Railroad Commission Need Not Address Traffic Safety in Considering Injection Well Permit

摘要

Pioneer Exploration, Ltd. (Pioneer) applied to the Texas Railroad Commission for a permit to convert a well in Wise County to an oil and gas waste disposal well, as required by Tex. Water Code § 27.031. The granting of such a permit is dependent on, among other things, the commission finding that the well is in the public interest. A group of residents living nearby opposed the proposed injection well, citing concerns about the well's environmental soundness and presenting arguments related to traffic safety. After a contested administrative hearing, at which Pioneer did not rebut the contestants' traffic-safety evidence but essentially argued only that the production of natural gas is in the public interest, the commission granted Pioneer's application. In Railroad Commission v. Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water, No. 08-0497,2011 WL 836827 (Tex. Mar. 11,2011), the Texas Supreme Court reversed a court of appeals decision remanding the case to the commission to reconsider its decision using a broader definition of "public interest" that included public-safety concerns.