“If you go through with this, you stand a very good chance of destroying this [the Floridan Aquifer] the rest of our lifetimes. And in many lifetimes to come.” Said Marcellus shale drilling veteran Rocky Stewart to FERC in Lake City, Florida, October 1st 2015. Transcript and video:

I am a homeowner in Suwannee County, by Boys Ranch, I currently do not live there, I live in Corpus Christi [Texas]. I’m sure some people here regard me as the enemy, but I am in total opposition to what you all have planned.

By profession, I’m what’s known as a [?] drilling fluids engineer. I’ve been drilling wells since 1981, and in all likeliehood some of what they propose to move through the pipeline is coming from wells that I helped drill. I spent the last 18 months drilling up in northeast Pennsylvania, [in] the Marcellus. I also drilled down in Eagle Ford… Texas.

What you all have proposed is total insanity.

Areas where we were drilling [had] minimal impact on the environment, and could easily be mitigated.

When we do horizontal drilling, we’re drilling with an 8 1/2 inch bit. I’ve dealt with lost circulation; I’ve dealt with blowouts. Lost circulation itself can take weeks if not months to mediate.

Experts? I have no faith in experts, because experts lie. I lied in my job, because that’s just the name of the game. You have a 2,000 page report put together by nameless people, who have absolutely no responsibility, who will bear no responsibility to this.

Sabal Trail? Nobody will bear any personal responsibility. F.E.R.C.? Same thing. Something goes wrong: not our problem….

I’m sure you’ll have geologists who will come out and say that well, we studied the situation. Nothing we did led to this, it was just a naturally occurring event.

If you lose your home, or your use of your property, well, if you’re old, you’ll be dead before it’s settled; if you’re young, you’ll be old before it’s settled. Experts and the attorneys will have a field day.

The companies, they don’t care. It’s just greed and arrogance.

Again, this aquifer, this area, was millions of years in the making.

If you go through with this, you stand a very good chance of destroying this the rest of our lifetimes. And in many lifetimes to come.

Thank you.

Here’s the LAKE video:

Pipeline in Floridan Aquifer is total insanity –Marcellus Shale drilling veteran @ FERC Lake City 2015-10-01
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Lake City, Columbia County, Florida

-jsq

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