Did Arlington Neighbors Know?

Lake Arlington Gas Drill Site, 3016 Little Road, Arlington, TX

Yesterday over a dozen families were forced to evacuate their homes when workers lost control of a gas well during hydraulic fracturing operations at the Lake Arlington Baptist Church drill site.   Vantage Energy operates this problematic site.  

Residents previously filed numerous complaints with the City of Arlington, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the Railroad Commission of Texas.  They smelled chemical odors and heard explosions.  We listened to many stories from frustrated neighbors who, at the time, felt the authorities and the industry were not taking their concerns seriously.  First they were told there was a gas leak.  Then they were told there was no leak.  Then they were told there was a cracked casing.  Then they were told there was no cracked casing.  

It was a fracking run-a-round. 

So much for transparency.  

 
We wanted to find out what was going on, so we filed an open records request with the City.  Since our first attempt at obtaining information was rather broad in scope and was going to cost $272.50, we narrowed our search.   On March 11, 2015 we obtained a half dozen documents.  Here is a screen shot of one e-mail where Jason Eberle of Vantage Energy informs Collin Gregory, the City's Gas Well Coordinator, about a well control issue.

This begs the question ~ was this problematic well in January the same well that caused mandatory evacuations yesterday?   

When we visited the site and spoke with the Vantage Energy guard in November, she assured us that drilling is safe.

So far the Fire Department, Vantage Energy and Boots and Coots, a well control company have been unsuccessful at attempts to kill the well and fix the problem.  Toxic fracking fluid continues to bubble and spew out of the well, and nearby residents are still displaced from their homes.  

Questions Mount after gas well leak, evacuations.