What Was That Fire in the Sky?

Christmas lights? A scene from Blade Runner? What was that thing burning at I-30 and Beach Street on Saturday night?

Welcome to another aspect of Barnett Shale gas drilling that you may not be aware of: flaring. According to Earthworks, a non-profit organization of scientists and engineers with a history of helping mining industries clean up their practices, flaring is the practice of burning gas that is deemed uneconomical to collect and sell. The practice is also used to burn gases that would otherwise present a safety problem.

The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District in California has estimated that the following air pollutants may be released from natural gas flares: benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, including naphthalene), acetaldehyde, acrolein, propylene, toluene, xylenes, ethyl benzene and hexane. Researchers in Canada (Leahey, Douglas M., Preston, Katherine and Strosher, Mel. 2001. "Theoretical and Observational Assessments of Flare Efficiencies, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association. Volume 51. p.1614) have measured more than 60 air pollutants downwind of natural gas flares.

Are any of those pollutants in this or any other Barnett Shale flaring? Who knows? No one in Texas is exactly going out of their way to keep an eye on things. The Denton-Record Chronicle reported in 2006 that although "both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission are empowered to monitor industry emissions, Ramona Nye, spokesperson for the railroad commission, said that monitoring is really up to the environmental commission." But the TCEQ doesn't actually go to a site when there is a flare and measure what's going on, the agency only monitors it from its fixed-site air quality stations.

We are looking at thousands of potential gas wells being drilling in the Fort Worth area. Because the Fort Worth-Dallas area is already struggling to meet clean air standards by 2010, it would be in the best interest of those of us who live in Fort Worth to understand the impact of flaring on our air quality. After all, this isn't just about air we breathe -- which is pretty dang important. It also hits us in the pocketbook. The Fort Worth-Dallas area faces the loss of federal highway funds and other economic sanctions for failing to meet clean air standards.

Even without flaring, we have enough to deal with. Why throw another log on the fire?

Fortunately, there is something we can do -- ask the City and the Gas Drilling Task Force to conduct an environmental impact study so we can know what we are dealing with. Contact the Mayor and your city council representative today. BTW, thanks to Don Young for the photo.

Buzzworms Winners Announced

Buzzworms in the Backyard turned out a large crowd of protest art viewers last night at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

The art exhibition offers a unique experience for a Fort Worth gallery and a good first effort for a show with such a controversial theme. As artist Carol Ivey put it, a seed has been planted.

Tammy Gomez and Sound Culture goose-bumped the sizable crowd with her latest performance art piece, "Greed, Caution." As Don Young of FW Can Do put it, "It was art that does more than sit on a pedestal or grace a corporate boardroom wall. It was art to inspire action."

Awards totaling $1,000 were presented to three works selected by acclaimed artist and curator, Benito Huerta. The winners:

First Place: Jennifer Danson

Second Place: Joel Kiser

Third Place: Lori Thomson

Jennifer and Joel are both students at TCU. Lori is the owner or the Firehouse Gallery.

Buzzworms in the Backyard is open to the public through December 29.

Injection Well Lawsuit Ruling

I'm just now getting word of this trickling in and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it, but what appears to be a significant ruling on injection wells was just issued from the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin in the case of Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water and James G. Popp v. Railroad Commission of Texas and Pioneer Exploration, Ltd.

Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water and Popp appealed a district court judgment affirming the Texas Railroad Commission's decision to grant a permit to Pioneer Exploration, Ltd. to operate a commercial injection well in Wise County for the disposal of oil and gas waste. Texas Citizens argued in their appeal that the Commission, in granting the permit, denied Texas Citizens due process and failed to adequately consider the public interest.

Although the court found that the RRC did not deny Texas Citizens due process in granting the permit, the Commission did interpret "the public interest" too narrowly and therefore failed to adequately consider additional factors that may affect the public interest. The court remanded this case to the Commission for a reconsideration of the permit under a broader interpretation of "the public interest."

This story is still developing. I will post more as it becomes available, but this could have some interesting ramifications on the injection well fight here in Fort Worth.

