[ROCKMAN]

T - "...EPA of whomever is more motivated...". The EPA more motivated? Read again what I wrote about my experience in KY: the EPA wasn't motivated enough to have inspectors check out my operations: they found it easier to assume I report any violations on the monthly paperwork I sent to ATLANTA.

Which is also why you don't see EPA inspectors on drill sites in Texas or La: no need given how closely both states monitor activities with a lot of regulators making unannounced inspections. Violations still happen, of course. But the risk and penalties are high.

As far as small businesses dumping used motor oil I suspect that volume is small compared to how much individual motorists contribute to pollution.

[Zarquon]

With industries usually complaining that environmental regulation X or Y will drive them out of business and bring about the end of the world, is there a ballpark figure on how much these regulations add to the cost of a barrel in the US? If you could still dump your wastewater or frack fluids in the nearest creek, had no additional overhead for doing the paperwork or didn't have projects delayed by regs?

[ROCKMAN]

Z - Here's a real life comparison. In the early days of frac'ng in PA and NY it wasn't legal for the COMPANIES to dump frac fluid into the streams. But municipal treatment centers were exempt. So companies hauled the frac fluids to a MTC and paid a very small fee to dump it there. The frac fluids would go thru the MTC which did nothing to lower the toxicity and then pump it into the streams. Eventually this was vaulted but only after PA and NY passed laws making it illegal.

Now let's go to La. If I drill a well in a designated "wetlands" are area I have to get an additional permit from the US Corps of Engineers. The COE is the only fed agency that has authority. The state controls everything else. One rule: I have to surround the drill site with a "ring dike"...a pile of dirt about 2' high. And if tytyhe location gets a lot of rain while I'm drilling it gets trapped inside the ring dike. I can't just can't pump over the dike into the wetlands area: I have to bring in trucks and haul it to a certified disposal company. A lot more expensive then pumping it over the dike.

Sure, can always try to cheat...it's only rainwater. But get caught and the penalties are very severe. And unlike the EPA both Texas and La have inspectors sneaking around watching you. And other oil patch hands watching also: twice in Texas the Rockman helped bust two illegal dumpers. Why? The Rockman's 16 yo daughter drinks from a shallow water well every day. Just like the families of many oil field hands.