Place your bets

Today's article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram daily newspaper says LaGrave field has been lost...

We wonder WHO will end up with it? And at what cost.

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Water? No Water.

Water Main Break shuts down schools and businesses in Azle.

Schools closed for 3 days...acceptable?

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DISH did it!

Now what, Fort Worth?

DISH has been leading the way...big city should take a hint from small town. Read about DISH, TX 90 day moratorium in the Denton Record-Chronicle.


Or watch on WFAA.com.

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You are invited!

United Conservative Coalition of Texas Sponsors a Get Out The Vote Rally

FORT WORTH, Texas, February 8, 2010 -- The United Conservative Coalition of Texas – an organization representing over a dozen Tea Party, 912 and other conservative groups in North Texas – will be conducting the largest pre-primary Get Out The Vote rally in Texas history on February 20, 2010 at the historic Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Every candidate on the Republican Party ballot has been invited to attend. The highlight of the event is the highly contested Texas Governor’s race. Of the three candidates, Debra Medina, the insurgent candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor, has confirmed her attendance. Over two dozen other candidates for national, state and local offices have also confirmed.

Adrian Murray, local businessman and president of the Fort Worth 912 Project and a member of the UCCOT, said, “2010 will be the most critical election in this nation’s history. While there is a tendency for hyperbole each election cycle, there can be no doubting that who controls the US House and Senate, as well as the legislature in Austin, will set the agenda starting in January 2011. That agenda will either be more big government takeover of our lives, more wasteful spending, more shredding of the Constitution or it will not. The only way to ensure a return to fiscal and governmental sanity is by nominating and electing principled conservatives to office.”

The aim of the rally, according to Murray, is give voters an opportunity to meet and listen to all the candidates to make an informed decision. “The event will be right in the middle of early voting and we will encourage voters to go straight from the rally to the polls. The key to victory is motivating and mobilizing voters, especially those who normally sit out primaries. Don’t complain in November if you’re not satisfied with your choices.”

The Cowtown Coliseum has seating for 2,300 plus room for another 700 on the arena floor. Murray expects every seat to be filled. “Since the presidential election in 2008 and the relentless assaults on freedom and liberty that have ensued, particularly with health care and cap and trade, people who have never paid attention to a primary in their lives are now alert and highly motivated. Those attending this event will be part of history. Never before has a group of private citizens attempted an undertaking of this size and complexity. But if we are going to save this nation and return to constitutional principles we have to be willing to try things that have never been tried before.”

HIGH NOON IN COWTOWN begins at 12:00 pm on Saturday, February 20, 2010.

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Drilling in Flower Mound

The Dallas Morning news lays it out for you.

Representatives of the drillers, most notably WilliamsProduction, smiled and assured everyone that they had the best interests of the community in mind. But they refused to answer probing questions, while forging ahead with plans for at least 100 more wells, many in close proximity to homes, schools and businesses.

Meanwhile, Mayor Jody Smith and her allies on the Town Council fiddle while Flower Mound is pillaged.

Despite pleas from their constituents to tap the brakes and assess the long-term consequences, certain officials continue to accede to the drillers' demands. Recently, roughly 600 residents packed a hearing to voice opposition to controversial new zoning ordinances requested by Williams, just as a similarly irate group had advocated a moratorium on new drilling permits in December. In both cases, three of the five council members thumbed their noses at the crowd and sided with the drillers.

Check out the Flower Mound Cares website.

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Clean it up

Check out Downwinders at Risk.

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As usual

DISH is leading the way...thank you Mayor Tillman!
TXSharon has the scoop!

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Standing Room Only

A crowd at last night's NCTCA meeting last night.

TXSharon has the scoop.

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Gone Fishing

Read the article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram about the Trinity River fish.

Remember, it's our air and our water...

And some of the highest poisonous readings of polychlorinated biphenyls -- or PCBs -- were found at sample sites in Tarrant County.

"I think we've done irreparable damage," Brian Smith, who owns about 700 acres of preserved ranchland along the river in Navarro County south of Dallas, said during a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality meeting Wednesday in Arlington.

Among the highest PCB readings were results at testing sites in Fort Worth -- one near North Beach Street, the other near Handley Road -- and another near Farm Road 157 near the Fort Worth/Arlington border, a consultant explained during the Arlington meeting.

