Dear Arlington, TX City Council

 

June 9, 2020

         Subject:  SUP09-21R1 (AC360 Drill Site) 2000 South Watson Road

Dear Mayor Williams and City Council Members, Dear Mayor Williams and City Council Members,

The oil and gas industry has had their knee on the necks of citizens and municipalities for too long.

We can’t breathe.

It is evident to all by now that allowing for corporate interests to explore and drill and frack for gas hundreds of feet from the fence lines where people live and children play was not only a terrible mistake but a dangerous one.  

In this particular case TEP Barnett wants a variance to an already insufficient setback of 600 feet. Approval would result in the release of tons of toxic emissions into the air we breath during a worldwide pandemic when COVID19 is attacking the respiratory systems of the weak and frail as well as the strong. Heavy industrial mining is incompatible with residential communities. We all know this, yet time after time again we witness council violating their own consciences due to a corrupted state legislature complicit with an industry that fuels their campaigns.

I implore you to come out from the shade of HB40.  This is not the time to put profits over people.  We need your help in taking the knee of oil and gas off our necks so we may live and breathe and peaceably enjoy our properties in a city which is governed in a manner which causes no harm to the most vulnerable in our community.

I pray you deny TEP Barnett’s request to establish a drill zone at the AC360 Drill Site.

Warmest regards,

 A Concerned Citizen  

xoxo

PS: 1) There was an earthquake in Joshua yesterday. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000a7ty/executive?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ENS&utm_campaign=realtime

2) There was a gas pipeline fire on April 18th which occurred two exits to the south of proposed drill zone. Note that this happened during the quarantine.  Had it been a normal Saturday, this intersection would have been gridlocked due to Traders Village traffic and there would have been casualties.  https://youtu.be2

Arlington, TX: The Undeveloped Land

Undeveloped Land next to Chesapeake's Fulson Drill Site, So. Hwy. 360, Arlington, TX

Fracking damages the land.  Not only does it damage the land inside the perimeter of these beige, cosmetic masonry walls of pad sites, but it also ruins potential land use for the surrounding area.  The land depicted in this picture has remained barren since the City zoned the Fulson Drill Site in 2009.  Let's face it, no one wants to develop property that is adjacent to a heavy industrial mining site where gas gathering pipelines criss-cross its span ~ unless, perhaps, they give away the land at a deeply discounted price.  

Now, zoning an industrial use next to a fracking site would not be so objectionable if there were not already 60 or so sites in Arlington which are zoned for residential neighborhoods.  So, just what DO you do when you learn that the pie-in-the-sky master plan that the oil and gas industry pitched to our City six years ago was just a pipe dream, and we now have to deal with the nightmare of the fracking aftermath ~ Undeveloped Land all across the "American Dream City?" 

Well, some developers seem to think it is just fine to build homes next to existing drill sites.  There are no laws prohibiting them from doing so, but just because you can doesn't mean you should.  It's wrong.  This complex issue is about private property rights, but it is also about ethics.  Doing the right thing.  The Makens Company wants the City to change the zoning from commercial to residential for their property on South Highway 360 next to Chesapeake's Fulson Drill Site.  

It would be a terrible tragedy if an unsuspecting young couple purchased their dream home, gave birth to a child, and adopted a pet only to awaken one morning to a looming drilling rig outside their child's bedroom window.  This can and has happened because Texas has no disclosure laws requiring sellers to tell potential buyers that these homes are next to a drill site and that heavy industrial mining activity could occur at any time into perpetuity.  This very situation is what led Denton residents to work toward a fracking ban which our Oiligarchy State overturned when they passed HB40.

Arlington's gas drilling ordinance does not address reciprocal setbacks for new development going in next to existing drill sites.  Mansfield's ordinance doesn't either, and look at the fiasco that is happening there:

New home construction next to gas drilling site on Debbie Lane in Mansfield, TX

Arlington's current gas-drilling ordinance mandates a 600-foot setback from a protected use with a variance to 300 feet, but this measurement is taken from the wellhead, not the pad wall.  We have gone to our City on numerous occasions asking for an ordinance revision, but they keep kicking the can down the road.  It appears they enjoy basking in the shade of HB40. 

Now, the City of Arlington seems to be in a hurry to meet with the Fish Creek Neighbors ~ so much in a hurry that we are told by one resident that this meeting cannot wait another day.  We don't even know the time, but we know the date and the place of this meeting ~ Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church.  Since Monday is Labor Day, we will meet on Tuesday.  This will ensure low turnout, which is what we believe the City is counting on.  Here is the e-mail that arrived in my box on Friday:

Jim Makens, the property owner of the site behind the gas well site and QT, would like to discuss his plans for developing his property with our neighborhood residents. He is thinking single family residential development and would like to go for a rezoning.
Since our neighborhood has a formal Neighborhood Plan in place with the City of Arlington, he is required to contact us. See below for the Neighborhood Plan.
We will try to get a meeting set up with the developer for ...Monday, Tuesday or Thursday evening next week. We are looking for tentative RSPV's from our residents. More info. to follow.

http://webapps.arlingtontx.gov/…/neighborhood_plan_FishCree…

(Note that gas drilling is NOT mentioned in the Fish Creek Neighborhood Plan.)

We certainly hope that Chesapeake plans to plug those three wells if the City approves a zoning change for The Makens Company, because gas drilling in such close proximity to a neighborhood is downright dangerous.  These two land uses are clearly incompatible.  These wells are experiencing declining production anyway.  The trickling royalty checks arrive with less frequency ~ and the amount barely covers a family's pizza and coke for Friday night dinner.  

Stay tuned, and we'll update this story as we learn more details...

In the meantime, here is an important back story:

Arlington, TX:  A Damaged Land 

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.

Pluck Cluck. Pick Pikulinski for Arlington, Texas Mayor

  It was a pretty day on Saturday.  After our Fish Creek Community Garden gathering, some neighbors set out on a block walk  because the local elections are just around the corner.  Many people were out in their front yards, so we had the opportunity to meet and talk with a bunch of residents and listen to their concerns.  We learned that public opinion is one hundred percent unanimous on the gas drilling issue ~ citizens are disgusted with the industrialization of their residential neighborhoods. 

There are quite a few homes up for sale ~ several back up to the Fulson Drill Site.  Hmmm...  

One mother in the gas patch shared her story.  After the drilling frenzy began in southeast Arlington,  her daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.  She was so ill that she missed the entire 8th grade while undergoing treatment.  The mom believes that the drilling activity was responsible for her daughter's illness, and she also complained about frequent gas odors on her property.  While the doctor did not definitively confirm that the drilling activity caused the disease,  he did not deny it either.  Fortunately, her daughter is in remission now,  but she shared that other neighbors in the area are also suffering health issues. 
 
These types of stories seem to be commonplace in the gas patch.  Approximately two years ago we met a middle-aged man who was diagnosed with terminal bone marrow cancer.  At that time, he lived in close proximity to the Fulson Drill Site.  His doctor asked if he had been exposed to benzene.  If anyone in the Fish Creek Neighborhood has an update on this gentleman,  please contact us via e-mail. 

During the early part of 2013 we met a young widower  who lives next to the Rocking Horse drill site.  His wife passed away suddenly after Chesapeake drilled a well a little over 400 feet from their back door.  

People purchase homes in  residential neighborhoods because they expect to enjoy a good quality of life.   If they wanted to live in an industrial zone, they  would have purchased a home in an industrial zone.  Now ALL Arlington, TX homeowners are at risk because their communities can be turned into drilling zones at any given moment.  This is  now possible because on October 23, 2007 the Arlington, TX City Council  changed the zoning ordinance to allow gas drilling in residential neighborhoods.  When you link over to that blog post, notice that Mayor Cluck was absent that night, and  District 3 Councilman Robert Rivera seconded the motion to approve this monumental change that would transform our city into a gas mining town dotted with drill sites, compressor stations, and dangerous gas pipelines transporting UNodorized gas past our homes, schools, and parks.

There is hope.  Election day is May 11th.  We desperately need to stop the build out of gas wells and revise the City's gas drilling ordinance.  Jerry Pikulinski is committed to doing just that.  He understands community development and zoning priorities  ~ something our officials of local municipalities make decisions about on a regular basis.  If elected, he will also ensure public safety and build strong community while giving every citizen a voice. 

Click HERE to check out Jerry Pikulinski's Facebook page. 

PLUCK CLUCK,  

PICK PIKULINSKI 

for Arlington, TX Mayor!!  

REMEMBER TO VOTE!

  

For voting information, click HERE.