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Calvin Tillman is the former mayor of Dish, Texas, a small community which was one of the first in the world to encounter ‘fracking’ – extraction of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing – after the technology was finessed in the late 1990s.
Early last year he moved his family out of the town, saying that the effects of fracking and industrialisation were causing health problems for his children. He has since become an advocate on the subject.
As the debate continues over the possibility of fracking in Ireland, Calvin told TheJournal.ie about the events that led to him leaving Dish.
When did you begin to think that the gas extraction might be causing problems?
My kids had started to get nosebleeds. Dish is a pretty rural community, so we became a target for pipelines. There’s a bunch of pipelines that run through the area, and a huge station that was put up to facilitate those. Natural gas doesn’t come out as a clean-burning hydrocarbon, it has to go through a process to have the impurities removed, using these plants called dehydrators which were installed around Dish.
So we noticed that my kids began to get nosebleeds pretty frequently. I had never gotten nosebleeds in my life, and I was getting them once in a while – but my kids were the predominant concern. And at that point it became hard to ignore what was going on with them. So I started paying attention to when my kids got nosebleeds, and whether there was strong odour coming from the processing plant.
The state of Texas had installed an air monitor, so we could tell whether the levels of chemicals, including ethane, were going up and down. And we were able to correlate those – the odour, the elevated levels, and my children’s nosebleeds – they all seemed to go up at the same time.
Initially I went and purchased a filtration system for my home, which are these good-sized appliances which would continuously filter the air throughout my house. And that worked in keeping the odour out of the house, to some extent. But it just became too much. So we put our house on the market. It took us almost a year to sell it, and I took a financial hit, but it was worth it. I actually made the buyer watch the documentary Gasland before I would sell the place to them.
Were there any other impacts in the local area?
Now that I’ve moved and I’m out of the drilling area, you realise just how much industrialisation goes on. If you took away all of the environmental impacts, all of the health impacts, you would still have a very heavy industrial zone. You’re going to have thousands of trucks going up and down the roads; these heavy equipment haulers and very good-sized pickup trucks; all of these big vehicles on the road. And then, I would urge you to go to Google and get a satellite image of Dish, Texas, and look at the land scarring that goes on and the number of wells. That’s what you will look like. You’re not going to have a nice quiet community any more once this comes to town.
Advocates of fracking say that it will provide much-needed jobs in rural areas. What’s your take on that?
Well, I don’t think you should write somebody a blank cheque just because they’re going to create a few jobs. But let me ask you this: How many pipeline welders are in the local community? How many people with experience drilling, or troubleshooting a compressor station? And I think that’ll tell you where your jobs are going to come from. I hope you guys like people from Texas, because they’re going to import the workers.
In Texas, we’ve had oil and gas for decades. But if you go somewhere like Pennsylvania, most of the locals who are working in the industry drive trucks. Or they work as security guards, or something like that. They’re not the high-paid decision makers in the industry, and it will take you decades to get to that point where they can be decision makers. And at some point people from the States will relocate there and stay there, and it’ll be a permanent part of your landscape.
The companies assessing the potential of the gas basins for fracking have acknowledged that there have been mistakes and environmental impacts elsewhere. But they say that they expect the process to be far better regulated in Ireland. Would that answer your concerns?
I’ve travelled all around the world and I’ve heard that argument in every single place I go: ‘What happened there isn’t going to happen here. We’re going to regulate it.’ But this is the deal. How many of your governmental agencies know anything about shale gas? Where are you going to get that expertise? Your government can’t pay them what the energy industry can pay them, so for petroleum engineers who know what the problems actually are – the only way that you’re going to figure that out is learning when something bad happens.
Now I went to Canada, and I just got back from Austrian talking about this same subejct. Both of those countries signed mineral agreements that pay 10 per cent royalties. In Dish, two decades ago, they got 16 per cent royalties. And now the going rate is 20-25 per cent. So if your government has already signed a lease, look at that lease. Because they’ve probably already been taken advantage of. Do you think that they’re smart enough to regulate an industry that’s already taken advantage of them once?
What do you think is the future for this technology?
My goal is just to help educate people. What people get in mind of is that there’s going to be a whole bunch of jobs, we’re all going to get fat and be prosperous and make as much money as we want, and there’s going to be no downside. And that’s simply not the case. So if you make that decision, make it knowing that there’s going to be problems. There’s just no way around that.
Do you have any regrets about moving away from Dish?
When you make a big decision about this, you always wonder if you’re overreacting. Well, the nosebleeds that really bothered us were the ones in the middle of the night, while my kids were sleeping. And since we’ve moved, they haven’t had any of those. If they’ve had a nosebleed, it’s because they were picking their nose, or they got in a fight with their brother. It wasn’t the massive nosebleeds that we’d have seen in Dish. And we’ve been gone for a year. So I feel pretty comfortable that we made the right choice getting out of there.
Calvin Tillman’s website is here.
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This is not a one size fits all situation. The world is trying to get itself back to as normal as possible. If certain kids can go back to school safely let them. If it is a thing that some can’t for whatever reason come up with solutions… instead of moaning about it!! Just get on with it. All these bloody whinge bags. I’m sick and tired of it. Life isn’t fair in general. Get on with it.
@Caoimhín O’Cheallacháin: well said. This expensive state whinge bag is paid for by me and you.
