If The Well Is Dry, Why Would One Need an Air Quality Permit for A Well That Will Be Abandoned? Good Question.

This is very clever. The link will be broken soon; a regional newspaper.

The oil and gas industry is arguing air quality permits should not be required until after a well is drilled and strikes oil.  If the well is dry, why would an air quality permit be needed for that well?

Actually, the permits should be granted for an entire field, if not for the entire state, but that's another story. The EPA method "nickles and dimes" the E&P industry into a death by a thousand cuts, as I mix my metaphors.

This reminds me of a personal story about 40 years ago. I was selling books door-to-door in New Jersey for the summer to help pay for college. I was given outstanding training on sales and logistics with regard to my sales territory. The company told me not to apply for a "permit" to sell door-to-door because the city would drag its feet and by the time I got a permit, the summer would be over. Instead, the company told me to begin selling, and that if picked up by the police, at worse I would be jailed overnight (the company would post bail), and, at best, the permit application process would most likely be expedited.

I took that advice.

About a month into selling my books, I crossed a jurisdictional line, into a new suburb that required permits to solicit. It was about 5:00 p.m. when I knocked on the door of the home of a police detective. He asked me if I was selling something. I immediately realized why he was asking and I said I wasn't selling anything unless he bought. Until he bought something, I was only showing my merchandise.

He did not see the humor. I was not being humorous. I was about as scared as I have ever been, looking forward to a night in jail and a criminal record.

After the second or third time, denying that I was selling anything, the police detective told me to get into his unmarked police car. "We were going downtown."

When we got downtown, I was booked, photographed (mug shot),  fingerprinted, asked to fill out a form to apply for a permit, and by 7:00 p.m. that night I had my permit and was back selling books door-to-door. (Interestingly enough, I am not on the "no-fly" list.)

What a hoot. That reminds me of another police story which I will post later. It's too good to pass up.

For those who have put the Super Bowl half-time entertainment on mute, here is something you might enjoy (more "spectacular" than the Super Bowl half-time act and with a much better-looking group).

Spectacular/Moulin Rouge