Buzzworms in the Backyard

If you've got a little time on Saturday evening, drop by Buzzworms in the Backyard, an exhibition of visual art focusing on the impacts of Urban Gas Drilling on people, property and the environment presented by FWCanDo.

The gala opening for the exhibition is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Fort Worth Community Art Center at 1300 Gendy St.

At 7 p.m., Tammy Gomez and Sound Culture will present a ritual lament called Greed, Caution. Acclaimed artist and curator Benito Huerta will announce the awards at 7:15 p.m.

Gas Ordinance Task Force: The Sequel

Like white smoke billowing from the chimney of Sistine Chapel signaling a new pope, word finally came from the second floor at City Hall last Tuesday -- the city gas ordinance task force will be reconstituted.

Based on the Star-Telegram story, it looks like all of the key issues are on the table: pipelines, restrictions on drilling in central city neighborhoods, moving gas drilling away from the Trinity River, the location of pipeline compressor stations and -- the big one -- injection wells.

When Mayor Moncrief called saltwater disposal "the elephant in the room," he might have made the understatement of the year. To read my take on the whole issue, head on over to West and Clear.

City Responds to Trinity Trees Lawsuit

The Startlegram reports that the city is asking a state district judge to throw out Melissa Kohout's lawsuit to prevent drilling at the Trinity Trees site. The basis for Kohout's lawsuit is that she was denied her right to address the government.

Sez the S-T (emphasis below is mine): "Kohout and her lawyer Jason Smith say in the lawsuit that the city violated its own ordinance by giving Chesapeake a special high-impact permit to drill near the trail.

"Such permits are required for gas wells within 600 feet of homes, parks or other 'protected uses' and can't be issued without a waiver from the property owner or the City Council. The ordinance doesn't include the trail system, though, because it is owned by the Tarrant Regional Water District.

"Chesapeake didn't apply for a high-impact permit and didn't post notices that it was seeking one. But city officials gave Chesapeake a permit after water district President Jim Oliver signed a waiver.

"Kohout's lawsuit points out that the city argued exactly the opposite in a 1995 zoning case, when it fought a topless bar that it felt would have been too close to the trail system. The lawsuit also says the city gave preferential treatment to Chesapeake and denied residents a chance to petition the council about the permit because the company's notices didn't mention it. Instead, they mentioned a less restrictive type of permit."

Although I am not a lawyer -- I'm just a simple caveman -- the whole sneaky way that the high-impact variance was granted seems to have some merit. We depend on the city's gas drilling ordinance to protect the environment and the safety of the people who live here. If the ordinance doesn't do that, what's to prevent a gas drilling company from putting up a well wherever they please? Is the public just going to be left out of this process altogether?

Let Us Not Forget

Gas drilling can be dangerous business. The citizens of Fort Worth are right to ask the city to provide adequate protection for our neighborhoods. You can do this by asking the Mayor and the City Council if they are serious about revisiting the gas drilling ordinance.

S-T's a Wee-Bit Touchy on the Barnett Shale

The Star-Telegram has taken lots of licks lately for its coverage of urban gas drilling -- both from me and from the FWWeekly.

And that why it shouldn't surprise that the paper felt the need to defend its coverage with this post on the Barnett Shale blog. So, does the S-T have a point?

Meh.

Although I think the S-T is showing more enterprise and less boosterism in its reporting over the past three months, I think there is a long way to go. The S-T hasn't been asking enough questions and tended to be more rah-rah about gas drilling than anything else.

I expect our daily newspaper to hold government and business accountable for their actions. Freedom of the press is an important component of a health democracy. But who holds the newspaper accountable? We do -- the people of Fort Worth. And I think that's what is going on. The readers are demanding better and the paper is hearing it.

I'm not saying that there is nothing good going on at 400 West 7th. I think the Barnett Shale blog is generally good. However, in spite of the Sunday story, I think there is a lot more to report on injection wells. Hell, go out to Wise County and find out why people are so pissed off about the environmental impact of gas drilling because they are already at where we will be in a few years. There's a great story idea right there.

