Posted Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

The joys of urban gas drilling aren’t all lucrative signing bonuses and bonanza royalty checks.

Too often, those "joys" include the challenging balance of many legitimate but competing interests.

We learned that sobering lesson not long after the fast and furious development of the Barnett Shale began.

The reality is that, if you’re going to drill for natural gas, you have to put the wells somewhere, and you have to transport the gas somehow.

But must you pipe it right under someone’s private yard?

Residents along Carter Avenue in east Fort Worth don’t think so, and they’ve been trying for more than a year to persuade the powers that be to leave their neighborhood to its tranquility.

They’re going against some powerful powers, and everyone has valid arguments.

Chesapeake Energy, which wants to run a 16-inch gas gathering pipeline deep under yards along Carter Avenue, needs a way to link two wells near Interstate 30 and Beach Street, and the company has an interest in completing the project quickly and economically.

Carter Avenue homeowners, who would prefer the pipeline be built along or north of I-30, have concerns about their safety and property values if it runs beneath their yards.

Fort Worth city officials, who have asked Chesapeake to explore alternate routes, want to encourage continued Barnett Shale development because of its positive economic impact, but they also have to ensure that even beneficial industries cause minimal upheaval to neighborhoods.

The Texas Department of Transportation must enforce safety regulations along state highways.

The Trinity River Vision Authority doesn’t want to complicate its ambitious project that includes Gateway Park north of I-30 at Beach.

Chesapeake has said that a dozen other routes it explored are more problematic than Carter Avenue, the Star-Telegram’s Mike Lee reported.

In fact, Chesapeake already has gotten easements under several dozen properties on the street, including some acquired through eminent domain powers allowed under state law. The main roadblock at this point is that Chesapeake can’t lay pipe under city streets at intersections without council approval.

But it’s not a done deal.

Lee reported Saturday that the many entities involved have been talking about routes that would spare Carter Avenue. That’s good news for the homeowners. It would be even better to learn that Chesapeake is persuaded to make one of the other options work.

There are many times when individuals must give up something for the greater good of the community.

But modest homeowners shouldn’t have to end up helpless against more influential interests. The benefits of the Barnett Shale won’t look so good if the neighborhoods that make Fort Worth a great place to live lose out when it isn’t necessary.