@Caoimhín O’Cheallacháin: why can’t the look at Cambodia or Vietnam and bring half in the morning and half in the afternoon ah silly the teachers won’t agree to that
@Eileen Downing: You can’t compare us to Vietnam, huge man power, huge contact tracing, a military dictatorship. Also your comment on teachers is uncalled for, any proof teachers have said no to split classes, timetables? I’ll answer for you. No you don’t have proof, you just have issues with teachers. Teachers have said time and again they would do what’s needed. Some schools have already planned for split timetables, without any guidance from the department. So shove your snide cynical remark.
@Eileen Downing: You’re right. We should do exactly as Cambodia are doing. So we’ll keep schools closed until November shall we?
@Eileen Downing: this bullshit again ” the teachers” like they are some kind of enemy .like the title of a horror movie…The teachers!!!. Teaching staff give a shit about kids that arent theirs…and then go home and give a shit about their own kids.
@Eileen Downing: Eileen no disrespect but I’d prefer just to concentrate on Ireland. We have produced highly educated graduates in the last 50 years even before the advent of technology. We can adapt and change and get on with things as Irish people. I have my gripes about technology and my main one is it has prevented people thinking freely for themselves. We nearly need to get permission from Google to do things these days. But that’s another story…. We just need to put our heads down work hard and everything will come out ok the other side. I’m just really tired of living in a society that has no resilience and wants everything handed to them just because it was handed to Johnny up the road!
@Caoimhín O’Cheallacháin do you have kids yourself Caoimhín, I do and I’m very weary of advice from a constant stream of contradicted advise from a bunch of scapegoats giving advise in fairness on c19 but full portfolio in an economic society with the Dr’s safest advice doesn’t work
@Agenda21: yes I am a parent… We don’t need advice. We need people to make decisions for the best interests of the people. I would be happy personally if we had a leader who was strong enough to make decisions going against possibly the “best advice” of it was explained his reasoning and why. But I feel mob rule wouldn’t allow for that and would offend too many snowflakes
According to our constitutuon all children are entitled to an education and all children are to be treated equally
@a politicians promise is as good as a lie: according to our constitution I am free to associate with whomever I choose, travel freely, worship publicly etc. Extraordinary times and emergency measures and all that jazz.
@Gordon Comstock: What worth is the Constitution if you are denied the ability to use it, in court, against laws that clearly break it?
@Tony Humphreys: Or if you’re stuck in ICU on a ventilator and aren’t free to go wherever you like?
@a politicians promise is as good as a lie: that didn’t happen before Covid 19
@Tony Humphreys: no rights are absolue, even the right to life can be superceeded by self defense…most clauses end with ‘save n accordance with law’…. eg Article 40(4)(1) No citizen shall be deprived of his personal liberty save in accordance with law. Article 40(5) The dwelling of every citizen is inviolable and shall not be forcibly entered save in accordance with law… Article 40(6) The State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the following rights, subject to public order and morality…(ii) The right of the citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms…Laws, however, may be enacted for the regulation and control in the public interest of the exercise of the foregoing right. etc etc
Not discrimination… this is a health and safety issue, ….. If your child is not allowed to attend school for their own Health & Safety and you are a parent that feels your child is being discriminated against then, you would be an I.D.I.O.T
Any measures will be temporary…
@Paul O’Sullivan: 6 months is NOT temporary
In a pandemic, good trumps perfection! Try get as many kids back as soon as possible on as equal a basis as possible.
Open the schools earlier so. Everyone gets a decent amount of school time while still leaving some room for shutdowns in winter due to second wave/flu season. Safer in summer anyway cos kids can spend more time outdoors.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: Would be something but the government doesn’t consider allowing something on a smaller scale yet..
On another hand… if you are removing the summer holidays you don’t have to open the tourist sector ever again. They depend on people staying in the country and still visiting it. That won’t be possible otherwise.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: You presume that schools have the outside space to do so. The DES went on record today to say that there isn’t any provision for extra funding for PPE or extra cleaning , who pays for it ?
If the impact for children with special needs is twice as bad the lads have to come up with some concept until September.
@8-Bit-Relic: July Provision is apparently being considered.
@Bríd Uí Mhaoluala: but they’ve yet to give a single detail about it. Am sure it’ll be released at 4:55 on a Friday to start the following Monday.
@Graham Manning: 4.55? I’d say 17.55.
Such a confusing statement and article. Saying that it is discrimination if some children get to go back and others don’t makes some sense. Then says that some children need to come back earlier? Seems to be two contradictory statements! When the schools are open parents will make their own choices about returning or using their right to teach their own children. It’s not’ discrimination’ if parents choose not to bring them to school.
In order to protect a child with for example very frail health and susceptibility to complications related to Covid-19 that child is asked to stay away from school a little longer when it reopens than children in more robust health until we have a better handle on the public health situation.
It may be more complicated and it may take a bit more time to come up with solutions for children who due to circumstances beyond their control need more assistance with dealing with the probably temporary new realities.
How is that discrimination ? To me it appears to be the simple fact that one solution will not fit all and it will simply take a bit more time to solve more complex needs and associated practicalities. As long as solutions are being worked on and implemented as soon as possible I do not believe there would be a case to argue that this amounts to discrimination.
Something FFG would sign off on…
Does this mean my kid’s school will be getting hot water and soap in their toilets?
have your say