DISH — Dish resident Dawn Melton, who serves as the town’s volunteer librarian, told a crowd of mostly strangers that her headaches have gotten worse in the past couple of years.

“My migraines have gone off the charts — and sent me to the hospital,” Melton announced at a Town Hall meeting on the area’s air quality. “The last one they told me I’d had a stroke and sent me to a neurologist.”

DRC/Al Key

Wilma Subra, a Louisiana-based environmentalist and chemist, reads an analysis of her research on the health concerns of Dish residents at Monday’s Town Council meeting.

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Out-of-towners, including state and federal regulators, outnumbered residents Monday night as they heard two speakers explain the results of a recent ambient air quality study.

Town leaders commissioned the study, spending nearly one-sixth of this tiny town’s annual budget, in order to understand what might be in the air. Residents have complained for years to the industry and regulators about foul-smelling odors where at least 10 major gathering pipelines converge at the southern end of town. Five energy companies treat and compress natural gas in side-by-side facilities between Tim Donald and Strader roads.

Alisa Rich, of Wolf Eagle Environmental Engineers and Consultants, took about an hour to explain the results of her study to residents. She said she was concerned about plants and trees near the industrial complex, since dead and dying tissue showed the typical pattern of sulfur scalding.

In her study, which gathered samples in seven locations over a 24-hour period in mid-August, several carcinogens and neurotoxins were found at levels that exceeded state limits.

Some flammable compounds were also found at high levels, she said, which was disturbing, but not to the point that “you need to extinguish your cigarette when you step outside,” Rich said.

The lab was not able to label precisely all the compounds captured in the canisters, she said. Some large quantities of long carbon chains couldn’t be pinned down.

She told residents she was still mapping the emissions against the topography, so that they could know how the compounds would travel. Some heavier compounds would fall to the soil and water sooner, while some lighter ones could travel for miles, Rich said.

One resident asked whether it was true what industry officials had told them — that natural gas is lighter than air, so it rises into the atmosphere.

“Scientifically, I don’t believe that’s an accurate statement,” Rich said.

Environmentalist and chemist Wilma Subra briefed the crowd on the results of the 10 health surveys she’d received so far from residents. Town leaders have posted the survey for current and former residents on Dish’s Web site, www.townofdish.com.

The health problems people were reporting were consistent with the emissions found. Among the acute symptoms, residents were reporting frequent sinus infections and nosebleeds, headaches, persistent coughs and irritated eyes. Among the chronic symptoms, residents were reporting enlarged spleens and abnormal mammograms and EEGs.

Subra also showed the residents an infrared video of one facility she took Monday afternoon, which found at least seven spots with leaks.

Mayor Calvin Tillman said he was surprised by those findings.

“I’m hearing this at the same time you did,” Tillman said, urging everyone to complete a health assessment.

He also told residents he could not guarantee confidentiality with the surveys, and to keep that in mind when deciding whether to put their names on the document.

“We just need your age and how close you live to the facilities,” Tillman said.

Commissioner William Sciscoe said the community could accept the damage that has been done so far.

“But we can speak up and stop it right now,” Sciscoe said. He called for an “immediate safety stand-down” until residents could be assured the remote-operated facilities were in compliance.

Officials from both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency said that they knew the situation needed their attention, and that the problems weren’t unique to Dish.

Carl Edlund, of EPA’s Region 6, told the crowd that it’s difficult to prove the emissions coming from the facilities are causing health problems.

“Ozone is a problem in this neck of the woods — it’s complicated,” Edlund said. “It’s my job to execute the law and make sure the air is as healthy as it can be.”

Roger Melton, Dawn Melton’s husband, asked whether the town would do more studies. Tillman replied that they would, but town leaders wanted more feedback from residents on the issue.

“We’ll probably discuss that at our next meeting,” Tillman said.

One Wise County resident traveled more than 30 miles to learn more about living close to facilities, after he said Aruba Petroleum used about 5 acres of his 10-acre parcel to start a new well.

“With all these health concerns, I don’t understand why there are millions of acres they can’t drill in Alaska because of the elk or caribou, but they can drill 400 feet from my little girl’s trampoline,” Tim Ruggiero said. “Why is that permitted?”

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