Corpus Christi Personal Injury Attorney Blog

The roads in Corpus Christi, Texas, and nearby areas are suffering the side effects of hydraulic fracturing. The heavy equipment and frequent use of the roads leading to the Eagle Ford Shale formation mean extreme wear and tear. When this combines with the potential for fatigued truck drivers, residents and workers alike face a dangerous situation.

Hydraulic Fracturing's Toll on the Roads

The hydraulic fracturing process (also known as "fracking") requires significant amounts of heavy materials such as water, which weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon. In most cases, the water and other materials are brought to the wells by truck. In fact, one well can add the equivalent of 8 million car trips to the roads leading back and forth. The trucks travel over roads that have not been designed for such intense use, causing damage such as narrow patches of road, drop-offs at the edges and potholes.

Local and state governments are ill prepared to pay for the damage to the roads or to rebuild a new network of stronger roads. Industry has not paid for all the damage the trucks have caused. While both the private and public sectors are studying the problem and seeking solutions, many of the roads remain in dangerously poor repair.

In Pearshall, Texas, about fifty miles away from San Antonio, an explosion from an oil tank sent flames into the sky as clouds of smoke billowed from the disposal well site. The fire burned for over an hour and has left many to wonder what caused the fiery blaze that injured three people.

This question has proven difficult to answer, as the evidence is unclear as to what caused the oil tank to explode. One likely explanation is that workers were welding near storage tanks. Welding involves metals, high heat and cutting, which sometimes emits sparks that can ignite flammable substances such as oil and gas

The decision to weld near explosive substances has raised concerns among safety officials, including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, which is the federal agency empowered to require employers to keep workplaces safe.

Walking is good for your health. It is something nearly everyone can do, and it helps people see things and develop relationships that cannot be done while driving.

However, pedestrians face unique hazards from other vehicles on the road. This is especially true in urban areas, on weekends and during the evenings. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 72 percent of all pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas. Nearly one-half (48 percent) of all pedestrian fatalities occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (16, 17, and 15 percent respectively), and a majority of such accidents (70 percent) happen at night (between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m.). The state of Texas was one of the top four states in the nation for pedestrian accidents. In 2009, (the latest year for available statistics) nine fatal accidents involving pedestrians occurred in Corpus Christi.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has missed for a second time its revision to the Hours of Service (HOS) regulation, as reported by Trucker.com. After prolonged litigation forced the FMCSA to revisit its rulemaking process, in December of 2010 they issued the proposed revision.

The final rules were originally set to be issued on July 26, 2011 and were then postponed to October 28, 2011. The agency announced it would miss that deadline, and according to Trucker.com, one day later said had completed the proposed regulations and had sent them to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

While no timeline was mentioned, it could take two to three months for OMB to complete their review.