Sister Story Highlight

ELIZABETH RIEBSCHLAEGER gives tours of oil and gas industry fracking activities in south Texas' Eagle Ford Shale region, warning of potential impacts on the health of the local people and their land.  These tours and her activism around the fracking industry are getting noticed as she was recently featured in an NBC News interview and was asked to give a short tour of the Eagle Ford Shale to the Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein as she sought to educate herself on some of the issues in the Eagle Ford Shale area.

The tour with Green Party Candidate Jill Stein took place on October 19, 2015 and included visits to Karnes and Dewitt Counties.  At the first stop they heard from those in Kenedy who are part of the ecumenical Interfaith Welcoming Coalition about the experiences and needs of the women and children who live there, and the Coalition’s efforts to meet those needs.  From there, the tour went to meet with a woman at a small ranch across from the site of the Encana well blowout a few months ago, and to see firsthand the environmental impact from that event.   The tour ended with a visit to the site of the proposed but disputed solid oilfield waste processing facility outside Nordheim, where Mr. Paul Baumann, President of Concerned About Pollution, showed Ms. Stein the site and explained the plans for construction of the facility. 

Sister Elizabeth is happy to give tours to anyone who is interested in learning more about the fracking industry and specifically the Eagle Ford Shale and the environmental impacts on that area.  If you would like to set up a tour for yourself or a group, you can contact Sr. Elizabeth at: elizabeth.riebschlaeger@amormeus.org or 361-676-2921. 

The interview: here

FRACKING is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.

The process is carried out vertically or, more commonly, by drilling horizontally to the rock layer. The process can create new pathways to release gas or can be used to extend existing channels.