Update 9.19.17 Local Reporter from The Voice, White County:
“The beleaguered TrueFlo Solution saltwater waste disposal company made an appearance again in court this week through a conference call between their lawyer, Adam Lawler and the Illinois Attorney General’s office lawyers Rachel Medina and Brian Navarette in conjunction with Judge Thomas Dinn, resulting in the issuance of an immediate and preliminary injunction. Another conference call is scheduled for Friday, September 22 at 9:15 a.m in Courtroom A.
The Voice has learned from a source that the oil in the creek water is gone, but the oil-coated trees and the banks of the creek have not been cleaned up despite an order from the Illinois Attorney General’s office on September 11, 2017 to bring in a professional clean up crew.
TrueFlo Solutions is the only wastewater disposal site listed on the permit for the Woolsey well scheduled for drilling north of Enfield. But the Voice has learned from the IDNR that, as long as TrueFlo has violations, the new fracking well will not be permitted to dump wastewater there. One other site was considered for the permit also, but it did not meet the standards. The IDNR says it is trying to help the disposal company meet the standards required by the state.”
Update 9.11.17 4:39pm from a reporter in the courtroom:
“TrueFlo Solutions met up with the Illinois Attorney General’s office on Monday afternoon as the State, represented by Rachel Medina and Brian Navarette, brought them into court. Judge Thomas Dinn listened to the motion for a preliminary injunction.
The two sides had held a conference before appearing before the judge and apparently had come to some kind of agreement. The state amended its ruling and stripped the penalties it had assessed on TrueFlo and modified other parts of the ruling. They ordered TrueFlo to immediately engage a professional cleanup contractor to clean up the creek adjacent to their property that was contaminated by a large oil and brine release in August. The IEPA established the release as coming from their site. TrueFlo was also given 24 hours to prevent further contamination of the creek through construction and repair of dams and booms. To all of these requests, TrueFlo through their lawyer, Adam Lawler, gave their assent.
The State requested a followup status conference with the court. It is scheduled for Friday morning.”
In response to an oil spill in White County near TruFlow oil field waste disposal services late last month, Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment: SAFE www.dontfractureillinois.net visited the courthouse to investigate public records and court cases on nearby lands.
TrueFlo’s vice president, Melissa Trout, responded to a post made by SAFE in regard to an oil spill in White county. Ms. Trout sent SAFE an email with documents and private messages on social media that referred to “Cosby superfund site” currently in litigation. While in the county courthouse investigating the case of Cosby vs Becker Oil, which involves illegal dumping of oil field waste, and radioactive contamination of drinking water, SAFE learned about the pending court date on Monday at 1pm in the White County Courthouse. TrueFlo is to appear in court as the State of IL is fining the company $50,000 for the spill on August, 21, 2017 and an additional $10,000 per day until they have cleaned up the spill and remedied all violations. (TrueFlo Case Number 2017CH26)
FOIA’s requested from IDNR and IEPA show the details the oil that was spilled at TrueFlo injection site. SAFE is following this closely due to the recent fracking permit that was granted on August 31, to Woolsey Oil Company, which lists TrueFlo as the only permitted injection well site for disposal of all the fracking waste. Aerial photos obtained by SAFE show a large open pit impoundment full of crude oil, with a secondary impoundment full of oily substance. In the lower left, there is evidence on the ground surface of a wash out, which appears to come from a pump shed beside the small building attached to the large holding tank.
Although SAFE is glad to see the Attorney General’s office exercising their authority to enforce regulations protecting the Environment, we still find that the IL Department of Natural Resources is negligent in granting the permit to Woolsey Oil Company based upon the numerous citations the disposal well company has on record and may even possible go bankrupt due to the recent spill.
SAFE’s investigation into the Cosby cases raises red flags, as the claims made in the complaint go into great detail about oil industry employees dumping fluids and other oil field waste on the land owned by Cosby, exposing the landowner to hazardous radioactive substances and exposed them to heightened risks of various health conditions, loss of property value, groundwater and drinking water, and the complaint list goes on.
Court Documents show that the land has radiation damage and the lab reports show that the drinking water is unfit for public consumption. In essence, the issues that SAFE raised while regulations were being promulgated, are currents issue for landowners in Illinois. An additional lawsuit included the insurance company denying coverage to Becker Oil and stated that the insurance company had no duty to defend or indemnify the oil company. While SAFE was ridiculed as being overly dramatic and extreme in our call for a ban in 2013, the investigation into the Cosby case will prove the IL oil and gas industry has been polluting our drinking water, dumping toxic waste on our land and poisoning the very communities it says it says it is here to help. SAFE intends to pursue every possible avenue to ensure that justice is served.
Update 9.11.17 4:39pm from a reporter in the courtroom:
“TrueFlo Solutions met up with the Illinois Attorney General’s office on Monday afternoon as the State, represented by Rachel Medina and Brian Navarette, brought them into court. Judge Thomas Dinn listened to the motion for a preliminary injunction.
The two sides had held a conference before appearing before the judge and apparently had come to some kind of agreement. The state amended its ruling and stripped the penalties it had assessed on TrueFlo and modified other parts of the ruling. They ordered TrueFlo to immediately engage a professional cleanup contractor to clean up the creek adjacent to their property that was contaminated by a large oil and brine release in August. The IEPA established the release as coming from their site. TrueFlo was also given 24 hours to prevent further contamination of the creek through construction and repair of dams and booms. To all of these requests, TrueFlo through their lawyer, Adam Lawler, gave their assent.
The State requested a followup status conference with the court. It is scheduled for Friday morning.”