By:  Brown                                            S.C.R. No. 70
                             SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The State of Texas has instituted an action in the
    1-2  District Court of the 98th Judicial District, Travis County, Texas,
    1-3  No. 92-13617, against Thomas Laurence Stanley as the operator of
    1-4  Well Nos. 1, A1, and 2 on the Sam H. Finley (05979) Lease and Well
    1-5  Nos. 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 on the West & Schenck (00431)
    1-6  Lease (subject wells), Blue Ridge Field, Fort Bend County, Texas,
    1-7  to recover administrative penalties imposed by Railroad Commission
    1-8  of Texas Final Order, Oil and Gas Docket No. 3-96,452, entered May
    1-9  4, 1992, and Final Order, Oil and Gas Docket No. 3-96,453, entered
   1-10  May 4, 1992, for failure to comply with commission statewide rules
   1-11  and regulations pertaining to safety and the prevention or control
   1-12  of pollution and to recover civil penalties for the failure to
   1-13  comply with the Final Orders; and
   1-14        WHEREAS, Thomas Laurence Stanley alleges that:
   1-15        (1)  the railroad commission has failed to adequately enforce
   1-16  its statewide rules and regulations pertaining to safety and the
   1-17  prevention or control of pollution at the site of the subject wells
   1-18  prior to his becoming the operator of the wells;
   1-19        (2)  the failure of the railroad commission to adequately
   1-20  enforce its own rules and regulations has allowed the pollution of
   1-21  surface and subsurface water at the site of the subject wells;
   1-22        (3)  endemic pollution problems at the site of the subject
   1-23  wells had persisted for more than seven years prior to Thomas
    2-1  Laurence Stanley becoming the operator of the subject wells without
    2-2  the railroad commission requiring proper clean-up and pollution
    2-3  prevention measures;
    2-4        (4)  Thomas Laurence Stanley has attempted to place the site
    2-5  of the subject wells in compliance with the railroad commission
    2-6  statewide rules and regulations pertaining to safety and the
    2-7  prevention or control of pollution;
    2-8        (5)  Thomas Laurence Stanley commenced immediate efforts at
    2-9  the time the lease on the subject wells was acquired to correct the
   2-10  endemic storage problems at the site of the subject wells,
   2-11  including the purchase of four storage tanks at a cost of $10,000;
   2-12  and
   2-13        (6)  the railroad commission does not enforce its orders
   2-14  against all operators on an equal basis and with the fairness that
   2-15  the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution demands;
   2-16  now, therefore, be it
   2-17        RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That
   2-18  Thomas Laurence Stanley is granted permission to sue the State of
   2-19  Texas and the Railroad Commission of Texas through counterclaim of
   2-20  the above referenced district court action subject to Chapter 107,
   2-21  Civil Practice and Remedies Code; and, be it further
   2-22        RESOLVED, That the chairman of the Railroad Commission of
   2-23  Texas be served process as provided by Subdivision (3), Subsection
   2-24  (a), Section 107.002, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.