Another spectator, Libby Willis, president of the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association, raised a concern about plans to use Riverside Park in north Fort Worth to store excavated soil during the proposed Central City/Trinity Uptown project, which includes relocation of a portion of the river for flood control.

"If there are PCBs in the soil, why would you put it in a park, of all places?" she asked.

Willis also noted that signs warning that fish in the Trinity River should not be eaten had been removed. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said the signs most likely had been stolen.

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Fort Worth and Wall Street

TXSharon has the link and cliff notes to the Barnett Shale Wall Street Journal article.

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Tonight!!

Be there.

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To whom it may concern...

A letter to Kathleen Hicks from a NCTCA Officer. Can't wait to post the response.

Dear Kathleen,

On December 2, 2009, you Co-Hosted a Public Meeting regarding the status of the gas drilling pipeline down Carter Avenue. Your Co-Hosts for this meeting were State Senator Wendy Davis and State Representative Lon Burnam, both of Fort Worth.

Also, present at the meeting (at your invitation) were your respective legislative aides, Fort Worth City Development Staff, TxDot Representative Meribel Chavez, Fort Worth City Engineer Rick Trice, Chesapeake management, engineering and PR staff, Carter Avenue residents and property owners and various other Fort Worth neighborhood leaders. Our NCTCA Officers and Members were also present to hear the information.

During the meeting, a PowerPoint presentation was made by Chesapeake about the status of the "alternative route" along the I-30 corridor which they proposed as a viable alternative to the route down Carter Avenue. During the question and answer period, the Chesapeake representatives and Engineer made it very clear that they were working towards this viable solution, and everyone there was lead to believe that over a period of the ensuing months, all parties would be working out the details with that goal in mind.

Thus, we (and particularly the Carter Avenue residents) were alarmed and shocked to learn that not even ten days after your meeting, Chesapeake (Texas Midstream) was continuing their condemnation legal proceedings against Carter Avenue resident Steve Deuong. Why? If Chesapeake Energy is sincere in their desire and efforts to work cooperatively with both the Carter Avenue residents and the City.....then why are they HARASSING this resident again, and WHY would they need to continue to PUSH for this condemnation? As of this writing, Chesapeake is still engaging in an active pursuit of Mr. Doeung’s property, with another hearing scheduled for March 4, 2010!

It's been a full two months since your Public Meeting, Kathleen, and no one has been able to get a "straight forward answer" about the status - any status - of the proposed alternative pipeline route presented at your meeting, or the previous alternative route directly across IH30, that was forwarded to you my me over a month ago.

As you are aware, when our nonprofit organization “North Central Texas Communities Alliance” was formed in late 2009, the Carter Avenue pipeline situation was a galvanizing community issue. We have steadfastly supported the residents in their OPPOSITION to this pipeline. As I’m sure you do, we consider the Carter Avenue pipeline situation to be a litmus test for every residential street and every neighborhood in Fort Worth….and in the Barnett Shale.

Therefore, (if you cannot personally attend our meeting) we are requesting a written update from you and/or city staff regarding the current status of this pipeline, or the previous route directly across IH30. We will be hosting our monthly NCTCA meeting this coming Thursday, February 4th, and our members are expecting an update regarding the status of Carter Avenue and that of the pipeline. Please email current updates to my email address at your earliest convenience. We will be discussing the subject of Carter Avenue and it's residents with our members, and would like to be able to report something positive regarding pipelines in and through residential areas.

We believe that both the residents of Carter Avenue and the citizens of Ft. Worth deserve better, clearer, and more frequent communications on such an important issue that, quite literally, has a potential impact on EVERY neighborhood in our City. We ask that you, as the Council Member representing this District, work to insure that the citizens receive communications in a more timely and straightforward manner.

Thank you in advance for your help with these matters, and finally would like to extend a personal invitation to our next meeting on Thursday, February 4th. We will be given the opportunity to discuss serious issues with Dr. Al Armendariz, the new Region 6 Director with the EPA. This meeting could prove to be very important to our city, in that we cannot rely on the information from TCEQ as being anything but mildly informative.

