Barnett Shale resident encourages Haynesville Shale communites to learn from their mistakes

Steve, A fellow blogger (West and Clear) and Fort Worth resident, shared some advice in the comments section that I feel is so prudent it should be featured as a post. I agree it is critical for the residents in the Haynesville Shale communities to learn from their neighbors to the west who live above the Barnett Shale, especially in the environmental impact department. CNN reported last week about the potential dangers of water contamination.

As a Fort Worth resident who lives over the Barnett Shale, I would encourage those in the Haynesville Shale to learn from our mistakes. We've made a lot of 'em

Fort Worth residents are not universally pleased with the Barnett Shale play. The problems are myriad.

First, our Mayor, Mike Moncrief, comes from a family that is legendary for its ties to the oil and gas industry. Over the past several years, he has shown himself to be more interested in protecting the interests of his friends in the industry rather than the safety and property rights of the people of Fort Worth.

The current drilling ordinance is a sham and current efforts to "improve" it are really just about smoothing over public concerns while maintaining the status quo. While suburbs like Southlake are adopting 1000-foot setback requirements to keep drilling sites away from homes and schools, Fort Worth regularly issues waivers to its 600-foot setback requirements. A waiver request from the industry has never been denied.

Second, an environmental impact study has never been conducted by the city (Fort Worth), in spite of the fact that we have some of the worst air quality in the country and the drilling process uses hundreds of trucks to transport water to drilling sites each day. Also, each of the 1,400 or so wells active in the city require around 5 million gallons of water to frack. This water comes out of the water from the Trinity River upstream from Dallas, so Big D, this is your problem, too. Even through it has only been a couple of years since a major drought when water restrictions were in full force, no one in the City of Fort Worth has stopped to consider the environmental impact.

[Editor's note: For the Haynesville Shale, from where will the water come? Caddo Lake? Are you paying attention Don Henley?]

Third, once all of that water is used to frack the wells, in needs to be disposed of. Although the industry says that it is just salt water, these companies do not disclose what other chemicals might be used. The reason? "Trade secrets." However, research from the EPA and other reputable organizations indicate that this water includes many chemicals that could present a danger to the people and environment. Although technologies exist to recycle this water, the industry prefers used disposal wells, also called injection wells, to shoot this wastewater into the ground under Fort Worth. Currently, a moratorium is in place to prevent this because the City of Fort Worth Environmental Department has serious concerns about the safety of this practice.

Finally, the most serious issue is the one that has the people of Fort Worth the most up in arms -- the issue of eminent domain. Currently, energy companies enjoy the eminent domain powers that public utilities enjoy for routing their pipelines. This means that when a gas drilling company decides they want to run a pipeline across your yard, you as a property owner have no due process. Under the current laws of the state of Texas, enforced by the Railroad Commission, you can't stop that. You can only go to court to decide how much you will receive to compensate you. And that's a good idea because their first offers are usually pennies on the dollar of actual value. For more on this, Google Billy Mitchell and Aledo and pipelines or Jerry Horton and Fort Worth and pipelines. There are things that cities can do, however. Southlake and Flower Mound have modern, state-of-the-art, pipeline guidelines. Fort Worth has nothing.

Natural gas is tremendous energy advantage that we have right here in our backyards. However, we need to produce the minerals in a way that protect the health, safety, property rights and quality of life of the people who live on top of this bounty. Right now, that isn't happening in the Barnett Shale. I urge people who live in the Marcellus, Haynesville and other shale plays across the country to learn from the mistakes of Fort Worth and ask the right questions and demand answers before signing a lease. There's no hurry. The deals from the companies only grow richer with time, and that gas isn't going anywhere. Take the time and do it right.

August 3, 2008 11:45 AM