Injection wells are the issue flying under the radar at City Hall right now. There is a lot of backroom movement of this, but the public is generally shut out of the process. We depend on the newspaper to shine the light into the dark corners of public policy and help us find our way.

One issue that hangs over the Star-Telegram and its relationship with Chesapeake Energy. I think the readers of the Star-Telegram would be well-served if the paper would disclose how much money the paper received from Chesapeake Energy as a signing bonus on the lease for the 40 acres at the South Plant. The paper should also disclose the terms of the deal.

If the paper is in a business arrangement with Chesapeake that could potentially net the paper hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars, the readers need to know this information so they can weigh for themselves whether or not the business arrangement compromises the objective coverage of urban gas drilling.

The S-T earned its Turkey Award this year, but at least the paper is trying to make some changes in its coverage. I applaud these efforts. I would encourage everyone in Fort Worth to be a part of the conversation. Continue reading the paper and share your opinions -- positive and negative -- with the editors.

More Westside Drilling on the Way

All those folks in Tanglewood will soon get to find out how much they really like urban gas drilling. TCU announced on its Web site that the natural gas exploration lease for TCU's campus has been transferred from Four Sevens Resources Co., Ltd. to Chesapeake Exploration, LLC, an affiliate of Chesapeake Energy Corporation.

Four Sevens work as the landmen for Chesapeake, and it's an arrangement that works quite well for them. Last year, Four Sevens and Sinclair Oil sold 39,000 acres in the to Chesapeake for $845 million in cash to Chesapeake Energy. Four Sevens and Sinclair split the take 50-50.

Sez TCU: "Currently, Chesapeake has begun to conduct site analysis near remote parking on the north side of campus. In addition, the company also will begin the process of filing initial permits with the Texas Railroad Commission and communicating with local residents.

"TCU's decision to drill follows on the heels of other Metroplex organizations pursuing natural gas exploration opportunities with Chesapeake. These organizations include the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College, Fort Worth Independent School District, Tarrant Regional Water District, Colonial Country Club and the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport."

Wow, that's pretty impressive list of clients, Chesapeake.

Of course, I think it is also worth noting that Four Sevens executive Dick Lowe was the booster at the heart of the TCU football recruiting scandal back in the 1980s. Back then, Lowe said that a "blue chip" running back cost $10,000 to $25,000 down, $1,000 a month and a new car.

The Looming Tower

In case you haven't noticed, there's a gas well towering over Bluebonnet Circle. I did a little scribbling about the looming tower this morning. For the story and more photos from mi amigo PeteG, head on over to West and Clear.

Barnett Shale Weekend Roundup

A busy weekend of Barnett Shale news in the Star-Telegram:

An interesting read on the injection well issue in Fort Worth. Gas drillers frame their argument this way: "Lack of available, accessible, affordable saltwater disposal wells is a deal-killer for the Barnett Shale in Fort Worth." God if that were only true. But it ain't a deal killer, it just cuts into their profit margin.

Gas companies have said that they need as many as 15 injection wells, connected by a network of pipelines. Although gas drillers claim injection wells are safer than having trucks with wastewater on our streets, this argument overlooks a few things. If a water truck tips over and spills its cargo -- how much water is spilled? 10,000 gallons? If a pipeline leaks and goes undetected for a week or more, how much water is spilled? 10 or 100 times as much?

However, this argument is getting some traction at City Hall and, unless something changes soon, the current moratorium against injection wells won't stand up. If you care about the environment in Fort Worth, I encourage you to write the Mayor and your City Council representative and let them know that you do not want injection wells in our city.

Injection wells are easier and cheaper for the gas drillers, but this disposal method is not in the best interests of the people of Fort Worth or our natural environment.

Whoever wrote the headline for this story must also dot their i's with smiley faces or little hearts. I mean, talk about looking on the bright side: "Johnson, Wise county residents say benefits [of gas drilling] outweigh costs." How about this -- "90 percent of those surveyed in Wise County say that gas operators MUST adopt and use more environmentally friendly drilling practices."

A video from the S-T's Barnett Shale blog shows us that gas drilling is noisy and -- what a surprise -- people who have gas wells on their property like it and their neighbors don't.

