Blog posting written by Charlie Murphy, AHNA Resident
The gas industry is not covered by public right-to-know provisions under the Community Right-to-Know Act. What that means is that every employee of the gas industry gets to start off every day with federal protection to deceive those that they pretend to care about?
This fact should be enough for us to say, “Let’s slow down — take a long hard look at this before say “YES” to any new gas well permits”. This has not happened. Instead we continue to see approvals – not just for remote areas of Fort Worth – but, permits for High Impact gas well sites – in our neighborhoods – which many believe will endanger the very lives of residents – as well as their health.
But there is more bad news – the gas industry also has convinced Congress – yes, that Congress – the one that is bringing you the melt down of our economy – that Congress has provided exemptions from federal statues regarding your health and the environment. Exemptions from: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act. Does anyone believe that the gas industry is going to give up those exemptions for our City? In fact, Chesapeake has made a very concerted effort to divert your attention from these facts - thanks to such notable figures as Tommy Lee Jones – who seems to believe that gas wells are a “temporary inconvenience”. Tommy Lee left out a few things – like your right to protection under current zoning ordinances – now you may wake up one day and find a notice saying that your house is not longer your house – he left out your right to protect yourself from the probability of being close to, or directly in the area of a gas well explosion — he left out your health, your environment, your property values, your homeowner insurance rates and your expectation to enjoy a quality of life that use to be considered part of the very fabric of Fort Worth. In short, you have been left out of Fort Worth’s future for at least the next 30 years.
What we are left with is all too obvious — Chesapeake’s Vision, Chesapeake’s City, and Chesapeake’s Future. If you think you still have the same old Fort Worth, you are sadly mistaken. What Fort Worth is all about today is one very simple thing – GREED. Only you can change that. Please let your City Leaders know that you do not want to lose the things that you know can never be replaced.
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Drilling Ordinance Public Hearing
Title: Drilling Ordinance Public Hearing
Location: Council Chamber at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton Street
Link out: Click here
Description: The public is invited to attend a Gas Well Task Force Public Hearing at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton Street.
The task force, which is comprised of community members, business leaders and industry representatives, will take comments and feedback into consideration as it continues to meet to study and debate issues such as noise, setbacks, air pollution, water supply and other environmental impacts.
Start Time: 18:30
Date: 2008-09-29
Gas Drilling Issues Public Meeting: 4th Gas Drilling Public Information Meeting
Title: Gas Drilling Issues Public Meeting: 4th Gas Drilling Public Information Meeting
Location: University Christian Church, 2720 S. University Drive by TCU in the Fellowship Hall
Description: The Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods and the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County Present the 4th Gas Drilling Public Information Meeting on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Topic: Gas Drilling and its Impact on Environmental Quality.
Speakers include: Dr. Al Armendariz, Assistant Professor of Engineering, SMU who will be discussing the Impact of Drilling on Air Quality; Kathy Chruscielski, PARCHED (Parker Area Residents Committed
to Halting Excessive Drilling) who will discuss the Impact of Drilling on Water Resources; and Nina Hutton,
Vice President for Environmental Health & Safety, XTO.
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2008-09-18
AHNA General Membership Meeting, September 15
Monday September 15 at 6:30pm
AHNA membership meeting
Arlington Heights United Methodist Church
4200 Camp Bowie Blvd. (enter on Hillcrest).
The featured speaker will be our City Council representative Carter Burdette. Be sure to fill out a card at the front desk if you have a question to ask Councilperson Burdette. He will take questions from the audience after his introductory remarks.
Gas Lease Updates September 12th
GAS UPDATE: We have an update on the AHNA neighborhood gas lease negotiations with Chesapeake. Chesapeake Energy says that at this time “it would not be prudent to acquire additional leases in Arlington Heights,” stating they do not yet have a drill site that can reach us.
We know many of you have been patiently waiting for more than a year for the neighborhood to negotiate a lease. AHNA firmly believes our neighborhood will be leased. Do not be discouraged; it’s not a question of if, but rather when. Our neighborhood comprises 622 acres beneath which sits some 140 billion cubic feet of natural gas that is a valuable commodity to gas exploration companies.
Gas exploration in the Barnett Shale is a highly competitive and confidential business, so a new drill site near us could very well be announced in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, advances in gas drilling technologies could solve the problem of reaching the neighborhood from more distant existing drill sites. As of today though, there is no drill site. Until there is one, Chesapeake says it will not acquire any more mineral leases in Arlington Heights.
Parnell McGlinchey, the attorney who is representing us in the negotiations with Chesapeake, cautions that signing a lease is not a good idea until a drill site can been identified. Without that, we cannot negotiate terms such as truck traffic routes, location of compressor stations and appropriate baffling, and other issues that could negatively impact our neighborhood. These terms cannot be negotiated unless we continue to stick together and sign a neighborhood lease.
You are still free to sign any offers you receive, negotiate your own terms, hire your own attorney, or not sign at all. However, if you sign an individual gas lease, you will not be included in any gas lease terms negotiated by AHNA in the future. And be aware that any company/entity looking for you to sign a lease as an individual now, is only doing so for the future benefit of selling it down the line to whoever actually drills the well.
Chesapeake is not our only option. Even though they were the only company to submit a formal offer in response to the Request for Proposals (RFP) AHNA sent out in April, they were not the only company to express interest in leasing our neighborhood. There are also new companies who have entered the competition to drill in the Barnett Shale since our RFP was sent out. The AHNA negotiating door is wide open.
Chesapeake has been slow to negotiate neighborhood leases with the other eight neighborhood associations that were included in our April RFP. Only two have completed their negotiations with Chesapeake and both can be reached by existing drill sites. Northcrest Neighborhood Association cannot be reached by a drill site and in mid-August was told by Chesapeake that they would not be acquiring leases from them until a site was found.
As disappointing as the Chesapeake news may be to those of you who were counting on a bonus windfall, AHNA expects this delay to ultimately benefit our neighborhood because it gives us the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other neighborhoods as they deal with the problems—both known and not yet apparent—that accompany the secondary stages of natural gas development. We will benefit from our city government’s pending changes to the city’s gas ordinance which should provide better protections to us from some of the unforeseen harsh realities of urban gas drilling.
It also gives AHNA more time to find out from the property owners in Arlington Heights what they’re willing to accept in a gas lease. We are launching a pilot Arlington Heights survey on our website in the next few days, arlingtonheightsna.com, and need your feedback. Your responses will be kept confidential and you don’t have to be a member of AHNA to participate. Please voice your opinion on the survey so the Executive Committee can determine how to move forward. Your input is vital.
Urban gas drilling is the most important issue our neighborhood has faced in decades. Its long-term impact has the potential to change the character of our neighborhood, so we want to do everything possible to ensure that impact will be as positive as possible. Securing a viable drill site that can reach our neighborhood is the biggest hurdle at this time.
For a more detailed discussion on this latest gas lease development, go to arlingtonheightsna.com and also look for our neighborhood newsletter to be hand-delivered on front porches throughout our neighborhood in the next few days (it will also be on the website). We also recommend this week’s cover story in FW Weekly: www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=7161. You can also follow coverage in the Star Telegram’s blog at startelegram.typead.com/barnett_shale.
Disclaimer: This information is provided to you as an informational courtesy. Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association does not lease nor provide advice about leasing private property for gas exploration and drilling, nor do they endorse or are associated with any gas exploration or drilling companies.
