Anyone who's driven south of San Antonio since the Eagle Ford Shale fracking boom got underway has likely endured some white-knuckle rides surrounded by tanker trucks and sand haulers.
Perhaps it should come as little surprise that, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, nearly half of the state's 2018 traffic deaths occurred in the Eagle Ford and other energy-producing areas.
Last year, 1,673 people died and more than 6,000 were seriously hurt in Texas oil-exploration hotspots including the Eagle Ford, Permian Basin, Granite Wash and the Barnett Shale and Haynesville/Bossier shales. The number of deaths in those areas was up 4% over 2017.
“A big increase in the number of heavy trucks and traffic on state and county roads adds to the complexity of driving — something we always need to give our full attention to, while also obeying traffic laws," TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said in a written statement.
Yikes. As if groundwater contamination, depletion of water resources and the spread of harmful chemicals didn't give residents of Texas' petroleum-producing hotspots enough to worry about.
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Perhaps it should come as little surprise that, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, nearly half of the state's 2018 traffic deaths occurred in the Eagle Ford and other energy-producing areas.
Last year, 1,673 people died and more than 6,000 were seriously hurt in Texas oil-exploration hotspots including the Eagle Ford, Permian Basin, Granite Wash and the Barnett Shale and Haynesville/Bossier shales. The number of deaths in those areas was up 4% over 2017.
“A big increase in the number of heavy trucks and traffic on state and county roads adds to the complexity of driving — something we always need to give our full attention to, while also obeying traffic laws," TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said in a written statement.
Yikes. As if groundwater contamination, depletion of water resources and the spread of harmful chemicals didn't give residents of Texas' petroleum-producing hotspots enough to worry about.
Stay on top of San Antonio news and views. Sign up for our Weekly Headlines Newsletter.