Mitch Schnurman writes about JPMorgan's deal with the City of Fort Worth to manage its gas lease paperwork will undoubtedly raise more than a few eyebrows. The money quote: Gene Powell -- that big ol' teddy bear for the gas industry -- sez "They're always asking me, 'What's the best deal you've ever seen in the Barnett Shale?'" Powell says. "That's easy: JPMorgan's contract with the city of Fort Worth." Yipes!

Environmental Notes

Need your help on an urgent matter. Letters are needed before Nov. 15 for a proposed wastewater permit just upstream from Prairie Creek Park. The Fort Worth Prairie Park trailer park has asked for a state permit to dump 10,000 gallons a day of ‘treated’ sewage into pristine Rock Creek. That’s over 3.6 million gallons a year! The health of Rock Creek is critical to native aquatic wildlife, including rare and threatened species. Local children play in and learn along this wild creek. And this creek flows into Benbrook Lake, the Trinity River, and our drinking water. Please write the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) and demand that they DENY THE PERMIT TO DUMP SEWAGE INTO ROCK CREEK. Anybody who lives in Texas can comment because TCEQ is a State agency, and water quality is a statewide issue. The Proposed Wastewater Permit number is WQ0014753001. Send your letters to: Office of the Chief Clerk, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Mail Code MC-105, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087.

When does art imitate life? When Don Young and gas drillers mix it up over a couple of FWISD poster contests. If you are interested in entering FWCanDo's Buzzworms in the Backyard contest, there's still time. The deadline is Dec. 1. Artists may enter one artwork and there will be a $10.00 entry fee. There will be a young person’s category (age 6 to 17) and an artist category (18 and older). For more information, visit the FWCanDo Web site.

More Questions Than Answers in the Pipeline

OK, I need to modify a comment I made yesterday.

Specifically, this one: "While the Star-Telegram toils relentlessly to tell you about the horse race to sign neighborhoods in the Barnett Shale, the Dallas Morning News and the Denton Record-Chronicle are busy doing actual journalism."

I still find most of the Startlegram's coverage of the Barnett Shale to be too much on the rah-rah side, but I think that my comment is unfair to Mike Lee's reporting.

I think Mike is doing good public service journalism on Barnett Shale topics, and he did so again on Sunday with his story on how little say communities have on the natural gas pipelines that run through them.

One of the more interesting points of the story -- a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy has applied for permission to run a pipeline under the Fort Worth & Western Railroad tracks. The tracks run through Trinity Park, then southward past Lily B. Clayton Elementary School and the Mistletoe Heights and Berkeley Place neighborhoods.

That pipeline will run about a football field away from the elementary school. Plus that right-of-way might carry a future commuter rail line -- that is if you can build a rail line on top of a pipeline. Doesn't sound like a great idea, does it?

Lee's story also shines a light on the lack of effectiveness of oversight from the Texas Railroad Commission. Recent reports from WFAA and The Dallas Morning News indicate that the commission watered down a report on defective gas pipe couplings that were involved in several fatal explosions.

Although the Railroad Commission contends it is doing a good job on pipeline safety, the facts show otherwise. Mike Lee writes: "In 2000, the Commission directed Texas natural gas utilities to remove all Poly 1 pipe in their systems, after finding evidence of substantial material failures. ... Poly 1 was a type of plastic pipe used in the early 1970s. A Star-Telegram investigation in 2004 showed that Lone Star Gas, a predecessor to Atmos Energy, knew the pipe was prone to cracking even before the company began using it. The Railroad Commission learned about the problems with Poly 1 pipe in 1983, 17 years before ordering the pipe's removal."

17 years. Wow.

If that doesn't scare you about the quality of the oversight we get from the Railroad Commission, consider this: the Texas Railroad commissioners receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the oil and gas industry. In 2006, Michael Williams received $106,765, Victor Carillo received $164,154 and Elizabeth Ames Jones received $640,388. And to think, I was worried about Railroad Commission inspectors getting free lunches from gas companies.

