Fracking Truck Traffic in the American Dream City

Photo attribution:  Fort Worth Star-Telegram

XTO has occupied the American Dream City again. 

This operator plans to drill four more unconventional gas wells at the Sue Barnett Drill Site located on Southeast Parkway in Arlington, Texas.  This heavy industrial site shares its fence line with a pretty horse and red barn, a lovely country home, and a small mom-and-pop business strip.  It sits catty-corner to a community college, next door to a subdivision of homes, and down the street from a junior high school and an elementary school.  It was quite the unexpected large-scale operation one would expect to see inside any residential community. 

It felt like a war zone this week as convoys of wide loads of Hodges fracking trucks filed in endlessly onto the pad site hauling all sorts of heavy industrial equipment and numerous tanks marked with "Danger" signs.  Even portable office buildings and trailers rolled in.  

Police in black unmarked FBI-looking vehicles ~ except for the flashing lights ~  escorted the massive trucks onto the pad site.   They appeared to be "police" since they had police patches sewn onto the sleeves of their shirts giving the impression that they were law enforcement.  These men were hired by the same trucking outfit they were escorting.  Thus, they did not issue a single citation for the numerous times their drivers violated the designated truck route which is clearly spelled out in the site stipulations for this particular drilling location.  We are waiting to hear back from the City to see what went awry.   

This week may have been Spring Break for many, but not for those of us who are trapped in Gasland...

TONS of #fracking truck traffic in our hood today. #Arlington #FromGasland @TXsharon @gardencatlady @WCGasette pic.twitter.com/z04LK3cHHH
— Fish Creek Monitor (@Fishcreek1269) March 12, 2015

Hodges' drivers violated truck route today on way to Sue Barnett #Fracking Site @ArlingtonRivera @CityOfArlington pic.twitter.com/eiYVlE1mOe
— Fish Creek Monitor (@Fishcreek1269) March 13, 2015

Video: Does Arlington have any walkable or bikeable neighborhoods? 7 months ago me and my 16 year old son... http://t.co/IbFyaUok8M
— Arlington Proud (@ArlingtonProud) March 12, 2015

*We heard back from the City, and here is the UPDATE:

Notice of Violation - XTO Energy - Sue Barnett - Transportation Route

 

Amount of Fine:  $0.00

XTO Loses at Arlington City Hall

Eden Southwest Gas Drill Site Operated by XTO Energy

Tuesday was a really bad night for Walter Dueease, Regulatory Affairs Manager of XTO Energy.  This Exxon Mobil subsidiary lost their zoning request by a unanimous vote of 9-0 at Arlington, Texas City Hall.  They had hoped to expand their 5.4 acre Eden Southwest drill site with an adjacent 6.3 acre tract in order to set up a temporary above-ground frac pool while keeping the existing frac pond that is at this location.

During last month's Planning and Zoning meeting Chairman, David McGlaun, and Vice-Chairman, Clete McAlister, opposed this request. 

Even Councilwoman, Sheri Capehart, who expressed during the earlier afternoon session that she thought these frac pools were a great idea, suddenly changed her mind and made the motion to deny XTO's request. 

As long-time Arlington resident Kimberly Franklin succinctly states, "One point eight million gallons of fluid 200 feet from homes in a temporary container is a bad idea."  She hit the ball out of the park with her speech Tuesday night.  We encourage you to listen to all the speeches as everyone did a fantastic job.  Kimberly was the first of ten speakers.

This request was a terrible idea.  Fracking is not just about the water.  This is HEAVY INDUSTRIAL MINING inside our residential communities.  

As more people witness middle-class suburbia turn into sprawling industrial zones, opposition to gas drilling grows in Arlington and its surrounding cities.  A good showing of citizens came prepared to speak.  Here is that video clip.  Watch this monumental moment in gas drilling history where Arlington City Council votes UNANIMOUSLY in OPPOSITION to XTO's request. 

October 15, 2013 Arlington, Texas City Council Meeting

Now, this is the kind of dancing the people love to see. 

Be sure to click on the links within this story so you don't miss any details.

Tsunami

Our neighbors once had a small above ground swimming pool.   One day its walls gave way and the pool burst.  In a matter of seconds, the force of the water pushed our six foot tall fence panels halfway into our yard.   The water reached our foundation.  That little round pool contained roughly 10,000 gallons of water, yet its weakened structure caused a mini tsunami.

Now imagine this ~ your industrial neighbor, XTO Energy, erects an olympic-sized above ground frac pool with a diameter of 160' and walls 12' tall.   These pools hold two million gallons of water!   What if those walls were to suddenly collapse due to a situation of improper installation, defects, age, seismicity, a tornado, or even gunshots, which are becoming commonplace in our city?   The consequences would be catastrophic ~ perhaps deadly for nearby residents and anyone who happens to be walking or driving by in a car. 

