I was there in Bartonville, Texas with Rex and Dick.
The first time Rex Tillerson and Dick Armey addressed the Town of Bartonville about the water tower whose toxic emissions and activities would trespass onto their property causing health problems, loss of enjoyment of property, water contamination and diminished property value, I was there. It was a night I will never forget and this is how I remember it.
Edit: Upon looking at the minutes from March 15, 2011, I see that Rex did not speak first. I think his presence was so large that, in my memory, it stood out. Also it may have been the Armeys who spoke about their view and such. The surreal-ness of the whole event has meshed it all together in my memory but the general gist of the comments--this industrial infrastructure will harm my property value and the enjoyment of my private property--remain the same. And the gist echoes the comments made that night by Tillerson's neighbors who were requesting a moratorium on new drilling permits. Everyone wants to preserve their property value and enjoyment of their private property.
The water tower was first up on the agenda and Rex--as I remember it--was the first speaker on the subject. The speech he made at this town council meeting was very different from the highly publicized, threatening speech he made at the more recent town council meeting. This speech was a good old boy to good old boy type of speech in which he described his enjoyment of sitting on the specially-built for entertaining back patio with his favorite beverage and gazing at the lovely view from his property. He and his wife enjoyed visiting the ranch to relax after their hectic work schedule and they liked to have friends over. This proposed water tower whose toxic emissions and activities would trespass onto their property causing health problems, loss of enjoyment of property, water contamination and diminished property value, would ruin all that for him because he would actually see the hideous thing in his view from the specially built patio. Rex spoke at length and unlike everyone else he was not held to the strict three minute limit on public comment.
Bartonville Town Hall was filled to capacity that night with residents who came to urge council to deny the latest in a long string of permits to frack a gas well near their homes whose toxic emissions and activities would trespass onto their property causing health problems, loss of enjoyment of property, water contamination and diminished property value.
Next to me was Michael Knoll, whose former better half is known as Runner Susan. I asked Michael if this was real or a dream. Unfortunately, I cannot print his response because I try to keep this blog family friendly. You see, Rex's company, Exxon, had swallowed up XTO a company that was drilling and fracking gas wells in the Bartonville area.
Runner Susan enjoyed making videos while writing messages on her specially-built back patio with her water that foamed from the "soap sticks" used in fracking near her water well. She also enjoyed making videos of herself applying a flame to her foaming water and picking out the bits of waxy-plasticky stuff or videoing dying/dead birds after a toxic release from the gas wells that surrounded her home. Other times, Runner Susan might play in the fracking sand that trespassed from the XTO fracking operation all over her property and specially-built back patio. XTO operations endlessly provided the intoxicating perfume of diesel for all the neighbors to enjoy.
Unlike Rex, you won't hear Runner Susan talking about how XTO operations affected the enjoyment of her specially-built patio. A lawsuit was filed because trespass is illegal in Texas. When asked about her experiences, all Runner Susan can say is "the matter is resolved." She can't say and I wouldn't ask, but I'm guessing Runner Susan's story is trapped inside HERE.
Zoe was there too! She is a beautiful, world class athlete but that night no one wanted to look at Zoe. She looked like a skeleton and her face and body were covered in oozing lesions for which her doctors could find no cause. These lesions cleared up immediately when she abandoned her home near Bartonville and moved to another state and they only return when she comes for a visit to this area. She has gained weight and is now back to competing and winning triathlon competitions. But she is now chemically sensitive and must take special precautions with exposures to all kinds of chemicals and foods.
There were several other families in the room but I won't disclose any details about them. Two of them are trapped HERE and others have kept details of their suffering mostly private.
After the meeting, there was a scuffle in the parking lot. As I walked to my car I found XTO "Bob" walking beside me. He noticed my new, very short haircut and I explained that this is my combat hair.
Some of the water in the water tower whose toxic emissions and activities would trespass onto their property causing health problems, loss of enjoyment of property, water contamination and diminished property value, Rex is suing to keep away would be used for fracking operations in the Bartonville area where XTO is an operator. The trucks picking up the water would be such a bother to Rex and his family.
I believe that Rex's world class NIMBYISM is prize worthy. And, although
he is a previous winner of the #assholeoftheday award, if anyone deserves to be a two-time winner, it's Rex.
Dear Readers,
If you agree with me that Rex is, again, deserving of this award, please send a tweet to @assholeofday and nominate Rex.
UPDATE:
Please thank @assholeofday for making Rex Tillerson a double asshole.
