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Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Valve Yard

We met at a local coffee shop with two young men employed by The Railroad Commission of Texas to discuss the findings of their four-day long audit of the gas gathering pipelines in our southeast Arlington neighborhood.  This investigation was prompted by a citizen complaint.  Records in early June 2012 on the Fulson 12" flow lines indicated 'in construction phase' with a 'start date of October 2009'.  Meanwhile, the Fulson well has been in production since February 2011.   Their office workers must be buried underneath stacks of paperwork! 

During our meeting we learned that the RRC cited DFW Midstream with one violation and several other deficiencies The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)  Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) states in 192.705 that surface conditions must be maintained in order to conduct leak surveys.  Since the property was overgrown, visibility was obstructed.  We certainly don't want gas leaks this close to the community - especially since this gas is not odorized.


Southeast Arlington Valve Yard which is too close to homes.


A valve yard is the intersection where gas gathering lines from drill sites converge.  Will local residents suffer health issues due to invisible emissions venting out of that stack?

This HOA could have had a community club house or swimming pool.
Now this is a danger zone.
 
 Do you know when your gas gathering pipelines were inspected?

Click here to read the latest report:  Breaking all the Rules:  The Crisis in Oil and Gas Regulatory Enforcement researched by Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project.
 

5 comments:

  1. And if there had not been this complaint? How long would it have been before any "inspectors" came around?

    Terrible that these homes are so close to this heavy, industrial activity. No telling what's coming off that green "venting" stack.

    Life in suburbia was never supposed to be like this.:-(

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  2. You know those commercials Barnnet Shale will show on T.V.? I think its time Southeast Arlington start coming up with their own commercials. ;0) What's up with the earthquakes in Irving/Dallas?

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  3. Oh Yeah! One of the infomercials is of a site adjacent to Gary Hogan's house. They digitally inserted trees and landscaping into their film which does not exist and never existed at that site.
    They take talking points from activists at public hearings and produce infomercials stating that they are the Messiah's who have already delivered all the deficiencies we identify. Liars Liars Liars.

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  4. They are allowed to vent gas from this facility and all facilities like this one. Welcome to civilization.

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  5. The two Railroad Commission inspectors seemed a little nervous as we waved them over to our corner table at the neighborhood Starbucks. We were settling in with our Pumpkin Spice Lattes. They were delicious.

    We were surprised. They didn't even order coffee! And they hardly seemed old enough to have inspected very many pipelines. Oh, well. That's alright. Maybe quality is more important than quantity.

    It was refreshing to know that the Railroad Commission is hiring very young men. Funny thing happened...one of them tried to sip my latte, but caught himself. It was right after we asked how land could be developed if it's covered in gathering pipelines!? We understand. They must not have had much training for meeting with women over the age of 40 who drink coffee while discussing pipelines, pigs, methane, unodorized gathering lines and valve yards.

    We're still looking for our RRC Chair Barry Smitherman to come and have a cappuccino with us! Maybe he'll even buy. We remain ever hopeful in gasland.

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