A zoning amendment to add six additional acres to hold one of of these giant frac pools on XTO's existing Eden Southwest  Drill Site located at 150 Eden Road, Arlington, Texas was up for discussion at Wednesday's September 18th Planning & Zoning hearing at City Hall.   Here is that video:  (Note:  This video may not play on mobile devices.  Please view on your PC or Mac.)

"This is not a destructive type of activity at all," states Walter Dueease, Regulatory Affairs Manager, XTO Energy.

The six speakers in opposition made excellent points.  We've summarized and highlighted a few of these: 

Kim Feil:  XTO said in the afternoon session that the water would not hurt ducks.  Clarification is needed as to whether this water will be treated or reclaimed.  Reminds the commissioners that their is no language in the City's gas drilling ordinance for frac pools.  Until the ordinance is updated where residents are protected, the applicant should be denied.

Jane Lynn:   "Pennsylvania's Attorney General has charged XTO with environmental crimes for spilling over 50,000 gallons of toxic wastewater.   Do we trust them to operate in the middle of our residential neighborhoods?"  In addition, XTO has recently violated the designated truck route in the Fish Creek Neighborhood.  She also wanted to know why we are talking about frac pools when we are in a drought.

Sinikka Dickerson:  Provides testimony about the time when both she and a Veteran Arlington police officer got sickened  in a residential neighborhod  that is surrounded by gas drill sites.  She said, "I can't wrap my mind around it why smart, educated people who by now ought to know better continue approving these activities in residential neighborhoods."

J.R. Nicholson:   Speaks about the gas clouds that came over his house and how his (now deceased) mother couldn't breathe.  A cluster of his neighbors have passed away in a short span of time.   He talked about his burning lungs, unexplained weight loss, breathing problems, and headaches.  Regarding our regulatory agencies he comments, "This whole thing is a bought and paid for farce."  His plead to P&Z is to take a serious look at this issue with their heart and soul because as he states, "Money isn't everything."

Paul Ulrich:  Discusses the dismal state of  the neighborhood  ~ evidence of deterioration of infrastructure of roads, sidewalks, and houses.  "We have proof of drill mud contamination from horizontal drilling."   He goes on to say that while it may seem innocuous to add a frac pool, it is not.  "This is about allowing a known bad operator to extend the range of influence in our community.  There will be more opportunities...to damage, spill, pollute."   Each time they put up the pool and take it down, it impacts the community.   He says, "We want you to stop drilling and move back out of our community and  leave us alone to pick up the pieces so we can start healing and stop the death.  If you don't, then ten years from now Arlington will be a polluted, destroyed industrial waste ghetto."  Finally, he recommends that XTO purchase flood insurance for everyone in that vicinity.

Lola Gulley:  "We need to take our neighborhood back before we're all destroyed.  If the water breaks, all our homes and the neighborhood would be gone.  Too many people are dying. Our property is being damaged from the fracking and the drilling.  I think we should stop thinking about the money and think about the residents." 

It is Powerful when community comes together.

Stay tuned to hear how that vote went down... 

A Muddy Mess in Frackland

Gas Drilling isn't working out so well in residential neighborhoods... 

Back in 2010 there was a drilling mud accident in this South Arlington neighborhood near the Eden Road Drill Site which is at the intersection of Matlock and Eden Road in Arlington, Texas.  This is one example of a horizontal directional drilling job gone bad.  The Fish Creek Neighborhood experienced a similar phenomenon in November 2012.  Click Here for that story. 

Here is the crew cleaning up this muddy mess.  We are trying to obtain documentation from the City and the Railroad Commission of Texas about this accident that affected a bunch of homes, but so far we've been unsuccessful.  Surely, there must be a record of this incident somewhere!  Isn't the company responsible required to report this?

There are a lot of gas pipelines in this area!

In addition to complaints about the white chemical clouds that residents witnessed floating over homes, we've received lots of pictures like this one from frustrated homeowners.  The people near the Eden Road Drill Site are doing an outstanding job of documenting the damages they believe to be caused by drilling activity.  
    
Now XTO Energy wants to amend/expand their drill site to add a frac pool like this one even though there are already ten drilling locations within two miles of this site.   Put on your boots and attend these two important public hearings: 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013, 5:30 p.m. 

101 West Abram Street, Arlington, TX

Tuesday, October 15, 2013, 6:30 p.m.

 101 West Abram Street, Arlington, TX

See additional information in this Scribd document:
 

Sup08-32r2 Hoa Notice by fishcreekmonitor

If you are unable to attend, please say a prayer for our City that it's not too late.

XTO Energy ~ A Master of Disguise?