Jones is my favorite commissioner by far. Her qualifications for the job? She's a former interior decorator. Kind of reminds me of Michael "Heckuva Job Brownie" Brown, who parlayed running horse shows into mismanaging the Hurricane Katrina response. Isn't America a great country?

Anyway, this a roundabout way of pointing out that not everybody is asleep at the switch at 400 West 7th. My apologies to Mike, but Mike's only one guy. Maybe his editors ought to throw a few more bodies at covering public safety and environmental impact aspects at the Barnett Shale coverage. I think this could be a Pulitzer-winning topic for the S-T. I think the issues are there. All they have to do is report the facts.

Gas Drilling Extracts Radioactive Waste

While the Star-Telegram toils relentlessly to tell you about the horse race to sign neighborhoods in the Barnett Shale, the Dallas Morning News and the Denton Record-Chronicle are busy doing actual journalism. Imagine!

In this morning's DMN and DRC, a report indicates that the fracing process used to extract the natural gas from the Barnett Shale can also extract radioactive waste. Known as technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material, or NORM, the residue can be the most toxic waste that oil and gas production generates.

Blasted free by millions of gallons of fresh water and chemical soup sent miles below ground, some of earth's baddest geological actors – radioactive elements capable of scarring soil and scourging human health – are slowly rising to the surface along with the Barnett Shale's natural gas.

Writes Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe: "Statewide, 140 such sites were decontaminated from January 2005 to the present, according to documents obtained from the Department of State Health Services, which oversees disposal of the state's hottest radioactive waste. ... Moreover, 25 of those decontamination sites were in Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties, the core counties of the Barnett Shale."

Even though the Barnett Shale is being sold to us as easy money with no downside, this is not the case. Don't just accept what drillers say, get involved and demand accountability. I recommend that you:

Contact the Fort Worth Department of Environmental Management and ask them what steps they take to survey drilling equipment for NORM.

Contact the Mayor and your city council representative and take steps to protect us and our natural environment from these dangerous drilling by-products.

Contact the Star-Telegram and demand less coverage of the Barnett Shale horse race and more coverage of the real-world consequences of urban gas drilling.

I'm Not Interested in the Horse Race

I missed the League of Neighborhood Associations gas drilling "education event" on Tuesday night. But when I say "missed," that's a little misleading. It sounds like I didn't miss a damn thing.

What I hoped for was an honest exchange of information based on the first-hand experiences of people who have experienced gas drilling in their neighborhoods. What actually transpired sounded more like propaganda. That's part of what I am frustrated with today. Where do concerned citizens turn for accurate, objective information about gas drilling? AskChesapeake.com doesn't count.

Maybe they need a Web site. Maybe I'll build one.

Anyway, I've got issues with what I read in the Star-Telegram. While I generally like the Barnett Shale blog and I think Mike Lee's reporting has been pretty solid, what bothers me is the underlying assumption that urban gas drilling is good for Fort Worth. The question posed isn't whether or not to sign, it's how much to sign for.

You can see it in the headlines. It's all about the horse race. Chesapeake is offering this many thousand dollars per acre or XTO is offering that much royalty. Most of the coverage centers on companies jockeying for position in certain neighborhoods.

What seems to be lost is the fact that decisions today will be lived with for decades. The functional lifespan of some of these wells could be 20 or 30 years. Most of the people who sign these leases will have moved along down the road or to the great hereafter long before these wells are gone. Yet the long-term impact seems to be little consideration.

Using the following assumptions, the average signee could expect to make a little under $50 a month in royalties, or about $11,695 over 20 years. That's about $1.62 a day, or barely enough to buy you a coffee at Starbucks.

So for most of us, the financial gain is nil. However, we will have to live with the safety and environmental impact for decades. The decisions we make will shape the Fort Worth that our children and our children's children live in.

So, please, a little perspective, Fort Worth. Please take the long view on this issue. I'd like to see the question asked: should people sign in the first place?

And Star-Telegram, a little less about the horse race and little more about the reality. Take a more aggressive approach to your reporting. Some things I wonder:

Serious questions exist about the independence and effectiveness of the Texas Railroad Commission to regulate oil and gas operations in the state of Texas. As the newspaper sitting square on top of the Barnett Shale, you should own this story. Go get it.