Louis McBee - Treasurer
Executive Committee
2320 Oakland Blvd., Ste11
Fort Worth, TX 76103

cc: NCTCA Pres: Esther McElfish
NCTCA-VP; Gary Hogan
State Senator Wendy Davis
State Rep. Lon Burnam

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Another Texas sinkhole?

What happens if a sinkhole forms on a levee?

We shall see. Durango has his eyes on it.

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NCTCA FEBRUARY MEETING

Those who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of those doing it.

North Central Texas Communities Alliance
Together we Bargain, Divided we Beg

North Central Texas Communities Alliance is a broad-based coalition of individuals, organizations and communities throughout the Barnett Shale area working on local, state and national levels for positive solutions to the problems related to natural gas drilling and production.

To facilitate our goals, we strive to Communicate, Educate and then to Mobilize citizens to action in north Texas and their own unique communities.

FEATURED SPEAKER FOR FEBRUARY
EPA Region 6 Administrator

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 4, 2010
Where: Hotel Trinity - Inn Suites
IH30 @ Beach Street

Doors will open at 6:30pm for coffee, networking
and news interviews.
Meeting will begin at 7:00pm and end at 8:45pm

Dr. Al Armendariz was appointed by President Obama on November 5, 2009 as the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, in Dallas. As Regional Administrator he is responsible for managing the Agency's regional activities under the direction of EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

The region encompasses Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and 66 Tribal Nations. Prior to his appointment, for eight years he was a professor in the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering at Southern Methodist University in Dallas where he received several outstanding faculty awards. For the past 15 years, Dr. Armendariz has worked in a variety of research and academic positions including, for a short time in 2002, in the Region 6 EPA offices.

Before joining SMU, he was a chemical engineer with Radian Corporation in North Carolina. During and after college he worked as a research assistant at the MIT Center for Global Change Science at their Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory in Massachusetts.

Throughout his career, Dr. Armendariz has spent countless hours volunteering his time to help the environment through various environmental groups and the Volunteer Center for North Texas. He has a proven track record of addressing complex environmental and public health challenges in everything from solid waste landfills to community and Tribal priorities.

Dr. Armendariz [39] received his doctorate in Environmental Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Pubic Health where he was also selected as a Royster Society Fellow. He holds a M.E. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. Al is a chemical engineer by training, with an undergraduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.).

Al is a third generation Texan, descended from Mexican and Mexican-American grandparents who settled in the border city of El Paso. Born and raised in El Paso, he graduated from Coronado High School in 1988. He has also lived in Houston, Albuquerque and New Orleans. Al currently lives in Dallas with his wife Cynthia, a public school teacher in Irving ISD, and two sons, Ferris and Simon.

Mayor Tillman's video remarks

Mayor Calvin Tillman - Dish, Texas

Mayor Tillman has been on the front lines of the battle to keep his town safe and clean from the effects of uncontrolled pipelines and gas drilling within the city limits of Dish Texas. Much of the time he has been the Lone Ranger in he battle to save some of his town, and by default some other communities who are facing the same problems without their elected official's support.

His views and unique experiences with these very important issues are a must to hear in his own words. Just Google his name for a wealth of information.

FORWARD - BABY - FORWARD!

As the time honored saying goes, you can be a part of the solution or continue to be a part of the problem. Only by working together for the common good can we even begin to protect our communities from unwanted and/or unneeded industrial activities that continue to harm the air we breathe or the water needed to sustain our quality of life.

Please join with us to help protect our future and the continued safety of our families BY FORWARDING THIS MESSAGE to your school administrators, your teachers, your church leaders, the PTA and other community contacts. Ask them to learn how this expanding heavy industrial activity called gas drilling is affecting our most vulnerable citizens....our children!

North Central Texas Communities Alliance
Esther McElfish, Pres.
Gary Hogan, V.P.
Louis McBee, Treas.

Fast Links

NCTCA Web Site
Downwinders at Risk
EPA Region 6
Senator Wendy Davis
Bluedaze
Fort Worth Can Do

MORATORIUM OR NOT?
Take the Survey
Gas Drilling Moratorium - You Can Decide

Dangerous levels of cancer causing Benzene found in 48% of gas facilities tested.

Chanel 11 News Report

The most at risk for even low to moderate levels of Benzene are children and pregnant mothers. If we continue to "drill baby drill" without fully knowing and understanding the risks involved, the drillers will be long gone before our citizens begin to show symptoms of exposure to Benzene and other harmful byproducts of gas drilling.