If Arlington ever decides to host a "Master of Disguise" contest for "Best Concealment of Drill Site Equipment,"  XTO deserves to win the first-place prize.  This is not a strip mall of donut shops, dry cleaners, or smoke shops ~ it's even worse than that.  We are fairly certain that these concealment walls house gas lift compressors.  

Noisy compressors that can run off  RAW NATURAL GAS emit toxins into the air shed and thus, industry may register or obtain a permit (depending upon the size of the engine) through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.   Densely populated regions typically require electric compressors since gas compressors burn hydrocarbons.  Arlington does NOT mandate in its gas drilling ordinance that industry use electric ~ but hey,  why should they when industry helped write it.   

Fact:  When there is no rule, industry takes the cheapest route.

One resident from this area reported that when her grandchild comes to visit in this neighborhood he suffers recurrent nosebleeds.   When he returns to his home (away from drilling) he is fine.  People are also complaining about mothball type odors.

So, in addition to towering rigs erected next to homes, condensate tanks, truck traffic, industrial noise, flying frac sand, flowback vapors, and the installation of gas gathering pipelines transporting (NON-odorized) gas near our homes and schools, was the public supposed to "Intuitively" know about the addition of gas lift compressors too?  Why is it that so many people thought there would be one well and that well would be "miles away" and "we would never know they were here?"  Shouldn't the landmen have disclosed all of these details before hastily coercing people into signing leases?

  Rest assured, states an XTO official, "There are no impacts beyond the walls of these sites." 

Thanks for visiting our blog!  Remember to click on the hyperlinks.

If you have any information or photos you would like to share,  please feel free to e-mail us. 

A big hug and thanks to our resident photographer for obtaining these photos of the Rose Drill Site located at 8101 U.S. Hwy. 287 in Arlington, Texas. 
 
Y'all come back! 

The Arlington Summer Splash: Frac Pools

Fracing requires the use of tremendous amounts of water ~ typically around five million gallons per well.  Selling water to the gas industry is one of Arlington's cash cows.   

Unlike water used for showering or watering a lawn, water used for fracing is a one-time use.  Frac water is permanently removed from the hydrologic cycle because much of it remains down in the earth and the fluid which does return to the surface gets trucked off and disposed of in injection wells.

There are several ways to hold this water:  Frac Ponds, Frac Tanks, and now, Frac Pools.

Some of you may recall the Epic Monster Frac Pond that Chesapeake excavated 12 feet from Grand Prairie resident's backyards during the summer of 2010.  If not, click HERE.  

One of these frac ponds may be coming soon to Arlington residents who live near the Rocking Horse Drill Site.  Click HERE for that story.  Our flawed gas drilling ordinance fails to specify setback distances of  a frac pond to a protected use.  Since industry provided input with the writing of the ordinance, we wonder if this omission was deliberate.   

When frac ponds are not feasible, industry uses frac tanks.  Frac tanks hold 500 barrels, or the equivalent of 21,000 gallons of water.  This method is frowned upon in our City limits because each tank means one trailer load in and one trailer load out.  That's a lot of truck traffic to handle on our deteriorating streets.

We just learned that XTO Energy now uses Frac Pools.  Here is a short video which shows how a frac pool, aka Redneck Swimming Pool is constructed:

Next is a recent picture of a frac pool taken by one of our area resident photographers.  This is  XTO Energy's Rose Drill Site located at 8101 U.S. Highway 287 in Arlington, Texas:

Notice the color of that fluid in the pool.  Since many residents expressed concerns,  we inquired about this.  XTO assured us that only clean, potable water is in that pool.  They don't want tainted water.  Whew!  We're so glad they cleared that up!!  For a minute there we wondered if  fracing chemicals are mixed in that water.  But, as Walter Dueease, Regulatory Affairs Manager of XTO explained, the fracing process is not like baking cakes or cookies where all the ingredients get mixed in one bowl before they're put in the oven.

Perhaps they should leave this pool up after they complete fracing operations.  Neighbors would love to have a community pool, and we feel  this would be a positive contribution from the Oil & Gas Industry to the residents of Arlington who have to live next door to this stuff day in and day out.  Just think of all the happy children splashing around in there!!

For more reading enjoyment, click HERE for the story, "Pennsylvania High to Host Bizarre Swim Meet - In Fracking Fluid."
 

We Don't Need No Regulation

The Railroad Commission of Texas, our State's regulatory agency for Oil and Gas, recently added one inspector to our region.  We now have a total of two inspectors to oversee 3,825 producing gas wells in Tarrant County.  Our nearest field office is located in Kilgore, a two and a half hour trip each way.   When inquiring as to why we don't have a local office in the heart of the drilling region,  they tell us that  Kilgore is historically where they've always been.   Despite a recent push by citizens and legislators for reform, our State has failed to come through.    

