Another Visit With Express Energy Services At Gateway Park Where Water Is Now Being Removed From The Trinity River

It's been a week since my bizarre encounter with Express Energy Services at the Gateway Park/Beach Street location of a Barnett Shale gas driller's removal of water from the Trinity River.

Un-metered removal of water, until I hear otherwise from the non-responsive Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

I decided to return to Gateway Park and take a walk to the water sucking location to see if the pumps are now running.

As soon as I turned off the engine I could hear the pumps. Or pump. I don't think all 6 are running because it did not seem any louder than when there was only 1 pump. Way back then I was appalled at the damage being done to the Trinity River's levee. I would never have thought, way back then, that it would get so much worse.

So, I walked on to the pedestrian/bike bridge that leads out of Gateway Park to the Trinity Trails. You know, those trails that have signs on them saying "No Motorized Vehicles. I stopped mid-way across the bridge and started taking pictures. I'd noticed a guy standing on top of the levee, above the pumps, as if he was standing guard.

That's the guard in the first picture.

The guard did not take his eyes off me as I snapped pictures. Then I saw him get on his phone. Just like last week. But, last week I was unaware of the criminal history of Express Energy.

Then he started walking towards the bridge and stood staring at me right were you see that yellow post at the end of the bridge, in the picture.

When the guard on the phone saw I was aiming my camera at him he quickly scurried away, but not before I was able to snap a picture of him scurrying.

I tell you, in our modern world a camera is like packing a gun back in the Old Wild West.

There were a couple guys working on the pumps. I could see water swirling around one of the intake pipes, quite a lot of swirling. At first I thought it was the glossy gleam of an oil spill.

Up on the levee there sat a 7th pump. I don't see how they'd have room for another pump.

The Trinity River looks so small in this location. It would seem those 6 pipes could be removing quite a significant percentage of the water flowing by.

I wonder if the guys working on the pumps were doing something nefarious. Is that why another guy was standing guard above them? And is why he took such an aggressive interest in me taking pictures?

I sort of hurried off the bridge, heading back to my vehicle, but on the way I strayed off the paved trail and found another vantage point to take a picture of the pumps and the white truck mucking up the "road" that's been built by the water suckers to get down to the pump pad.

The next time I visit this operation I will do a thorough search for the illusive meters that are required to be part of this type of water removal, according to the thoroughly discredited Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.