>> according to the texas railroad commission, xto energy a subsid riz subsidiary of exxon mobile, ownsll. asked mayor stokes about the increased confident. >> no beating around the bush. they are causing this activity. the more horizontal fracking and drilling we have the more problems the more waste water the more injected into the ground we're doing and it's opening fault lines that aren't open at the moment. >> in a prepared statement xto the company that owns this disposal well told "techknow" based on an analysis of the data to date, xl does not believe its well caused any of the seismic events. it's a sensitive issue. when the mayor took us to the area, a driver began taking pictures of us on a cell phone. residents of reno and azel are taking action. >> the quake started recently and it woke me up. i thought a 747 landed on my roof. >> at a round of hearings at the texas state capital, citizens voiced their complaints, the railroad is a state agency that regulates the gas and oil industry including drilling and disposal wells located throughout the state. >> how would you like i

our first witness is chairman of the texas railroad commission. since she began her role at the commission in 2012 she has pushed the initiate si in an industry driving success. prior to her tenure at the texas railroad commission, she had a career as an attorney specializing in oil and gas, water, tax issues, electric deregulation and environmental policy. she earned both her bachelor's degree and dock trats from the university of austin. our second witness is dr. seagull, the professor and department chair of the department of earth sciences at syracuse university. he's worked at syracuse university since 1982 and currently teaches courses in earth science ground water movement and the fate of contaminants in ground water. prior to joining syracuse university, he worked at the u.s. geological survey in the minnesota district. among many other accomplishments, he's served as a member of numerous panels on the national academy of science and research council and technology board. he received his bachelor's degree from the university of rhode island

prior to the tenure of the texas railroad commission, she had a career as an attorney specializing in oil and gas water, tax issues, electric regulation and environmental policy. she earned her bachelor's degree and jurisprudence from the university of texas austin. the second witness is the professor in the departments share in the department of earth sciences at syracuse university. he's worked since 1982 and currently teaches elementary and graduate level courses and earth science, groundwater movement and contaminants in contaminants and in groundwater. prior to joining syracuse university worked at the geological survey in minnesota district. among many other publishers, he served as a member on numerous panels including the national academy of science cochair of the natural resource council water science and technology board. he received his bachelor's degree in the university of rhode island, masters degree in geology from pennsylvania state university and doctorate in hydrogeology from the university of minnesota. our third witness is the western director of energy and researc

an order that halted natural gas development only to have the texas railroad commission invest and find the epa was wrong. in wyoming the epa released a report that claimed hydraulic fracturing caused water contamination. however, it was later discovered that the report had several glaring weaknesses. among them the report failed to take into effect naturally occurring natchural gas, it was not peer reviewed, it involved poor sampling and lacked data transparency. the epa was forced to abandon its investigation. then in pennsylvania, the ppa reinitiated an investigation into ground water contamination after it had first agreed there was no contamination. seven months later the epa indicated that oil and gas. development was not the cause of the contamination. the decision to reinitiate the investigation was based on political pressure from activists who oppose hydraulic fracturing. it is incredible given their track record that the epa is now working on another large study to suggest a causal connection between hydraulic fracturing and ground water contamination. their refusal to accept

texas mr. babin is recognized. representative babin: thank you all you witnesses for being here today. thank you ms. craddick for your leadership of the railroad commissions. texas has provided about 50% of the jobs in the country over the last six years. and i think fracking has been a huge contributor to that. in more ways than one. but i represent the 36th district in texas, in southeast texas. there was an incident in 2012 where an individual claimed that the water from their garden hose lit on fire. it turns out that a texas district court found out that the individual had coordinated this stunt with an environmental activist to deceive. in this case the hose was attached to the gas line. how does your commission respond to these types of claims when you hear about this? ms. craddick: if somebody complains that they believe their well -- water is on fire we're going to go out there and inspect it first and foremost. get the facts. if there really is a problem, we're going penalize and enforce, make sure there is remediation for the problem and penize or enforce the rules that we have available to us. representative babin: as far as the incidents are

in texas bans in industry are a present-day concern. the railroad commission by delegated authority to continue issuing oil and gas permit. over the years companies have extracted oil and gas departments -- deposits from underground and their operations that often approached city boundaries. in those instances, success is found when authorities work together to implement guidelines. this elaboration will disappear in communities where hydraulic fracturing is banned. as a result, the cities will lose jobs, tax revenue or business development. the industry is the greatest economic contributor in texas and a prime driver of the economy. in a world where misinformation and sensationalism too often drive the public discourse, let's embrace the truth and adopt reasonable approaches. thank you for having me this morning. rep. smith: thank you chairman craddick. dr. siegel. dr. siegel: mr. chairman. can you hear me? thank you. mr. chairman and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here. i present testimony on whether hydraulic fracturing can, other than

read 84 years of leadership that the railroad commission of texas. it has provided about 50 percent of the jobs and fracking has been a huge contributor in more ways than one that i represent the 36 district there was a an incident where the individual claimed the water from the garden hose was lid on fire found that they coordinated the stunt with the environmental activist to deceive and it was put up with a gas line so how do you respond to these types of claims? >> somebody believes of wealth is on fire we will inspective first to get the facts. if there is a problem we will penalize and in force what is available to us. >> with those legitimate incidences' of concern that is only a handful. how do we put this into perspective with hydraulic fracturing technology? >> drilling over 1 million with those 400,000 part of the real challenges to make sure we're out enforcing the rules but also on a reasonable basis but also of to make sure there are facts involved is. >> ag very image. we have to go vote. >> this has been a good hearing and it is the c

texas, mr. babin is recognized. representative babin: thank you all you witnesses for being here today. thank you ms. craddick for your leadership of the railroad commission of texas. texas has provided about 50% of the jobs in the country over the last six years. and i think fracking has been a huge contributor to that. in more ways than one. but i represent the 36th district in texas, in southeast texas. there was an incident in 2012 where an individual claimed that the water from their garden hose lit on fire. it turns out that a texas district court found out that the individual had coordinated this stunt with an environmental activist to deceive. in this case the hose was attached to the gas line. how does your commission respond to these types of claims when you hear about this? ms. craddick: if somebody complains that they believe their well -- water is on fire, we're going to go out there and inspect it first and foremost. get the facts. if there really is a problem we're going penalize and enforce, make sure there is remediation for the problem and penize or enforce the rules that we have available to us. representative babin: as far as the incid