On Tuesday, March 27th, non-profit environmental organizations in the area will host an open meeting to discuss the recommendations of the Dallas Gas Drilling Commission. In the lead-up to the meeting, Green Source is hosting a short series of commentaries by Marc McCord of FracDallas intended to stimulate conversation around gas drilling, public health, and environmental public policy in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Join the conversation on Facebook or in the comments, and see the event listing to learn more. Click below to jump to -
By Marc McCord of FracDallas
Published March 27, 2012
So, what are the issues in the public policy debate surrounding gas drilling in Dallas Ft. Worth? From my perspective there are five major issues, some pertaining to the Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force recommendations to the Dallas City Council on how to re-write our woefully inadequate gas drilling ordinance in light of what is known today about the ravages of urban gas exploration and production based upon what we should have learned from Fort Worth and other nearby places in the Barnett Shale. Additionally, we should have learned a bit about sustainable practices and safeguarding public health from mistakes and successes in shale plays in the 34 states that have natural gas exploration and production activities occurring.
The first two issues were discussed pervious commentaries on this subject found here and here. The issue here is:
Setbacks
Some of us sought 3,000 foot setbacks from homes, schools, churches, nursing homes, daycare centers, hospitals, parks and other protected structures. The Task Farce recommended 1,000 foot setbacks, but allowed variances down to just 500 feet with City Council approval - 500 feet (less than 2 football fields long) from where we live, work and play so that we can be subjected to the extremely heavy truck traffic noise and air pollution, traffic accidents, roadway damage, toxic chemical spills (there were two in Fort Worth within a week last year along the banks of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River adjacent to downtown Fort Worth), air pollution from VOCs and NOx fugitive emissions from drilling rigs, wellheads, pipelines and compressor stations, bright lights in our night skies, sickening odors from frac chemicals and all the other problems of a heavy industrial process that our zoning laws have heretofore always kept out of our neighborhoods and floodplains. We could have lived with 1,000 foot setbacks, but 500 feet is just way too close to be acceptable, and the truth is that 1,000 feet is also far too close.
Parks:
Our current ordinance forbids gas exploration and production in parks and on parklands. Industry representatives on the Task Farce came up with the brilliant idea that if it has no swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, baseball diamonds, etc, then it is not really a park even though we have always prized undeveloped, natural areas as special park places to escape the urbanization of everything around us. What would New York City be without Central Park, or San Francisco without Golden Gate Park? We do not have huge parks like those, and now our Task Force wants to allow drilling in our much smaller parks where our kids play. They also want to drill on L.B. Houston Golf Course! Who wants to play golf where trucks are driving back and forth across the course, where drilling rig noise is irritating and loud, and where the air is thick with toxic chemical odors and diesel emissions?
As I said in part 1 of this brief series, I believe that it is our duty as citizens to let our elected representatives in city government know that we will not tolerate this assault on our health and safety, property values and environment, and that they will be held accountable at the ballot box for their actions. It is time to let them emphatically know that we oppose weakening the current ordinance, and that we demand a much stronger ordinance to protect us, our property values and our environment.
Marc McCord is the editor of FracDallas. He is a lifelong environmentalist with a concern for a clean, healthy environment that dates back to Boy Scouts in the early 1960's and continues to this date. For three years he served as the Environmental Committee Chairman for Dallas Downriver Club. For the past ten or more years he has been active in annual cleanups on several Texas rivers, as well as others in Oklahoma and Arkansas. For nearly three years he has studied every aspect of natural gas exploration and production. He has been a frequent commentator at numerous EPA, TCEQ, Dallas City Council, Dallas City Plan Commission and Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force events and meetings.
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