Mary Luna woke up at 5 a.m. on the morning of Feb 26. She got ready quickly, packing some clothes before heading to school. She had a test at 8 a.m. and needed to hit the road for the state’s capitol shortly after.
Luna is a 58-year-old full-time college student. She is also an advocate for change in her community, demanding accountability for the harmful effects of oil drilling in Asherton, TX. On this day, Mary Luna drove to Austin to join more than 40 Commission Shift volunteers for a Capitol Visit to speak with legislators, after only hearing about Commission Shift two weeks prior. According to Luna, her driving force is her heart.
“I try to give my heart to the people in Asherton, and that’s why I’m here,” Luna said.
She’s fielded accounts from elderly neighbors who have to drive upwards of ten miles just to get clean drinking water, and she recounts stories of her mother being unable to wash white clothes because the water is unclean. Luna said she is concerned that these struggles are related to oil drilling in Asherton.
”It’s been years that I’ve heard that the water is really bad,” Luna said.
Flaring data in Dimmit County. Source: Texas Flaring Project
Map of flaring in Texas. Source: Skytruth
Luna said she believes that drilling sites being in close proximity to residential areas has also caused structures to deteriorate. She recalls seeing her grandparents’ gravestone on the ground after a drilling site was active next to the cemetery. She saw five other gravestones fall. Similarly, a community member reached out to her to say that her parents house is next to a drilling site, and now their foundation is cracked.
”And who’s responsible for this?” Luna said. “Who’s responsible for the foundation of our house? The people have questions, they’re concerned.”
According to Texas Drilling, there are currently 10,356 drilled wells in Dimmit County, where Asherton is located. Satellite views of the region show a thick band of flaring activity covering Asherton and wrapping across the state from Laredo to College Station. The flaring source points match the footprint of the Eagle Ford Shale, a geologic zone with significant fossil fuel resources. According to satellite data, Dimmit County operators flare enough gas to power over 94,000 homes per year, enough for Dimmit County’s small population many times over. Luna said she has concerns about the proximity of the drilling, as well as how long wells have been active in the community.
“Our community is not at fault,” Luna said. “While other people got rich or are getting rich off our own soil, because they’re drilling in the city, they should be responsible for at least helping our city.”
Map displaying the number of orphaned wells (43) in Dimmit County, Texas. View the full interactive map here.
Map displaying the number of inactive wells (524) in Dimmit County, Texas. View the full interactive map here.
According to the Railroad Commission reports, as of 2024 there are 43 orphan wells in Dimmit County and 524 inactive wells. You can view those maps here.
Luna recounts instances of community members being diagnosed with illnesses, and how she thinks that may be related to the drilling.
”It’s crazy, you know, because we know each other,” Luna said. “There’s been a lot of sickness around, and when I was hearing what these gases can do, I was putting two and two together.”
She is concerned that frequent illnesses in Asherton residents, which she said she believes coincide with the increase in drilling, may cause people to move away. Six generations of Luna’s family have resided in Asherton, and she doesn’t plan on moving.
“My great-grandfathers were from there,” Luna said.” My grandparents are from there, we’re from there. My parents were from there. I was from there. My son is there. My grandkids live there. You know, it hurts me. If somebody comes and is destroying our city, we can put a stop to it.”
Now, she is turning to her legislators to intervene and step in to hold companies accountable for the environmental impacts they are having on the population in Asherton. Rep. Don McLaughlin and Sen. Judith Zaffarini represent Dimmit County at the State Legislature.
“It’s a concern. There’s laws that need to be done that need to be put [in place] so [companies are more] careful.”
Through her involvement with Commission Shift, Luna spent her time in Austin visiting offices of different legislators to educate them about systemic problems in the oil and gas industry, especially inactive and orphaned well plugging practices, produced water, and carbon capture, use and storage risks. These are all issues outlined in the Commission Shift Action legislative priorities list, which volunteers shared with legislators. See our one-pager here for more information.
“There is help out there,” Luna said. “There is help like this organization that’s concerned, you know, about what’s going on with the gas industries and the oil industry. I really would suggest to people, you know, get involved.”
She was calling on legislators not only to educate them, but to ask for their intervention. Her advice to others looking to get involved: have legislators put themselves in your shoes.
“Just have that direct communication with [legislators],” Luna said. “They don’t live where I’m living. They’re not going through things that people in our community are living [through].”
In her advocacy during the legislative session, Luna remains optimistic that legislators will recognize the issues in Asherton and send authorities to monitor environmental changes to soil, air quality, and water supply — which may have been negatively impacted by drilling.
“I’m just hoping to see somebody out there after all this work,” Luna said. “ I’m just hoping. Yeah, I’ll never lose hope.”
If you have been impacted by bad drilling or well plugging practices, please reach out to us at contact@commissionshiftaction.org. We want to hear your stories and connect you to more opportunities to share your voice with legislators. As the legislative session continues, we will continue to share guidelines to submit public comments on bills and to share live or written testimony on relevant legislation. Please find our legislative priorities one-pager here for more information on what Commission Shift supports and check out our priority bills list here.
Orphan well, carbon capture regulations top energy reform group’s legislative wish list