\u2019 oil and gas industry. As the study discovered, in a period of nearly two years beginning in January 2010, 284 complaints against the industry\u2014and \u201c164 documented violations\u201d\u2014led to just two non-punitive fines, the larger of which was a mere $14,250.<\/p>\n Though alarming, that gap in accountability isn\u2019t a surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cTexas officials tasked with overseeing the industry are often its strongest defenders,\u201d stated the study. \u201cThe Texas Railroad Commission, which issues drilling permits and regulates all other aspects of oil and gas production, is controlled by three elected commissioners who accepted more than $2 million in campaign contributions from the industry during the 2012 election cycle, according to data from the National Institute on Money in State Politics<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas lawmakers are often personally tied to the industry, as \u201cnearly one in four state legislators or his or her spouse, has a financial interest in at least one energy company active in the Eagle Ford,\u201d according to an analysis of personal financial forms by CPI cited by the study.<\/p>\n Residents located in the two Texas shale production regions experience many similar symptoms to those in Porter Ranch near Aliso Canyon, such as nosebleeds, dizziness, nausea and various respiratory ailments. Those symptoms could be due to any number of pollutants and toxins. As the study described:<\/p>\n \u201cChemicals released during oil and gas extraction include hydrogen sulfide, a deadly gas found in abundance in Eagle Ford wells; volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene, a known carcinogen; sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, which irritate the lungs; and other harmful substances such as carbon monoxide and carbon disulfide. VOCs also mix with nitrogen oxides emitted from field equipment to create ozone, a major respiratory hazard.<\/p>\n \u201cStudies show that, depending on the concentration and length of exposure, these chemicals can cause a range of ailments, from minor headaches to neurological damage and cancer. People in the Eagle Ford face an added risk: hydrogen sulfide, also known as H2S or sour gas, a naturally occurring component of crude oil and natural gas that lurks underground.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 shale facilities are responsible for<\/a> 8 percent of the nation\u2019s methane emissions, already; but the combination of faulty equipment and lack of monitoring sites mean occasional large methane releases from wells\u2014called \u201csuper-emitters\u201d\u2014won\u2019t necessarily be noticed immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cIf one well was a super-emitter the day we measured them, it could change the next day,\u201d explained Daniel Zavala-Araiza, lead researcher of a 2015 Barnett Shale methane study by the Environmental Defense Fund<\/a>, in the\u00a0Observer. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about finding a handful of sites. You need to be looking continuously to keep finding the ones that are malfunctioning \u2026 If you don\u2019t have frequent monitoring, there\u2019s no way you\u2019re going to know when one of these super-emitters begins spewing.\u201d<\/p>\n Fracking = Methane = Climate Crisis is out! https:\/\/t.co\/XrdrTwiyfn<\/a> Stories via @aen_texas<\/a> @andybrwn @CleanBeta<\/a><\/p>\n — Karen Feridun, Berks Gas Truth (@BerksGasTruth) February 17, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n