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Opinion: Pay for play deserves careful consideration (Page 3)
Sports: Women’s gymnastics has a leg up on its competition (Page 4)
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DRILLING
Oil pursued despite drought
ILLUSTRATION BY ORIANA LOVERA
This illustration describes the process of hydraulic fracturing. Finley Resources, Inc., an oil and gas company from Fort Worth, Texas, has used more than 400,000 gallons of Norman drinking water for fracturing.
Hydraulic drilling company uses abundance of drinking water ARIANNA PICKARD • CONTINUOUS NEWS EDITOR
D
ay and night, Norman resident Patricia Askins hears a steady pounding from a hydraulic fracturing operation just across the street from her home. Lying in bed, she hears the sound of the pump mingle with a beeping noise warning people to get out of the way of trucks backing up at the site. Askins said she was surprised by the late-night noises when the drilling operation began about a month ago on Franklin Road in east Norman. “But my husband wasn’t surprised. He said, ‘They’re
digging a well. It’s a 24-hour operation. They don’t shut it off because it’s night. They keep digging,” Askins said. But what surprised Askins even more was the discovery that the drilling company is using Norman’s drinking water to break up the rocks and retrieve oil. While city officials advise residents to conserve their water because of an ongoing drought, Finley Resources, Inc., an oil and gas company from Fort Worth, Texas, has used more than 400,000 gallons of Norman drinking water for fracturing, said Shawn O’Leary, director of Public Works for the City of Norman. There’s nothing illegal about this operation — Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said the City of Norman issued the company a bulk water permit so the operators could connect their hose to a water hydrant near their drilling site. Despite the legality of the situation, Rosenthal said the fact
that one company can buy thousands of gallons of drinking water for fracturing while Norman is still undergoing mandatory water conservation has unveiled what she calls a “gap” in city policies. Some common customers issued bulk water permits to connect to hydrants are nonprofit groups, who need the water for a car wash, or construction companies, who use the water to spray dirt down for dust control, Rosenthal said. “Our policies at the moment are silent on differentiating [among] those,” she said. “So when this company came in, a clerk issued the permit just like any other person who comes in and asks for a bulk water permit.” The city started receiving complaints after Sarah TerryCobo, a reporter for the Journal Record, reported that the company was using Norman’s potable water. SEE DRILLING PAGE 2
OU MEDICINE
New laboratory pays off in life-saving ability State-of-the-art lab opened Tuesday KELLY ROGERS Campus Reporter @KellyRogersOU
The first two procedures were completed Tuesday in OU Medical Center ’s new, $20 million laboratory following 10 years of construction. Simple procedures that can quickly turn critical will be done in the 20,000-square-foot facility, which houses cardiovascular and electrophysiology technology. Scott Coppenbarger, director of public relations at OU Medical Center, said pulling these two disciplines of medicine together in one laboratory will enable safer
WEATHER Windy with a few clouds from time to time. High 69F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph.
and faster care for patients. “Our business is saving lives, and this facility is the total package,” Coppenbarger said. With a combination of experienced professionals and state-of-the-art equipment, the lab will also provide a place for OU medical students to observe and learn in an updated environment, Coppenbarger said. “We are a teaching hospital,” Coppenbarger said. “Students in every aspect of our facility will be exposed to the new facility for an opportunity to learn.” Coppenbarger said this is not just a place where complex surgeries can be completed and students can learn, but a place where lives will be saved. The advanced equipment
will ensure patient safety with lower doses of x-rays delivered and clear, detailed results, according to a press release. What sets this lab apart from others, Coppenbarger said, is the ability and equipment they have to break into a full open-heart surgery without having to move the patient. “We expect to make full use of it,” Coppenbarger said. The majority of the facility’s funding came from the Hospital Corporation of America, OU Medical Center’s parent company. Kelly Rogers kelly.n.rogers-1@ou.edu
PHOTO PROVIDED
Doctors perform a surgery inside OU’s new $20 million dollar laboratory after 10 years of construction. The lab will provide a place for OU medical students to observe and learn in an updated environment.
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