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In September, 2008, Texas midstream submitted a City permit application to cross Beach Street. As of March 2009, all residential easements had been obtained except
those lots owned by the City of Fort Worth...and yet
the City Council still had not voted on the permit to cross Beach Street!
Miraculously (and shortly
after this hearing) Chesapeake appeared to have a change of heart ...
On 3-27-09 (and coincidentally just before the upcoming citywide Mayoral and City Council elections) Carter Avenue residents opened their mailboxes to find a letter stating that TMGS was having to "reevaluate" the Thomas to Hickman pipeline due to revisions in the gas ordinance:
Even though the revised gas ordinance did not require pipeline "reevaluation",
residents were encouraged by Chesapeake's apparent decision to back away from the Carter Avenue pipeline route. However,
some were concerned that this might just another stall tactic to get through the upcoming City elections.
Their concerns were later justified ....
Council Rep Kathleen Hicks agreed that the Oct 15th Chesapeake
meeting did not qualify as a community meeting. A few days later, the City, TXDOT, Chesapeake, TX Senator
Wenday Davis, and TX Rep Lon Burnam met together and it was revealed that Chesapeake never even applied for a permit
to run along I-30. (see Star-Telegram article dated 10-23-9) The City put the street permit vote on hold until they were convinced that Chesapeake fully
explored that northern route.
It now appears that good progress has been made on the northern route. A community meeting will be held December 2, 2009 at Meadowbrook Elementary, 4330 Meadowbrook Drive (see Home Page for details). Hicks, Burnam and Davis will be in attendance as City staff make their presentation and have a question and answer session. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that this pipeline will be kept out of our neighborhood. There is no way this type of dangerous pipeline should be allowed to run through ANY neighborhood in ANY part of Fort Worth. Lack of leadership on the City's part should not condemn Sycamore Heights to future decline and deterioration. As community awareness increases, support is growing for protecting our neighborhoods from gas-gathering pipelines. Click on the links below for public statements:
As the first urban gas drilling in the nation takes place in Fort Worth, residents from all over the city are questioning the wisdom of placing gas gathering pipelines in neighborhoods. Pipelines of this nature have previously been run through rural areas with sparse populations. The dangerous gas flowing through these pipelines is odorless, high pressure, raw "wet" gas with the ability to corrode pipes in a few short years. Pipeline explosions and accidents happen yearly. As the Barnett Shale play moves into the cities, tough decisions must be made between production interests and protection of residents. If allowed to go through, Carter Avenue will be the first raw gas gathering pipeline to be drilled under multiple residential lots along several continuous streets. Communities as far away as Pennsylvania and New York watch as events unfold. They hope to learn and gain guidance from our experience here in Fort Worth as gas drilling activities approach their urban areas.FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: 1) "I thought our community lease took care of these issues" The lease negotiated by the
Greater Meadowbrook Minerals Leasing Task Force was with XTO, not Chesapeake. XTO has agreed to respect our neighborhoods
by not drilling within the residential areas. Chesapeake is not bound by that lease agreement.
2) "Why should I be concerned about this - it's not on my street?" Everyone in Meadowbrook (and all of Fort Worth) should be concerned about this Carter Avenue pipeline because it sets an historic precedent. This is the first urban pipeline of its type to be run along a residential street. Chesapeake owns at least two more large leases - one on Scenery Hill and one along Brentwood Stair. Residents are concerned that future gas gathering lines and waste disposal pipelines could be run farther west along the Brentwood Stair corridor as far as Schilling and possibly further. If it can be done on Carter Avenue, it can be done on your street! 3) "Aren't there already gas pipelines running in our streets?" The residential gas lines that run to our homes are different from the proposed Carter Avenue pipeline. They are low pressure lines (approximately .5 PSI) and contain an odorant for easy leak detection. The Carter Avenue pipeline(s) will run at high-pressure (approx 500-800 PSI) and without added odorant, meaning that you cannot easily smell a leak. Also, the gas will be a highly corrosive, unprocessed "wet" gas coming straight from the wellhead. There have been several recent accidents where modern pipes have developed leaks in as little as 3 years. The Chesapeake waivers that were signed by Carter Avenue homeowners indicate that multiple pipelines may be laid down, not just one. How well will Carter residents to sleep at night knowing that potentially explosive pipeline lies in an easement just a few feet away from their beds? 4) "I thought that City zoning ordinances prevent this type of development?" In the state of Texas, the safety of gas pipelines are regulated by the Railroad Commission however they are still subject to City ordinances. Some citizens assert that the City of Fort Worth is a "home rule" city which means we can make our own rules unless expressly forbidden by State law or the State Constitution and that the City has the power to determine where pipelines run within the city limits. City officials claim they must be reasonable in the process of refusing street crossing permits or they will be sued by owners/producers who are unable to get their gas to market. Residents ask the question, "What is not reasonable about protecting the health and safety of Fort Worth citizens?". There is another route for this pipeline - under I-30 and along the northside of the highway. 5) "Why can't they run it along I-30?" Recent meetings between the City and TXDOT reveal that Chesapeake never even filed for a permit to run this pipeline along the highway. TXDOT says they have no objection to this pipeline. Chesapeake has agreed to look again at a northern route along the north side of I-30 and to the west. HB2572 allows for gas gathering pipelines to run ALONG public right-of-ways, with some considerations. It is entirely possible to run this pipeline along the northside of I-30 close to the already existing large Energy Transfer pipeline. 6) "Why can't they run it north across I-30?" The Trinity River Vision project is calling for the removal or rerouting of several pipelines along the Trinity in the area of the development Only super deep pipelines will be allowed to remain. Chesapeake has already done one such deep bore across the river for the Hickman/Bayman wells. Apparently they are not willing to do this again for the Thomas 1H well. They would rather just run this pipeline underneath homes along city streets. It's the cheapest and easiest way for them to go. However, in the "community" meeting held on Oct 15, 2009, Chesapeake indicated they would be running the proposed Carter Avenue pipeline between 70' - 120' below the surface. One has to ask then, if Chesapeake is going to do a super deep bore anyway, then why not run it to the north, underneath I-30 and Gateway Park to connect at the Bayman unit north of the park? 7) "I signed a mineral lease and don't feel right about fighting the pipeline" Just because you signed a mineral lease, that does not give the gas company the authority to put your family at risk. There usually are setbacks from 300' to 600' from public buildings. Why should a home be subjected to a setback of only 10'? |
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