Dale Thomas took up his lance last week and spurred White Oak City Council members to tilt at the town’s weathered well sites.
“Your ordinances are not being enforced,” he told the community’s elected officials Feb. 11.
Frustrated but fair, the local property owner says the ground-level workers for oil and gas operations are affable enough, but the companies themselves aren’t taking care of business. Overgrown, unkempt pump jacks, tank batteries and other neglected spots are fast becoming eyesores, he says, on the city’s watch.
“They have good people who are good to work with,” Thomas emphasized. That said, “The oil companies, they take the path of least resistance and do only what they have to do and that is not going to work out to the benefit of the property owners here in White Oak.
“I think it needs to be addressed or it’s going to be a disaster at some point.”
Among relevant entries in the White Oak Code of Ordinances, one regulation falls under Chapter 46 (Natural Resources), Article II (Oil & Gas), Division 2 (Wells). In Section 74-47 regarding oil and gas wells, part B notes “Oil and gas companies maintaining oil wells within the city limits will be responsible for the care and maintenance of all oil wells and well sites within the city by keeping the grounds designated as well sites cleanly mowed and maintained.
Likewise, “Any individual or oil or gas company who maintains oil and gas wells within the city limits shall be required to have periodic ground maintenance work done on the well sites and grounds so that the physical appearance on these well sites remains, at all times, in an acceptable condition for their location in the community.”
According to White Oak City Coordinator Jimmy Purcell, Thomas has amassed a collection of photos from 90-plus locations that need TLC. BASA Resources is responsible for the majority, he added, but there are plenty of owners and operators letting their well sites languish.
“I did meet with BASA a few weeks ago,” Purcell said. “They do know what’s going on. Mr. Thomas has talked to them before, holding them accountable for their sites, making sure they’re complying with our ordinances, the railroad commission…
“We’re going to contact the other individuals with any sites.”
BASA Resources in-house counsel Zachary Drake confirmed the company has interacted with Thomas many times in the past and has a good relationship with the property owner. A maintenance crew is in White Oak daily, he added, servicing a variety of locations ranging from good to bad and in-between.
It’s going to take time to bring them all up to par with local ordinances, Drake said, but the company is working diligently to that end.
Thomas spoke for about 12 minutes during Purcell’s ‘City Coordinator’s Report’ at the council’s regularly-scheduled session last week.
“The situation is such, in my opinion, the oil companies are basically not sensitive to the ordinance that y’all have, regarding the upkeep they should be doing on the property,” he said. “I think that’s going to get worse and worse unless something happens.
“Some of their properties that are visible, they take a lot better care of than some widow woman’s property down at the creek bottom.”
The situation gets even more complicated when well sites change hands, Thomas added, and when they change hands again.
Taken to the extreme, “Nobody’s going to be financially responsible to clean up and fix these properties encumbered by the oilfield operation. I think it’s possible White Oak could look like a graveyard from all this infrastructure that’s not being taken care of.”
At the very least, the companies need to be reminded of their responsibilities, he said, and encouraged to take care of their properties.
“If something isn’t done, it’s going to be a bad scene. There’s enough of a bad scene already.”
City leaders committed to follow-up on the issue.
“Those are good points,” Mayor Kyle Kutch said. “We’ve got ordinances we need to start enforcing.”