blog posting written by Charlie Murphy, AHNA resident
When the City Council passed the Gas Drilling Ordinance it effectively eliminated the protections previously provided for by the existing Zoning Ordinances. The existing Zoning Ordinances limited all gas production to Zone K – ONLY.
Residential neighborhoods were protected because the Zoning Committee realized that this was the only way to ensure that our quality of life could be continued for future generations.
Of course, the residents of Fort Worth were not really paying attention when the Gas Drilling Ordinance was passed. It was only after they have signed leases with dreams of dollars raining from the sky that the truth began to emerge.
We soon found out that Tommy Lee left out a few things – like our right to protection under current zoning ordinances – now you may wake up one day and fine a notice saying that your house is not longer your house — he left out our right to protect ourselves from the probability of being close to, or directly in the area of a gas well explosion — he left out our health, our environment, our property values, our homeowner insurance rates and our expectation to enjoy a quality of life that used to be considered part of the very fabric of Fort Worth. In short, we, the residents of Fort Worth had been left out of Fort Worth’s vision for at least the next 30 years.
With approximately 1000 wells on the outskirts of Fort Worth, we are about to enter the point of no return in Fort Worth.
The existing wells have already doubled the pollution in Fort Worth. We recently learned that a 600 feet setback from a resident’s home for gas wells is no longer acceptable to most of the Task Force ( i.e. gas industry), they are recommending a 100’ set back.
The insanity is not decreasing, it is increasing. The gas industry demands complete submission as it sets it sights on our neighborhoods – they want the very heart and soul of our city. The term “high impact” well is just a gas industry code word that means — “Get out of our way, we will take what we want, when we want, how we want!”
Our safety, our health and our quality of life is about to vanish if the City Council does not act to protect our neighborhoods. The Fort Worth we used to know is about to be erased — one gas well at a time.
What we will be left with is an industrial zone, built on greed. Only you can change this very bleak future. Please let your City Leaders know that you do not want to lose the things that you know can never be replaced.
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. www.arlingtonheightsna.com makes no representations as to accuracy, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. The views and opinions expressed in the AHNA Gas Lease Blog are not necessarily those of AHNA or its members.
From the President of AHNA
AHNA General Membership Meeting
Monday, October 20 at 6:30pm
Arlington Heights United Methodist Church
4200 Camp Bowie Blvd. (enter on Hillcrest).
Featured guest speaker is Chris Berry, Animal Cruelty Investigator from the City of Fort Worth’s Animal Care and Control Division. Discussion will focus on the city’s animal laws and ordinances as well as solutions to dealing roaming cats, nuisance barking, neglected and abused dogs and cats, unleashed and tethered dogs, inappropriate elimination of cats and dogs, lost and found pets, feral cat colonies and even raccoons, rats and opossums. If you have questions for Chris, be sure to fill out a card at the front table when you sign in at the meeting.
Elections for the 2009 AHNA Executive Committee will also take place.
Election 2009
Don’t forget early voting starts Monday October 20 through Friday October 31. Use link on the right side of this page to connect to the League of Women Voters’ non-partisan voting guide and learn more about any of the election candidates, including judges and state representatives. Please forward the guide to your friends.
Gas Updates 10/16/08
While AHNA strategizes its next moves in pursuing a neighborhood gas lease, we are carefully watching what other neighborhoods are experiencing.
On Tuesday October 14 Chesapeake notified North Hi Mount and Crestline Area, our neighbors on the north side of Camp Bowie, that it was withdrawing its offer to the two neighborhoods. Lease negotiations between the two neighborhood associations and CHK had been ongoing but not finalized.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram wrote that Chesapeake is also suspending any new lease agreements in the TCU area and Southlake as of Friday, October 10.
Link to the Star-Telegram article: http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/977746.html
Finally, as most of you have read, Vantage Energy, which two months ago agreed to one of the largest single urban leasing deals in Fort Worth, says it has stopped signing new leases with the Southwest Fort Worth Alliance group due to market turmoil, but will honor bank drafts issued on leases it has already issued. In a statement released by Vantage, “Vantage expects to continue to be active in Tarrant County, but at lease terms that more accurately reflect current and expected oil and gas fundamental economics.” The statement also asserts, “… we cannot stress enough that this decision was made entirely by Vantage and your negotiating committee is not responsible in any way for this outcome. The decision … was driven solely by Vantage based on an assessment of available unleased acreage and proximity to known drill site locations.”
You can find a copy of this statement at: http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/files/vantagealliance_letter.pdf
Link to Channel 5 news story on the Vantage deal: http://www.nbc5i.com/news/17717543/detail.html
For more information and updates, please visit www.arlingtonheightsna.com and click on gas lease blog.
We want to hear what you’re thinking about all this. Please fill out the gas survey on our website. The results will help the AHNA Executive Committee to determine our next steps.
From Gary Hogan, President of Chapel Creek Neighborhood Association and member of Fort Worth Gas Drilling Ordinance Task Force.