Injection wells in Fort Worth are in a holding pattern, but they aren't dead. Serious questions exist about using these wells to dispose of waste water from the fracing process. You have a short window to do important reporting. In the next six months, Fort Worth will know for better or worse the caliber of your reporting based on this one issue alone.

What is the long-term infrastructure cost to Fort Worth of urban gas drilling? Sure, there are giant royalty checks, but what about the stress placed on city streets from the water trucks and the oil field equipment? There is a cost attached to this. What are those costs?

And there's more, but this is a start. Actually, a start would be a lot less horse race. Feeding the gold-rush mentality does not serve your readers, Star-Telegram. Providing diligent reporting on living in the Barnett Shale in over the long term does. Go get it.

More on "What's Wrong With This Picture"

I spoke to Chad Lorance at the Tarrant Regional Water District on Friday about the What's Wrong With This Picture post from last week. Lorance added to what he e-mailed last week. He said that the TRWD had their inspectors take a look at what happened and what they found were the pumps in photos are used to draw water from the river to be used in the fracing process. He says these are one-way pumps. Any water that goes through these pumps is not connected to the fracing process. Any chemicals that are used in the fracing process do not go through these pumps.

“What would be worrisome to us is if water was going from a frac tank into the river, but that is certainly not the case here,” he said.

Lorance also reiterated that the TRWD appreciates that there are people who are concerned with water quality and are willing to make the TRWD aware of potential pollution violations. The fact of the matter is that the TRWD can only react to situations like this one -- their inspectors can’t be everywhere. They depend on concerned citizens like to help protect our environment. And that is up to all of us who live here and love Fort Worth. Keep it up.

City Asked To Rescind Trinity Trees Permit

The Startlegram's Barnett Shale blog reports that Melissa Kohout, who threatened to sue the city if natural gas drilling is allowed next to the Trinity River hike-and-bike trail, has sent another letter demanding that the city rescind the drilling permit. She and her lawyer, Jason Smith, argue that the gas company, Chesapeake Energy, got a high-impact well permit even though didn't apply for one. That means, they argue, that people didn't get a chance to sound off against the high-impact permit. It also show favoritism to Chesapeake, the letter says.

Natural Gas Safety Roundup

Breckenridge Benzene Leak? A Texas Railroad Commission investigation into a possible benzene leak from a natural gas pipeline near Breckenridge was closed last month after a field inspector said he did not detect benzene. But did the Railroad Commission get it right?

According to a report in the Breckenridge American last month, the investigation began earlier this year after the landowner, Jay Marcom, detected a large bare spot after planting a crop. Marcom said “yellowish liquid” began to ooze out of the ground.

Commission spokesperson Ramona Nye said low levels of benzene were detected during the initial investigation and that the levels were not high enough to be a risk through direct contact by humans or livestock.

However, Dennis Yavorsky, a chemist who has been working with analytical chemical instruments who works for PID Analyzers in Ohio, tested a soil sample taken from the site in September and found there were 4,000 to 5,000 times the legal limit of benzene in the sample.

“It would be nearly impossible not to smell it,” Yavorsky told the American. “You have soil that is essentially saturated with benzene.”

Injection Well Fire near Keene: The Startlegram reports that firefighters are battling a blaze at a gas well injection site between Keene and Cleburne this afternoon.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

What's wrong with this picture? Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. But you'll probably never know. Keep reading and you'll find out why.

Last week, Environment Texas, an Austin-based environmental watchdog group, released a report that should help us calibrate our shame here in Texas. Texas led the nation in the number of facilities discharging pollution at levels exceeding federal clean water guidelines.

In 2005, 318 facilities in the state reported 1,340 incidents in which they discharged more pollution than permitted under the federal Clean Water Act. The group also reported that more than 53 percent of Texas' industrial and municipal facilities discharged more pollution in 2005 than permitted under the law.

"With so many facilities dumping so much pollution, no one should be surprised that more than half of Texas waterways are unsafe for swimming and fishing -- but we should be outraged," Environment Texas Citizen Outreach director Brad Hicks said in a statement.