What are the health risks?
Cancer
Leukemia
Neurological disorders
Birth defects
Emphysema

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has a credibility problem!

Citizens for a Responsible Drilling Ordinance

Look for us....in your face!

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Imagine that...

The Fort Worth Business Press has an article today that you can't afford to miss.

Tarrant County may be eminent domain capital

In Tarrant County, eminent domain is a way of life.

“It really goes to the growth of the region,” O’Brien said. “Meaning the infrastructure that is needed now to support that growth has to be built and it’s happenstance that TxDOT has gotten its funding for this region. Then when you add in Trinity River Vision and Barnett Shale, you have a lot of eminent domain coming this way.”

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Durango does it again

Want to know about the corruption in the Shale? Durango lays it out for you in style.

WHO's listening?

Also, check out Durango's pledge. Sad, but true.

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DISH SOS

Check out TXSharon to find out how to help DISH, TX Mayor, Calvin Tillman.

We've never liked greedy bullies. We've always liked Mayor Tillman.

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Wag the Dog

Today's article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the benzene air levels should be a wake up call to all. Didn't they just tell us it was safe?

High levels of cancer-causing benzene were found in the air at 1 in every 5 sites that Texas environmental officials tested in the Barnett Shale gas field, state regulators revealed Wednesday.

The state agency knew that some of the wells were producing emissions as far back as 2007, when a contractor flew over the area with an infrared camera to look for problems. But the agency didn’t start conducting on-the-ground tests until August.

The state agency has been under pressure about the environmental effects of the Barnett Shale since October. The small town of Dish and Fort Worth business owner Deborah Rogers paid for their own tests.

"We appropriately caveated all the data" presented to the city, Sadlier said.

Also, he said, the agency doesn’t control who gets to drill where or when.

"That’s really a question for the city of Fort Worth," he said. "TCEQ is absolutely the tail of the dog."

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What happens...?

When you are part of the gas industry and your pants are on fire?

Time will tell.

So will the FW Weekly, don't they know that by now?

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Lake Worth- What's it worth?

FW Weekly article. Check it out.

We especially like the line below. It's as true now as it was over a hundred years ago.

Fort Worth was growing in the early 1900s and needed a clean water supply and flood control.

The lack of dredging "was really a financial issue," said Fort Worth Water Department spokesperson Mary Gugliuzza. The city was working with the United States Army Corps of Engineers starting in the late 1990s to dredge the lake, she said, but the corps stopped doing such projects after Hurricane Katrina, citing a lack of funding. The city will still need a Corps of Engineers permit for the dredging, which could be issued in about a year, but there will be no accompanying Corps funding.

Oversight of the lake and surrounding 950 acres was passed around from city department to city department. Sometimes the water department ran it, sometimes parks and recreation, sometime planning, he said.

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Drilling and Flooding

Check out the pics on TXSharon about another drilling site in a flood plain.



North Richland Hills has one too.

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You can't drink money

Or air.

Check out these pictures of New Yorkers speaking out to save their water.

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Busted

What don't these guys get? Texas Women will bust you every time. See Chris Hawes tell about Flower Mound air testing that NEVER happened on TXSharon.

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Lon is right on

Read the Letter about Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo in the Fort Worth Business Press.

Airing concerns

I am extremely disappointed that Chairman [Victor] Carrillo, in his January 18 op-ed response to expressed concerns about toxic pollutants resulting from natural gas drilling in North Texas, has chosen to attack the messenger and misrepresent the facts rather than take action to protect public health.

Mayor Tillman can only be accused of doing what the rest of us, including local elected officials and relevant agency heads, should have done a long time ago – demand answers to hard questions about the hidden costs of the Barnett Shale boom.

Chairman Carrillo also severely misrepresents the findings to date of Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s air monitoring efforts.

More results will be released later this month, but to say that TCEQ “found ‘No Cause for Concern’ related to Barnett Shale exploration and production” is false and misleading (in its Jan.12 press release, TCEQ makes no such claim), and only further justifies public suspicion regarding whose interests the Railroad Commission is really looking after.

– Lon Burnam

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You are invited

Saturday!!!!