I have heard a lot of concern from the news media that residents are unhappy in many places because Chesapeake and the industry as a whole has ceased their leasing activities or even walked away from deals already made. Although I am sympathetic to those who may really have needed the money at substantial bonuses in some cases, I cannot say I am unhappy that the runaway freight train of gas leasing which has also been the nemesis in the quest to regulate this industry more neighborhood-friendly. People have been blinded by the upfront money waving and ignoring the fact that the so-called mail box money to follow is really no fortune: $25 to $50/month averaged over the 20 years for the average residential lot. People can figure this for themselves with a calculation chart posted here. http://www.fwlna.org/Gas%20Wells/Gas%20Well%20Lease%20Rates.htm. This you will see is before federal and ad valorum taxes by the Tarrant Appraisal District.
I have advised many homeowner and neighborhood association groups, civic and social groups regarding the way to negotiate leases if they desired to do so. But, I also have tried to impress on neighborhoods and communities that there are real and potentially dire consequences in doing so. Compressor stations, pipelines and eminent domain have become the real and negative and unforeseen consequences and impacts to neighborhoods and far outweigh the potential of financial gain for those who have had to endure these fates. The actual overall negative impacts from multi-pad well sites of 8 to 12 or even more forecast for well locations by far makes the initially implied 30 days drilling and 5 days fracing and where gone scenario turn a neighborhood’s future into an industrial complex for the next 20 to 30 years . Something I would think they would of never bought into when they moved into their neighborhood and I would venture to guess no one else in the future will invest in either. Residents should also take the time to hear the upcoming presentation regarding the health risks that may be associated with living too close to gas production activities. The OGAP people have been researching this issue for quite sometime. These are real and well-founded information. What they bring is occurring already in many parts of the country. Please come, it is information residents of Fort Worth needs to hear and weigh into future decisions very carefully and ask that our city leaders to do all they can to protect our health and safety.
Gary Hogan, President of Chapel Creek Neighborhood Association and member of Fort Worth Gas Drilling Ordinance Task Force.
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. www.arlingtonheightsna.com makes no representations as to accuracy, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. The views and opinions expressed in the AHNA Gas Lease Blog are not necessarily those of AHNA or its members.
Environmenal Impact of Gas Wells
The Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods and the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County invite you to an Evening with the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP): Environmental, Public Health and Community Issues Associated with Gas Development.
Monday, October 20, 2008
7:00 p.m.
University Christian Church
2720 South University Drive
Speakers include:
Gwen Lachelt, Director, OGAP. Oil & Gas Development in the U.S. will discuss Community Issues and Organizing for Reform. Lechelt is the co-founder of OGAP, Gwen Lachelt’s mission is to protect homeowners and the environment from the impacts of oil and gas development. She has dedicated her career to reforming oil and gas policies and practices and has led precedent-setting campaigns to protect landowner rights, public health and the environment from oil and gas development throughout the U.S.
Jennifer Goldman, Public Health & Toxics Campaign Director, OGAP will talk about Public Health Issues Associated with Oil and Gas Development. Jennifer Goldman works with communities across the U. S. and Canada on oil and gas reform efforts that address the environmental, social and public health impacts of dirty energy.
Wilma Subra, Subra Company will discuss Oil and Gas Field Chemicals and Monitoring. Surba is founder of the Subra Company and recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship “Genius” Award, Wilma Subra provides technical research and evaluation assistance to communities in paving the way for policy changes impacting environmental and human health issues at the state and federal level.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Gas Survey
By completing the nonbinding Gas Survey below, you are describing your intent to act on the proposed gas lease. Please let us know if, 1) you have already signed a gas lease; 2) you have not yet signed a gas lease and will wait to make a decision based upon information provided by AHNA and then determine what is in your best interest; or 3) you are not planning to sign a gas lease regardless of its terms and conditions.
Please fill out your full name(s) and address as completely as possible so we can verify that you own property in Arlington Heights. If you own multiple properties in AHNA, please submit a separate form for each property. When you have completed the survey, please press the “Submit” button.
Your online survey will be emailed to the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association. The survey is not a legally binding contract. Your answers will be compiled with other residents to let AHNA know where the neighborhood stands. Your individual responses will be kept confidential.
**If you would like to print copies of this survey to distribute to neighbors who are without internet access, please feel free to do so. Completed paper surveys can be given to either Christina Patoski or Makenzie Carpenter.
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Final Meeting of the FW Gas Drilling Task Force
Title: Final Meeting of the FW Gas Drilling Task Force, October 6 at 6:30pm
Location: FW City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton St.
Link out: Click here
Description: Final meeting of the Fort Worth Gas Drilling Task Force which is expected to present its final recommendations for changes to the Fort Worth Gas Ordinance to City Council in early November. The meeting which is open to the public will be in the Pre-Council Chambers, second floor of City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton St. No public comments will be taken at this meeting. For more information, visit www.fortworthgov.org/gaswells.
Environmenal Impact of Gas Wells Special Workshop for City Council and Fort Worth Gas Drilling Task Force
Title: Environmenal Impact of Gas Wells Special Workshop for City Council and Fort Worth Gas Drilling Task Force, October 14 from 1:30pm-4pm.
Location: Amon Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall at Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave. in the Stagecoach Room
Link out: Click here
Description: Environmental Impact of Gas Wells Special Workshop for City Council and Fort Worth Gas Drilling Task Force. Open to the public, but comments must be submitted prior the meeting at gasdrillingtaskforce@fortworthgov.org. The meeting will be held at Amon Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall at Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave. in the Stagecoach Room.
Start Time: 13:30
Date: 2008-10-14
End Time: 16:00
