Residents in the tiny Cooke County town of Era, just across the Denton County line, call it their Perry Mason moment.

DRC/Gary Payne

Paul Fleming, 91, sits on his porch in Era on Saturday. Fleming, his daughter and son-in-law and other members of the community were able to fight off plans for a injection well to be built on neighboring land. Examiners for the Texas Railroad Commission have recommended that the application for the well be denied.

The night before their first hearing in front of Texas Railroad Commission examiners to protest a new injection well in their community, one of the neighbors called another to say he made a critical discovery, something he was sure the injection well operator knew nothing about.

The group’s lawyer, Austin-based environmental attorney David Frederick, made the most of his discovery. According to transcripts of the hearing, he asked Jerry Hess, owner of the Muenster-based business that would operate the well, whether he had walked his property, or any neighboring properties, to determine whether there were any old wells that might compromise his proposed operation.

“No,” came the answer, again and again.

The second day of the hearing, neighbors brought in photos of a mystery well about 900 feet from the proposed injection site, much closer than the railroad commission’s required quarter-mile minimum between wellheads.

Donna Fleming, one of the members of Era Concerned Citizens for Clean Water, said she could tell by the look on the face of Hess’ attorney that the momentum had tipped in their favor.

“This was a big part of our case,” Fleming said. At minimum, she thought the mystery well’s discovery would at least delay construction of the injection well as the examiners sought more information.

Injection wells take production waste from oil and gas wells and return it back underground. During the hearing, Hess told the railroad commission examiners that his well would not accept drilling mud, only production water, the mixture that is used to fracture the shale and stimulate the release of the natural gas trapped within it.

But Fleming and the 30 other Era families got a pleasant surprise in the mail this week, when the railroad commission’s examiners sent their notice recommending that Hess’ permit be denied.

Courtesy Photo

A ranch worker discovered a well about 900 feet from a proposed injection well site near Era earlier this year. The Texas Railroad Commission requires a minimum quarter-mile between a commercial injection well and surrounding wells.

Examiners cited concerns not only over the mystery well, but also whether the rock formation would hold the injection fluids as Hess proposed.

Nearby injection wells in Chico and Boyd have failed to hold fluids in the rock formation, compromising gas and water wells around them.

A call for comment to Jerry Hess Operating Co. in Muenster was not returned on Friday.

Marisa Perales, another attorney in Frederick’s firm that represented the Era residents, said the examiners’ recommendation was not the final step. The three railroad commissioners must approve the final order denying Hess’ permit at a future meeting.

“It’s a little premature to say we prevailed,” Perales said. “But we’re excited to have gotten this far.”

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