But where is the outrage? Maybe we are just getting what we deserve here in Texas after a decade-plus of delivering this state to anti-regulatory, anti-environment Republicans such as Dubya, Slick Rick Perry and Tom Craddick.

But what does that have to do with that picture? Let's narrow our focus a bit.

Here in Fort Worth, Chesapeake Energy has a permit to put an injection well in East Fort Worth. That's a done deal, but the city of Fort Worth has put a moratorium in place to prevent any other injection wells from going ahead for the time being.

The crux of the issue is a difference of opinion between Chesapeake Energy -- and other gas drillers -- and the city over what exactly is in the fracing waste that injection wells pump into the earth. Drillers contend it is just water and clay, but Brian Boerner, the Director of Enviromental Management for the city of Fort Worth, told a League of Women Voters forum last week that this waste also includes "some chemicals."

What are these chemicals to which Boerner refers? The EPA tells us that many fracturing fluids contain chemicals that can be toxic to humans and wildlife, and chemicals that are known to cause cancer. These include potentially toxic substances such as diesel fuel, which contains benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene and other chemicals; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; methanol; formaldehyde; ethylene glycol; glycol ethers; hydrochloric acid; and sodium hydroxide.

Are those found in the fracing processes used in the Barnett Shale? There's no way to know. As Texas Sharon pointed out last week, fracing records in Texas don't exist. Essentially, the gas drillers are responsible for policing themselves. And Texas isn't that different in this regard from many other states. According to the Oil and Gas Accountability Project, most oil and gas agencies do not require companies to report the volumes or names of chemicals being injected during hydraulic fracturing. For an interesting look at how little disclosure is required, check out another post from Sharon with a copy of a W-14 disclosure form from an injection well in Boyd that failed. The phrase "drilling fluids" is terrifying in its lack of specificity.

What about federal law? In 2005, the oil and gas industry was granted an exemption from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, making oil and gas the only industry allowed to inject toxic fluids directly into good quality groundwater without oversight by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

So, long story short, protections just aren't there, and chemicals may (or may not) be. There's just no way to know because Texans have decided at the ballot box to elect officials who don't value protecting the environment.

So what about that photo? I got that in an e-mail from Don Young at FWCanDo! last week, along with a few more below.

Last Tuesday, Don stumbled on a Chesapeake Energy crew shooting water from pumping equipment into the Trinity River near Riverside Drive off I-30 east of downtown.

The pumping continued for at least 30 minutes. Don spoke to a foreman who said they were just priming their pumps preparing to send water to the nearby well-site. He said it was just plain river water going back in. Nearby was a bucket labeled Bentonite, a clay used in the fracing process.

Don called a city inspector, Tom Edwards, and told him what was happening. Edwards seemed alarmed and said that nothing was supposed to go into the river. The inspector called him later and said he found nothing, and even if he had, it was out of his jurisdiction. The Tarrant Regional Water District controls the river. Don asked if Edwards was going to notify them, but Edwards wouldn't say. "It seems like no one knows anything or wants to take responsibility for the river," Don said. I e-mailed the Water District but I've not heard anything back.

Was there anything untoward going on here? Who knows? Does Chesapeake have a permit to clean their equipment in the Trinity River? Is there anything in that pumping equipment -- like the residue from chemicals used in the fracing process -- that we wouldn't want in the Trinity? We'll never know because the only way to find out is to ask Chesapeake. What do you think they'll say?

So is there anything wrong in these pictures? You can ask the City of Fort Worth, the Texas Railroad Commission, the Tarrant Regional Water District and Chesapeake Energy. You'll get the same answer from them all. Nothing to see here. Except a few photos, a lot of questions and no answers. And in all likelihood, that's all you ever will have.

UPDATE, 10.18.07: Read the TRWD reply.
UPDATE, 10.21.07: More from the TRWD.

