A Woo-Hoo Moment ***Update***

I spent the morning working alongside the Fish Creek Neighbors on the Linear Trail picking up a TON of litter that the heavy rains washed onto the wooded areas.  It was dirty, back-breaking work, so afterwards I took a hot bath, drank a glass of wine and decided to watch Tuesday night's City Council meeting that I missed.  Then the urge came on to write a blog post. 

The hot topic of discussion at this meeting was an item from Executive Session ~ an oil and gas lease with Vantage Energy.  A Chesapeake oil and gas lease was also on the agenda under Executive Session, but the focus for this story is the Vantage lease.  

Vantage is the operator that experienced a well blowout in April causing mandatory evacuations of many nearby residents.  This mishap spilled 42,000 gallons of produced water down residential streets and into our city storm drains.  This is also the same operator that delayed reporting this accident to our Fire Department for approximately two hours.  They don't sound like a very prudent operator.  Following an investigation, the City made a determination to allow them to Frack On on that LABC drill site.  It was a disappointment that they did not order Vantage to lock the gates and plug the wells after that fiasco.  Now they are building out that site, but that is a story for another day.  One of those West Arlington neighbors should start a blog. 
   
Although the surface location for this Vantage Energy lease is in Fort Worth, well bores would be directionally drilled and fractured under a portion of Lake Arlington, the City's drinking water source for hundreds of thousands of people.  

The speeches by Arlington and Dallas residents addressed a myriad of concerns ranging from the risk of contamination to our drinking water supply to the potential for an earthen dam failure which could be catastrophic.  Earthquakes, air pollution and climate change were also mentioned as serious issues associated with this type of heavy industrial activity.  

Fracking.  What's not to love? 

Robert Shepard (At-Large) was absent, and Jimmy Bennett (At-Large) made the motion to approve these oil and gas leases. Shame on you, Mr. Bennett!  Since there was no second, Robert Rivera then made a motion to deny, seconded by Sheri Capehart. The outcome of the vote was 7-1.   

 ***UPDATE***  

We received new information from the City Secretary's office today that there was dialogue immediately following this vote which was not clearly audible to online viewers.  While both items 1 and 2 were denied, Charlie Parker, District 1 Councilman, wanted to make sure that it goes on public record that he voted "No" on item 2  (ie, saying yes to a Chesapeake oil and gas lease on City property by Little Road and Little School Road) making the vote on item two 6-2.  So, there you have it ~ two Arlington Councilmen whose names deserve recognition in the City Hall of Shame.   

  Click Here to watch the November 10, 2015 City Council Meeting.

It was curious to witness what appeared to be a pivot ~ or maybe it was an eddy turn by seven out of eight council members present at the meeting.  Is there a skilled canoe man out there who can confirm this move?  We suspect it might have been a strategical maneuver to turn the negative PR around.   But most definitely, it was a "Woo-Hoo Moment" for mostly everyone in the chamber that night.   

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.

Who You Gonna Call?

When fracking sites encroach upon your residential neighborhood, who DO you call when you hear an explosion, smell fumes, feel the earth move, or worse yet ~ who DO you call if a dam is breached?  

The Railroad Commission of Texas, the State agency that regulates Oil and Gas, requires gas operators to clearly display proper signage listing emergency contact numbers.  Since emergencies can happen at any time on any given day, one would assume that a responsible party would be available to answer these calls 24/7.  

Just out of curiosity, we tested the three emergency numbers listed at the bottom of the signage of this Vantage-operated Lake Arlington Baptist Church Site to find out who actually answers gas drilling-related emergency calls.  

 Signage at Lake Arlington Baptist Church Gas Drill Site, Arlington, TX

The first number rang and rang.  No answer.  No voice mail to leave a message.  We called the third number, and a recorded message said, "caller not accepting calls at this time."  When we tried the number with a Colorado area code, a guy named Dan answered his cell phone.  He stated that he is with Vantage, and that he is located in the Denton area.  That is a wonderful place to be since the citizens of Denton voted in favor of a fracking ban. 

It is curious that the number for the Railroad Commission of Texas ~ the State agency responsible for regulating Oil and Gas and protecting our groundwater ~ is NOT listed on this signage.  If residents call 911, the City is not required to communicate or report incidents to the appropriate regulatory agencies responsible for protecting our air and water.  That is the citizens' responsibility. 

Oil and Gas self-regulates.  

So, for instance, if an operator has a mishap and cracks a casing or experiences a pressure issue, they are required to self-report.  It's an honor system.  And we know how forthright they've been with our communities thus far.

So, who will you call when when you hear an explosion, smell fumes, feel the earth move, or worse yet ~ who you gonna call when the dam is breached?