Mcdonald observatory texas7/26/2023 ![]() ![]() That could mean more drilling, more lights, and light pollution becoming less of a priority. Hanging over these efforts to preserve dark skies is the fact that oil prices are higher than they’ve been in more than two years, and there’s talk of even higher prices on the way. “What I do expect is that the new constructed facilities will be shielded properly.” “I don’t expect they will go into existing facilities and update them, they might,” he said. (Credit: Bill Wren)Ĭurtis Wilson, the county staffer in charge of enforcing the rules, said he’ll go after companies if there’s a complaint, but he said a lot of the compliance will be voluntary. The rules come with a possible $500 fine.Īn example of lighting structures that can be adjusted to point downward, which reduces light pollution. ![]() In Reeves County, one of the most active parts of the Permian Basin oilfield, local officials recently adopted new rules requiring companies to update all outdoor lights to tougher standards within five years, and to shield some lights within six months of the effective date, May of this year. “You know, that’s going to be a deterrent.” “There’s hundreds of thousands of these light units that they would have to change, and nobody likes to do stuff that costs money,” said Taylor, the local oilfield foreman. But retrofitting old sites with new lights could be a different story. “There’s a small shield that kind of focuses the light beams to force their way downward, instead of letting it spread and pan out,” he said.Īccording to the company, there’s no extra cost to designing facilities this way. At an Altus Midstream gas plant, facilities manager Austin Williams described the company’s specialized lighting. Some oil and gas firms have embraced his message. The entrance to an Altus Midstream gas plant in Reeves County, Texas, where the company has worked with a nearby observatory to minimize light pollution. “For the past, you know, 12 years or so, we have seen a gradually increasing glow that simply wasn’t there in prior years,” Wren said. Because oil drilling is a 24/7 business, astronomers here have grown increasingly concerned about all the lights on drilling rigs, trucks and gas plants. About an hour away is the nation’s largest oilfield, the Permian Basin. “Yeah, we have to suffer through this, day after day,” Wren joked while looking out over his sprawling view of the Davis Mountains. He lives and works at McDonald Observatory, perched on a mountaintop in the state’s rural Big Bend region, where the night skies are still pitch black, and the stars are about as bright as they come. But these days, it’s pretty hard for most Texans to see the stars, as around 85% of the state’s population is located in rapidly-growing urban areas. ![]() “The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas,” goes the popular old song that’s a kind of Lone Star State anthem. In a rural corner of West Texas, hours away from the bright lights of big cities, the night skies are so dark that you can sometimes see the Milky Way from your backyard.īut oilfield activity near this pristine part of the state has been growing in recent years, and astronomers are warning about increased light pollution that’s come along with it. ![]()
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