For now, everyone needs to concentrate on ending the threat this oil well fire poses to the lives, health, and property of innocent people. Then some hard decisions need to be made to prevent this from ever happening again.

From the Oak Ridger:

“It’s not as bad as they said it was, but it’s pretty bad. They’re having to build a pond in my front yard.
“The house smells like gas,” she explained.

“We probably will not get to go back,” she said. “They said there could be structural damage (to the house). I talked to one of the guys from Texas, and he made the comment to me that my house was gone — not meaning that it was burnt down, but we probably won’t get to live in that house again ... that’s the way I took it.”

No one should have the right to put other people's property, health, lives, and even the lives of their children at risk just for the sake of making a profit. With oil priced at over $100 a barrel, there is a huge temptation to give a wink and a nod at the safety of Tennessee Citizens and it's environment. This cannot be allowed to stand as is.

Tennessee's regulations need serious revision so that this cannot happen again.