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Good question

One of our regular contributors asks,

Why must we read about this insane activity in the DALLAS paper? Could it be that our own local daily paper, our mayor (and most of the council), the Railroad Commission....AND the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are all on the industry payroll?

Read about the latest loophole in the Dallas Morning News.

A legal loophole could be letting gas drillers inject fluids with high levels of benzene into the ground in gas-rich regions such as North Texas' Barnett Shale, a study by an environmental group finds.

"Companies are basically doing an end run around the law," said Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy organization. "Congress should never have given the oil and gas industry a free pass."

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Texas is next

Massachusetts has made history with their election.

THE PEOPLE made the difference. WHO's next??

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Fort Worth Corruption

It runs so deep, it's even in the water.

If you haven't been following Detective Durango's posts, he gives you the recap here. Get caught up, you'll need to know this for the rest of the story.

Stay tuned.

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What's the point?

After you read the TCEQ disclaimer on their recent Fort Worth "report" at TXSharon, you'll wonder what the point of the "report" is...

Publicity. Go figure.

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SAYS WHO?

Rolling Stone, that's WHO. Durango has it up and running, check it out. Some of the names will look familiar to you.

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You are invited

Flower Mound. Thursday. Be there. TXSharon has the info.

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Levee Hoods

Durango has another run in with the water boys.

WHO are they? Cheap Tricks and Costly Truths tells all.

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Detective Durango

Strikes again. Read about the latest on the Trinity River levee at Gateway Park.

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Where were YOU?

The NCTCA meeting Wednesday night was a success!
Over 125 people in attendance, including speakers - Calvin Tillman, Mayor of DISH, TX and Senator Wendy Davis.

Chris Hawes from WFAA was there too.

Don't miss the next one. Keep watching for your invitation!

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As crooked as...

TCEQ?

Read about it at Grover's Tub.

If that’s so, then why is Texas’ environmental commission putting our land and our lungs at risk? Why is TCEQ a lapdog for the nation’s largest polluters—and why does Texas have the nation’s worst environmental record?

Here are the facts when it comes to Texas air and water.

More than any other state in America, almost twenty-four million Texans now live with the highest levels of volatile organic compounds, toxic chemicals in our water, and carcinogens and carbon dioxide in our air.

In terms of ozone pollution, Houston and Dallas are now the fourth and seventh worst cities in the United States, respectively.

If Texas were a nation, it would rank seventh in the world in total carbon dioxide emissions.

It's easy to see why you can't believe what you have been fed about the recent TCEQ "testing" "requested" by Fort Worth "leaders"...

After more than a hundred air monitoring tests near natural gas production facilities in Fort Worth, officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said they found no pollutants at levels that would endanger the public. The tests came at the request of Mayor Moncrief and the City Council who raised questions about the potential for dangerous emissions from local gas drilling sites. In response to these findings, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief released the following statement:

“On behalf of our citizens, we thank TCEQ Director Mark Vickery and his team for their quick and appropriate response to our questions about the effects of gas production facilities on the quality of the air in Fort Worth. We are certainly grateful that the tests revealed no immediate danger. However, we agree with TCEQ that the air in those areas affected by the Barnett Shale should be continually monitored for potential threats. My City Council colleagues and I will continue to work closely with our city staff, local gas producers and the state to make sure public safety remains the top priority here in Fort Worth.”

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Mayor behind bars?

We were going to blog the latest from Fort Worth's #1 Watchdog, but Durango beat us to it...again. Check it out.

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WHO?

Steve on Carter, that's WHO!

Go Steve!!!

Read about it in the FW Weekly.

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YOU have a busy week

HELP!

Be in Haltom City Tuesday for their proposed 500,000 gallon frac pond on Big Fossil Creek meeting.

They have plans to place a toxic fluid open storage lake in our neighborhood!!

YOU are needed to stop this!

The City of Haltom City Planning Board will meet to discuss this.
Tuesday January 12, 7pm. at Haltom City Hall, 5024 Broadway

Your property is at risk !

Call 817-222-7767 to object on the official record.

On Wednesday be at the NCTCA meeting!

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Making Noise

Durango made enough noise that someone actually did what they should have done in the first place. Check it out.

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Gas Drillers follow Water Board lead

If they want it, they'll take it. Read about it in the Fort Worth Business Press.
You have to read it to believe it.

