A state appellate court ruled in favor of a handful of Wise County families by saying the Texas Railroad Commission ignored the public interest when it granted a permit for an underground well where natural gas waste is disposed.

DRC/Gary Payne

Jim Popp is chairman of Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water, a group of Wise County residents who have been fighting Pioneer Exploration’s application for an injection well in their area near Greenwood. The proposed site for the injection well is shown in the background Friday.

Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the commission “abused its discretion” by failing to include matters of pub­­lic interest when considering where un­­derground injection wells can dispose of oil and gas waste.

Railroad Commission spokeswoman Stacie Fowler said in an e-mail that “Commission attorneys and the attorneys for the Office of Attorney General are reviewing the Third Court of Appeals opinion and determining what course of action might be appropriate.”

The Railroad Commission could appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court.

Austin environmental attorney David Frederick said the Railroad Commission had avoided considering the broader public interest for a long time.

“They have some civic duty now to consider these things,” Frederick said.

Frederick represented the Wise County families who’ve been battling the Railroad Commission over an application by Pioneer Exploration to run a commercial injection well near their homes.

Wise County has at least 27 permitted commercial injection wells, and Tarrant and Denton counties each have three, according to the Railroad Commission’s Web site.

“Neighbors are just whooping and hollering,” resident Jim Popp said. “The citizens won one this time.”

At the heart of the battle was the neighborhood’s concern that 20 to 50 trucks per day, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, would come down narrow dirt roads carrying thousands of gallons of production waste for injection into an old gas well.

The Railroad Commission told the families that it had no jurisdiction over matters of public safety and that it had adequately represented “the public interest” by considering the conservation of natural resources in Pioneer’s application.

But the three justices of the 3rd Court of Appeals disagreed.

The opinion specified that not only must the Railroad Commission consider public roadways, but also the concerns of first responders and any other evidence of public safety.

The court’s opinion has broad implications for other injection well operators in the Barnett Shale, depending how the Railroad Commission handles the new duty of weighing industry needs against the safety and impact gas mining has on the people who must live around it.

“The practical impact may take a few years to see,” Frederick said. “We’ll see whether they take it seriously.”

The court remanded Pioneer’s application back to the Railroad Commission.

Calls seeking comment from Pioneer’s legal department and the company’s attorney, David Gross, were not returned Friday.

In addition, Era residents, whom Fredrick also is representing, see the opinion as one that could directly impact their fight against an application by Hess Operating to open an injection well in their area.

Donna Fleming said she and other residents had raised serious public safety issues, not only from first responders but also from Texas Department of Transportation engineers concerned about roads in their area.

Hess’ original application was turned down, but the Railroad Commission reversed itself and reopened the application for a third hearing in January. Fleming questioned why, since the agency already has 300 pages of testimony.

“It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money to have another hearing,” Fleming said, but added that the residents will travel to Austin again to the hearing to underscore their public safety concerns.

Popp said he didn’t want people to think that he wasn’t in favor of gas development and American energy independence.

“But the industry needs to act in a safe, responsible manner,” he said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .