Texas Road Base

If you have ever thought about moving off the shale because of the dangers of fracking, think again.  There may not be any safe havens left.  An amended Railroad Commission rule about recycling may explain why.  According to Gaye McElwain of the Railroad Commission of Texas, drilling muds and fluids are being used as a road base in some areas of the State.  This is how industry greenwashes fracking.  They are not really recycling their waste.  They are just finding more creative ways in which to dispose of it.  Have you ever wondered why there is so much road construction happening all around North Texas?   

Here's the clip from the Gas Drilling Forum held at the Arlington, TX Convention Center on August 1, 2015: 

(In the case of a technical glitch, scroll over to 2:22:20 in this video.)

Click on this link for information about this recycling rule. 

The Public Forum

What DO you do after the fracking fallout?  

After your community has been transformed from the suburbs into a heavy industrial mining zone due to predatory landmen scamming uninformed neighbors into signing mineral leases... 

After the State passes legislation (HB40) that strips away municipal control to regulate and protect the health and safety of its citizens because Oil and Gas must continue to make big profits...

After the water and air shed has been contaminated because that's just what industrialization does to the environment...

After your home gets damaged from earthquakes because injection AND extraction does cause induced seismicity...

And after your City tells you ~ that as a citizen ~ you are NOT allowed to speak at a gas drilling PUBLIC MEETING to address your concerns...

You Stage a Protest: 

Photo attribution: Codepink Dallas

Photo Attribution:  Fish Creek Monitor and Westchester Gasette

 The room was fairly empty until the protesters filed in and filled some chairs.

It was clear that the citizens had more knowledge than the panelists.  They asked thoughtful, educated questions which the regulatory bodies could not answer. 

In case you hit the snooze button on the alarm clock and missed this early morning meeting ~ which most folks did ~ it is recorded for your leisurely viewing and analysis.  They should have cleared away the empty chairs in the center of the room to make space for a big dance floor because there was a lot of tap dancing going on.   

It was unfortunate that the Arlington City Council members left early because they missed a very important detail about a new Railroad Commission rule, but more about that later...

Dog and Pony Show Comes to the Arlington, Texas Convention Center! *Update

*UPDATE:
 
Dog and Pony Show comes to the Arlington Convention Center!

Parking is Free

Fracking Fun for the Entire Family

 Date:  Saturday, August 1, 2015

Time:  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon  11:30 a.m. 

 Where:  1200 Ballpark Way, Arlington, TX

Rooms 5, 6, 7, and 8

Topic:  Gas Well Education Forum
Urban Drilling Educational Forum
 

(Click HERE for the City's press release which came out the day after our announcement.) 

Vantage Energy's blowout on April 11, 2015 at the Lake Arlington Baptist Church Drill Site gushed tens of thousands of gallons of fracking fluid into neighborhood storm drains and creeks.  This industrial accident forced dozens of families to evacuate their homes and the church to move Sunday worship service to a nearby high school auditorium.  What is even worse is that the City ~ upon completion of an investigation finding several violations ($2,000 each) ~ gave Vantage the green light to re-open their gates on June 25th to resume fracking operations.   Shameful.

Now the City, along with the Railroad Commission of Texas, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), plans to sponsor a Gas Well Educational Forum to teach us about gas drilling and the regulatory roles of local and state government.  A Three Ring Circus.

Citizens asked for equal speaking time.  Our request was denied.  We asked for a microphone so that citizens may comment or ask questions.  Our request was denied.  We asked about the room setup.  The Convention Center would not answer that question stating that all inquires must go through Collin Gregory, Gas Well Coordinator.  We are waiting for Collin to call us back.   

(We appreciate Mr. Gregory's speedy response and are glad to hear about the movable walls that will allow all citizens to be in one room together.) 

The City will announce the rules of decorum.  We are to sit in the audience like a bunch of obedient schoolchildren.  The authorities will teach us.  We get to write a question on an index card.  At the end of the meeting, they will select which questions the emcee will read which, in turn, will be answered by a panelist representing one of these three governmental entities.  And that's all folks.  

We regret to inform you that Railroad Commissioners, Christi Craddick and Ryan Sitton are unable to attend this event.  Gaye McElwain, Director of Communications of the RRC, will speak on their behalf.  She did not respond to our question concerning the LABC blowout.  Perhaps we should ask her the same question in person next Saturday.  

*UPDATE:  Ms. McElwain responded to our question from five weeks ago regarding the LABC blowout the morning following the publication of this blog post.  So now the question becomes why was the Railroad Commission so slow to respond to a citizen's question? 

Refreshments will not be provided.  

 

Spring at Fish Creek

Mother Nature has showered upon us bountiful rains this spring... 

Fish Creek, Southeast Arlington, TX  5-17-2015

Texas was dry.  People across the State had been praying for rain.  Barnhart, a small Texas town, ran out of water,  The oil and gas industry sucked massive quantities of this precious resource for fracking.   In case you missed it:

A Texas Tragedy:  Ample Oil, No Water.

Click Here to see the United States Drought Monitor.

During our epic drought in the summer of 2011, there were many strange water shenanigans happening in Arlington, Texas.  One church made a special deal with Chesapeake to supply them with water for fracking by running water pipelines from their decorative pond across the highway to a drill site.  Our City treated it as a cash cow by selling it to gas operators.  Grand Prairie had a water moratorium in place due to the drought, but that didn't stop Chesapeake.  They hauled Arlington water across the city line, violating the site stipulations for the Fulson Drill Site.  Here are those back stories:

Oh, My. 

What the Quack is Going On? 

  Local Cities Selling Water to Natural Gas Companies

While we've received copious amounts of rain this spring, and Fish Creek is full, the State is not yet out of the woods as far as the drought is concerned.   And citizens have a long battle ahead due to the recent power grab by our State and the industry because Governor Greg Abbott just signed HB40 into law today.   But the lakes and creeks are full, so for now we can enjoy this miraculous gift.  

    

 Spring.  Antonio Vivaldi

You don't know what you've got till it's gone

We will sincerely miss Dr. Bob Cluck, our mayor of 12 years.  The election results are in, and Jeff Williams, civil engineer and businessman, received 58% of the vote.   As Joni Mitchell wrote, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone."  

So now, as Arlington, TX changes regimes, we'd like to dedicate this song to Jeff Williams.  He plans to develop the City, particularly the area around AT&T Stadium.  We also suspect that the Oil & Gas industry will continue to experience a very favorable climate in Arlington since word has it that many industry men helped with his campaign.

This song is also dedicated to our friend, Carol, who supported our efforts and loved walking amongst nature and the wildflowers.  She left this world on May 4th after a battle with cancer. 

Democracy in Texas also died on May 4th when HB40 passed in the Senate.  Denton citizens fought long and hard for their fracking ban, but our State will not have the people deciding what is best for their communities any longer.  How ironic is it that 58% of the people could vote in a new mayor, yet 58% are not allowed to say that zoning heavy industrial mining next to communities is unacceptable. 

Every Vote Counts

How many ways can we suppress the vote?  Arlington, TX City Councilman, Robert Rivera, will host his third gas drilling town hall to be held on Election Day despite objections from citizens.  There are concerns that a meeting held on this day could pull focus away from the election process and have a negative impact on the vote.  Every vote counts, so we can't afford to lose a single one.

In April, citizens suspected voter suppression when we learned that the well-established early polling location at the South Service Center would no longer be utilized.  The new location at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church ~ chosen by two City staffers ~ would be even further away from our community.   Many spoke out at City Hall on April 14th.  Council claimed that they didn't know anything about this change, even though this maneuver had been in the works for months.  Scroll 56:00 minutes into the meeting to hear Councilman Rivera's explanation about why it's too late to reinstate our early voting location for this year's municipal election.  He says, "It's already out of our control... There's simply nothing else we can do." 

This explanation did not sit well with Marvin Sutton, who is running against Rivera, District 3 incumbent.  Marvin, along with community groups, pushed to get our early voting location reinstated for this municipal election.  Click here to view the 7-minute long special meeting of its reinstatement.  

Even State Representative Chris Turner (HD101) ~ who typically doesn't meddle in city affairs ~ intervened.  Click here to read the letter he sent to Mayor Cluck.

We spoke with supporters from various campaigns throughout the week, and they all report that they have had no trouble with parking ~ one of the reasons given for the need to close that location. 

Now, since nothing of substance was accomplished during the first two gas drilling meetings other than citizens venting their frustrations over fracking inside the community, we see no reason to waste taxpayer resources on another fruitless meeting where Mr. Rivera might potentially scoop up some last minute votes for himself, and we are pulled away from working our campaign.  It interferes with the political process. 

The previous two town halls did nothing to improve living conditions for the neighbors living near the Sue Barnett Site.   XTO's operations are still an ongoing nuisance.  They reluctantly agreed to wrap the rig floor with a sound blanket, but it is still noisy. Sometimes we can hear that rig from a mile away!  It sounds like an older model in need of a tune up and a brake job.

Furthermore, it is pointless to hold another meeting to discuss gas drilling when it is more likely than not that Texas municipalities will soon lose local control over the regulation of oil & gas.  On April 30th, the Texas State Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development swiftly voted to pass HB40 with a unanimous vote of 9-0.   Click here for the link to watch this committee hearing, which is just under an hour long.  

Although the State will allow cities to regulate surface activities such as lights, truck traffic, and noise, these regulations must be "commercially reasonable," which is ambiguous language that the committee refused to eliminate from the bill.  In essence, we really won't be able to do much to protect safety or quality of life if HB40 becomes law because this is heavy industrial mining happening inside the neighborhoods in very close proximity to our homes.

NO ONE from our city attended the hearing in Austin ~ not even our lobbyists from HillCo.   When we inquired with Jennifer Weichman, Director of Management Resources for the City of Arlington,  as to the reason why no one attended such an important committee hearing on behalf of our City, she stated, "Our goal was not to change the bill...We think the way it's working is working fine...We monitored it... We put our resources where we can."

It is curious that our City chose to NOT spend resources in Austin on April 30th to defend democracy, property rights, and health and safety of its residents, yet they choose to allocate City resources for staff overtime to hold yet another pointless gas drilling meeting for Robert Rivera just hours before the polls close on Election Day. 

Early voting continues through May 5, 2015.  
For hours and locations, click Here.

Election Day is Saturday, May 9, 2015.

Click here for information on how candidates stand on local issues. 

The Fish Creek Monitor endorses Marvin Sutton for District 3 Arlington City Council.