This agency doesn't like change.  They seem quite content conducting business as usual.  Even their web site operates on COBOL, a 1970's era programming language.   If you don't believe it, link to their site and try to navigate around.  The web address is:  http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/

Operators are required to send in various reports and forms to the Commission.  One such form is the W-15 Cementing Report.  The one shown here is for the 1-H Sue Barnett well which is located within one mile of the Fish Creek Neighborhood.  Notice that this form was signed by Brenda Wise, Reg. Comp. Tech. of  XTO Energy, the Operator, and Jody Reeves, the cementer at Pumpco Energy Services, LP.  Scroll down to page 4 to see these signatures.)  Government Inspectors/Regulators neither witnessed or signed off on this crucial procedure.

W-15 Sue Barnett Well 1-H by fishcreekmonitor

This is a prime example of Self-Regulation!

Since we were not acquainted with Pumpco, we looked them up and discovered this disturbing review written by one of their employees:

Granted, this is just one review by one employee, but it begs the question:   Should the public place this much trust in an industry that is conducting business in our densely populated communities when it has the potential to cause serious and possibly irreversible environmental damage?

Anthony Ingraffea, PHD, P.E.,  Professor at Cornell University, published a paper in October 2012 entitled "Fluid Migration Mechanisms due to Faulty Well Design and/or Construction."  Although his research focuses on the Pennsylvania Marcellus Play,  this information is also relevant for other shale plays.

Fluid Migration Mechanisms due to Faulty Well Design and/or Construction. by fishcreekmonitor

There is a 6-7% casing failure rate for newly drilled wells and this rate increases over the age of the well.  Therefore, would it be unreasonable to guess that hundreds of wells in the Barnett Shale might already have integrity issues?  Anyone in North Texas who has a cement driveway or a cracked foundation can attest to this!

Our State does not require visual inspection of the pouring of these casings.   [If they did they would have to hire many more inspectors.]  If the State doesn't mandate something, shouldn't local municipalities fill in that gap?  Failed casings can lead to fluid migration and groundwater contamination.  

God bless Texas, the industry-friendly State that prefers the honor system of self-regulation over protection of its citizens. 

Perhaps finances can be appropriated from the Arlington Tomorrow Fund to pay for City gas well inspectors.  More about that later...

The Switcheroo

Signage on 12/19/2012 at Sue Barnett Drill Site Operated by XTO Energy

Signage on 6/29/2013 at Sue Barnett Drill Site operated by XTO Energy

The City of Arlington web site lists this drill site location as 1809 Southeast Parkway, Arlington, TX.  So, which one is it?  Can residents arbitrarily change their address whenever they want?

It's a Blast!

Signage posted at XTO's Sue Barnett Drill Site 
  1901 Southeast Parkway, Arlington, TX
This site is located in close proximity to several schools, homes, and businesses.

Look at the dangerously close proximity of this horse barn to the drill site.  Yes, there are farm animals living here!  It is wishful thinking to believe that our City ordinances are strong enough to protect people, animals, and vegetation from the harmful effects of gas drilling.  Even these trees appear stressed. 

We think the guard sits here during the 'perfing' process.  

Yes, explosives ARE detonated under homes.  
This is something the landman forgot to mention.

Perforating Gun Surface Detonation Video 

Workers load the perfing guns on the surface, but accidents can occur.

This is why cell phone use, including On-Star, is prohibited near this work area.  It can set off a charge with disastrous consequences.

For more on perfing, see TX Sharon's:
 "Hauling Fracking Explosives Through our Streets."

Industrial Terrorism - Our Children's Future?

Dropping off your child to school and seeing a gas drilling rig in the backdrop will make any parent's heart sink - particularly for those who know what we know.  

We recently listened to Dr. Theo Colborn, Environmental Health Analyst,  read a letter she wrote to President Obama about how chemicals in our environment affect our children's health.  Some of  these chemicals are by-products of the fossil fuel industry. 

Click Here to listen to Dr. Colborn's letter to the President.  In this video she states that her college-aged grandson sums it up well by noting that "this is nothing more than industrial terrorism in the womb."

 

So we must ask the question:  Why is this XTO gas drill site sandwiched between an elementary school and a community college and in very close proximity to several other public schools including two junior highs? 

Look inside the red circle.

The purple marker represents the location of the Sue Barnett Gas Drill Site.

The blue marker to its immediate left is Beckham Elementary School.

The blue marker to its immediate right is Tarrant County Junior College.

Blue marker #1 is Barnett Junior High School (remember the Barnett Sinkhole?)

O.K., you get the rest...

Sue Barnett Gas Drill Site located at 1901 S.E. Parkway, Arlington, TX

Operator:  XTO Energy 
December 19, 2012

  Environmental catastrophe in the making 12/19/12

Shale Gas operators have taken over Arlington, yet our City won't zone these sites as 'Industrial.'

   Y'all come back.

Office space available.  Seems to be a trend around here.