Injection Wells in Fort Worth: Some Facts

The League of Women Voters has been busy this week. I attended the voter's forum the other night, but on Monday, the League's Environmental Committee had a meeting with Brian Boerner, the Director of Environmental Management for the City of Fort Worth. A friend sent me the minutes of this meeting. It's quite an eye-opener. The words are from the meeting minutes, not my own. Emphasis and smart-ass comments are mine though:

"The purpose of the meeting was to share concerns about the potential for additional water disposal injection wells within the City of Fort Worth. Chesapeake Energy already has a permit to drill one such well in East Fort Worth. They would like to drill at least 15 more wells.

"According to Mr. Boerner, they have already received permission from DFW Airport to drill two wells on airport property, one on the north end and one on the south. Walsh Ranch, a large planned development on the far west side of Fort Worth, already has some water injection wells. The City has no control of these wells in its extra-territorial-jurisdiction (ETJ).

"According to Mr. Boerner, the water injection wells create environmental risk in an urban environment. The waste water from the fracing process is saturated with salt and contains some chemicals. [Editor's Note: Really?!?!?] The salt derives from the salt in the Barnett Shale itself.

"There appears to be some question as to the degree of hazard that the fracing chemicals present. However, there is no doubt that the black-water mixture is corrosive and not only kills vegetation, but prevents its growth for an extended period. Injection wells are a dirty process.

"Transporting the water to the well must be done via air-polluting, road damaging trucks or pipelines [Editor's note: Apologies to Chris Turner. I'll buy you a Dr Pepper to make up for it. But still, it sounds like crazy-people talk.] that are subject to leaks. Drilling the well improperly can cause the ground water to be polluted. Leaks are difficult to track and much environmental harm can be done before the leak is found. Water well injection well operators have no incentive to prevent leaks. They are paid by the amount of water they take from the drillers, not the amount that is injected.

"As a result, the City of Fort Worth has a moratorium on the drilling of these wells, a moratorium that is proposed to be extended another six months until the City can develop adequate regulations. The City has what is called a grant of privilege for commercial trash collection which allows the City to license commercial trash haulers within the City and to levy a fee on the trucks to cover road wear. Such a fee could potentially be levied on salt water haulers within the City.

"Gas drillers have the power of eminent domain to lay gas pipes. However, they do not have such power to lay water pipes.

"The City can control the placement of gas and water wells through its land use powers. However, the portion of the gas or water well below the surface is controlled by the Railroad Commission. A recent audit of this agency found limited capacity to inspect the large number of oil and gas wells in the state. Numerous problems were discovered. According to the Railroad Commission’s web site, the Fort Worth basin alone has 7,499 operating gas wells with more being permitted each day, but as far as we know, the Railroad Commission was not given additional staffing authorization in the last Legislative session.

"Gas drilling has never been done in an urban setting on the magnitude planned for the Fort Worth area putting pressure on a system devised for rural areas where safety and environmental protection is not as critical as it is in an area with a population of almost 1.5 million.

"We talked briefly about the potential for recycling the production water from the gas wells. We were familiar with the evaporative and reverse osmosis processes, but not the flocculation method which Mr. Boerner says can recover a higher amount of water than the other two methods. The major impediment is that water injection wells are much cheaper for drillers even factoring in increased water and hauling costs. They may not, however, be cheaper for the community which has to deal with the externalities of the injection process. [Editor's Note: As I suspected: injection wells aren't the best way, just the cheapest way, to dispose of this toxic water. Chesapeake Energy contends they are doing Fort Worth a world of good. How does pumping toxic water into the earth good for Fort Worth? Really. I'm asking.]

Of particular concern to Mr. Boerner are the small areas within the confines of Fort Worth that for some reason have never been annexed into the City. These areas are under the jurisdiction of Tarrant County, which has no land use powers. As a result, this land could be used for water injection wells and do environmental harm to City residents with no City recourse.

"The League’s next step will be to prepare a letter for the Mayor and City Council supporting a six-month extension to the water injection well moratorium within the City. We also plan to begin to try to inform our respective City Council members about the environmental and safety issues surrounding gas drilling."

Absolutely shocking. I recommend you write the Mayor and your City Council representative and recommend that they do everything they can to keep injection wells out of Fort Worth.