On its face, you might think a bill to treat wastewater from oil and gas operations would get the support of environmental groups. But you'd be wrong.
To hear state Rep. Ryan Guillen describe on the House floor Thursday, it's all about taking the salt out of water to make it drinkable.
鈥淭his bill will incentivize the next generation of [desalination] plants and encourage private industry partnerships to help us meet our future water challenges,鈥� the Democrat from Rio Grande City said.
But the Environmental Defense Fund said the bill is a bad idea, describing it as corporate welfare
The City of Austin sells 1,000 gallons of water for $1.25, but HB 2545鈥檚 tax cuts would pay companies $17 for the same amount of treated oil and gas wastewater. A toxic deal for taxpayers. 鈥� EDF Texas (@EDFtx)
鈥淚n essence, the bill is really trying to provide a subsidy for oil- and gas-produced water,鈥� said Colin Leyden, who works on energy policy for the group.
The 鈥減roduced water鈥� he鈥檚 referring to is the brackish groundwater and fracking fluid that comes out of the earth when companies pump oil.
The bill would basically give companies up to $17 for every thousand gallons of that water that鈥檚 treated.
鈥淎s a comparison, we pay here in Austin $1.25 for the first 2,000 gallons of water from the city,鈥� Leyden said. 鈥淪o this is a very generous subsidy.鈥�
There鈥檚 another reason Leyden opposes the bill. He says scientists don鈥檛 know enough about treating 鈥減roduced water鈥� from oil wells to return it to the environment.
But most Texas lawmakers support the measure. It passed its second vote in the House on Thursday and has one more vote to go before heading to the Senate.
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