TEXAS CITY – On Tuesday, we heard from residents in a Texas City subdivision who are dealing with an oil spill caused by an old piece of equipment.
“It’s very concerning especially when everyone on this property has water wells and we are very concerned about our wells being polluted not now maybe eventually,” resident Cindy Carpenter said.
The oil spill was found on Christmas Day in a ditch that’s also referred to as Moses Bayou on Century Boulevard.
“I don’t like it to be honest about it. Working in the plants for a few years seeing it out here is a different story,” Chuck Carpenter said.
Reporter Re’Chelle Turner spent the day in Texas City and reached out to Sawtooth Oil and Gas. Officials say they have not detected any unsafe air or water conditions, but residents say it may be too early to tell.
“You look out your back window and you see people with hazmat suits and the smell is very concerning. They have found a couple of dead birds. It’s our water wells that we are very concerned about. We would like to have them tested,” Carpenter said.
Cindy and her husband Chuck live right next to the Bayou that’s now the focus of a multi-agency clean-up process.
“The only time we ever had any issues was that ditch during Ike it’s flooded and came up into our backyard but nothing like this,” Carpenter said.
Officials found crude oil coming from a faulty oil water separator at the Sawtooth Oil and Gas facility. Since the clean-up started, about 261 barrels have been removed.
“We’re working closely every day with the EPA, the Railroad Commission, TCEQ, general land office, The United stated Coast Guard, and numerous other agencies, Texas, Parks and wildlife, and no agency has any concern about the drinking water doesn’t touch the service drinking water they treated and there’s no way it could sit down into our will water right now,” Joe Tumbleson Director, Texas City Office of Emergency Management said.
Residents say they still have concerns because it’s unclear how long the oil has been coming out of the facility.
“We’ve done a little bit of our research and I know that the crude oil has some type of chemical that could seep into the soil. I don’t know I’m not a chemist but it’s very concerning to all of us because a lot of us are senior citizens that live out here and we are retired on a fixed income,” Carpenter said.
“I don’t like it to be honest about it. Working in the plants for a few years seeing it out here is a different story,” Chuck said.
For the next few weeks, Chuck carpenter will have to get used to crews cleaning up crude oil.
“You can see that oil on top of that water. It’s going to take a lot to get that up,” he said.
Crews are monitoring the situation, but Chuck is concerned about his well water and fears oil could have seeped into the system. officials have not figured out how long oil was leaking from the facility.
“We are trying to get the people Shell or XP or whatever it is to answer us to come take samples of our wells or even in the future. It could take 5 years for this stuff to get down into our well,” he said.
“It has some potential danger. I’ve never been involved. Not very sure what our risks are,” Dub Hamilton said.
Re’Chelle Turner reached out to the EPA. Crews have removed over 260 barrels of crude oil and hope to have everything cleaned up by Feb. 15. We will continue to ask officials about water well testing.