The purpose of the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has long been misunderstood by Texans. According to Commission Shift, a foremost authority on the RRC, “[T]he Railroad Commission of Texas has no authority over railroads. Instead, the agency oversees oil and gas development … among other functions. Its mission is to serve Texas through stewardship of natural resources and the environment … [But] [t]oo often, the Commission has promoted accelerated development of oil and gas over all other parts of its mission — to the detriment of natural resources and the environment, safety, and economic vitality.”
Similarly, the nature of the oil and gas industry itself is also poorly understood. In his book Thirst for Power: Energy, Water, and Human Survival, author and professor Michael E. Webber reveals that “in the United States, about seven or more barrels of water are handled, produced, or injected for every barrel of oil that is produced. That means oil and gas companies are really water companies who happen to have high-value byproducts, namely, the oil and gas.” In order to raise awareness of this industry’s impact on the state’s natural resources, including water, and the role of the RRC, Commission Shift “is educating and organizing a wide array of Texans to build support for changes at the Railroad Commission of Texas that improve the agency’s function, transparency, and accountability to people and places impacted by the oil and gas industry,” according to its website.
Julie Range is a policy manager with Commission Shift. “After a brief stint as a full-time mom,” she says, “I pivoted to politics and policy. I initially focused on Railroad Commission [election] races because of their significant impact on energy and environmental issues here in Texas.” She earned a master’s degree in public affairs and built her “public service and policy skillset” while working in Austin as legislative director for state Rep. Vikki Goodwin. “My heart and expertise are in improving energy and environmental policy. I believe we are stewards of our earth, and I don’t want to leave messes for our children to clean up. But I do like A/C and ice cream; there’s a balance to be struck.”
Range got involved with Commission Shift through a project about orphaned wells that she completed for her degree. Commission Shift had published two comprehensive reports on orphaned wells, including “Eliminating Orphan Wells and Sites in Texas.” Orphaned wells are unplugged oil, gas, or injection wells “for which no viable responsible party can be located, or where the owner is known but bankrupt,” according to the report. Commission Shift also found that “oil and gas drillers use loopholes to avoid plugging their wells, like keeping wells barely active just to avoid having to plug them.” In addition, the RRC routinely grants unlimited well-plugging extensions with little regard for the risks posed by orphaned and other unplugged wells.
And the risks are real, especially in the Permian Basin, where oilfield wastewater injected into the ground under extreme pressure can sometimes escape through these unplugged wells and form toxic lakes and geysers that threaten to contaminate the underlying groundwater. Instead of continuing its work to plug orphaned wells and enforce fees to fund this work, the Commission Shift report describes how the RRC “issued an order waiving plugging rules … and certain fees and surcharges,” essentially saddling the taxpayers with more of the burden to address this urgent issue. According to Range, when the RRC grants unlimited extensions and other exceptions to a rule, “the rule essentially doesn’t exist.”
“Commission Shift believes that Texas deserves better,” declares Range. “We need our state leaders to do a better job so we stop reading stories about well blowouts in west Texas that leave the land scarred and barren…or that Texans are paying to clean up leaking oil wells in the Gulf that industry should be plugging.” Toward this end, Commission Shift is pushing the Legislature during this session to abolish unlimited well-plugging extensions and to increase the amount of financial assurance set aside for individual wells. In addition, they want to see greater funding for the RRC to plug more wells and stronger well-transfer liability requirements to prevent companies from passing the liability onto the next owner when they sell a well.
“We’re also advocating to require companies [to] provide notice to landowners and groundwater conservation districts and allow them to monitor well-integrity H-5 and H-15 testing so other sets of eyes can keep operators accountable. There’s some indication that there may be cheating on these tests,” explains Range. “Ensuring [that] these wells aren’t leaking directly protects groundwater quality.”
The work of groups like Commission Shift is often an uphill battle. “Two-thirds of campaign contributions to the current Texas railroad commissioners come from the oil and gas industry … [creating] conditions for conflicts of interest that could unduly influence the Commissioners’ decisions,” says Range. She remains optimistic, however, because of what’s already been achieved. “Many of the changes we advocated for in the Railroad Commission’s monitoring and enforcement plan for 2025 were adopted. We are making a difference, but there’s a lot of work ahead.” Visit commissionshift.org to learn more.
Trey Gerfers serves as general manager of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District. A San Antonio native, he has lived in Marfa since 2013 and can be reached at tgerfers@pcuwcd.org.