Fort Worth attorney Jim Bradbury got a letter in the mail from XTO Energy Inc., informing him that he could lease his minerals to the gas exploration and production company or, if not, they’d take them anyway.

“There’s almost an eminent domain essence to it,” Bradbury said, “where an operator can come in and say, ‘Through this Finley decision we are going to put you under a lease or get hold of your minerals by force of law.’”

And we have to ask - SAYS WHO?
Mineral owners are well-protected by the Railroad Commission of Texas and its requirements that gas companies must meet before applying for a force pool situation.

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He's Talking to YOU

Durango asks questions of the Tarrant Regional Water Board.

Think they'll answer? We can hardly wait.

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Don't Mess with Durango

Durango has been having a time with either a city, industry or water shill as of late. They informed him he was uninformed, so in usual Durango fashion he went out to learn more. That's when he learned he is not uninformed and a few other things.

To you boys out on the levee, like we said...Don't mess with Durango.

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Rescheduled - Be there Wed!!

North Central Texas Communities Alliance is a broad-based coalition of individuals, organizations and communities throughout the Barnett Shale area working on local, state and national levels for positive solutions to the problems related to natural gas drilling and production.

FEATURED SPEAKERS FOR JANUARY
This time of the year weather does not always cooperate, so we must therefore reschedule our meeting to the date listed below:

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Where: Hotel Trinity - Inn Suites
IH30 @ Beach Street

Doors will open at 6:30pm for coffee, networking
and news interviews.
Meeting will begin at 7:00pm and end at 8:45pm


Senator Wendy Davis

One of our featured speakers will be Senator Davis, who has historically been an advocate for responsible mineral exploration and production in the Barnett Shale. Because of recent evidence of harmful chemicals produced from gas drilling, she and other state elected officials have been calling for additional testing and controls with natural gas drilling and production, and has been a statewide leader for stronger controls, both local and statewide, governing natural gas pipelines.
Mayor Tillman's video remarks

Mayor Calvin Tillman - Dish, Texas

Mayor Tillman has been on the front lines of the battle to keep his town safe and clean from the effects of uncontrolled pipelines and gas drilling within the city limits of Dish Texas. Much of the time being the Lone Ranger in he battle to save some of his town. His views and unique experiences with these very important issues are a must to hear in his own words.
Gas drilling trumps citizen protections?

As the time honored saying goes, you can be a part of the solution or continue to be a part of the problem. Only by working together for the common good can we even begin to protect our communities from unwanted and/or unneeded industrial activities that continue to harm the air we breathe or the water needed to sustain our quality of life.

Please join with us to help protect our future and the continued safety of our families. Our goal is to Communicate, to Educate and to Mobilize north central Texas citizens into action when the need arises.

North Central Texas Communities Alliance
Esther McElfish, Pres.
Gary Hogan, V.P.
Louis McBee, Treas.

www.nctca.net
Quick Links

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Show me the Permit

Durango takes on FTW water thieves and their lackeys.

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Follow the trail

Durango is such a trend setter. Thanks to our contributors for the great pics! These were taken in April of 2009 in Haltom City and North Richland Hills. Gas drillers ran the pipes from a drill site on Birdville Independent School District, as far as you can see on Big Fossil Creek. We say as far as you can see, because as you can see - the rest is Federal Government property.

WHO's water is it?

NO ONE is exempt.
Speak up. Before it's too late.

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You are invited!

THURSDAY!

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When nothing is ever done...

It just gets worse.

And WHO is informing you? The media? Nope.
Durango. Again.

Check it out.
It's happening everywhere.
No one is exempt.

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Watchdogs and Horned Frogs

Dang it! I want a replay.

The mighty TCU Horned Frog football team lost the Fiesta Bowl to Boise State last Monday causing purple tears to flow like a river in Dirty Ol' Town. But don't blame the team. They were jinxed by Mayor Moncrief and cheated by the Barnett Shale.

Mayor Mikey's dumb idea to dye the Trinity River purple in honor of the Frogs was bad enough. Any scientist could have told him that. They could have also told him that Fort Worth air is so polluted from Barnett Shale gas drilling it's a wonder the team made it to the bowl game.

But, in his defense, Mayor Mikey can't help it. He's science-challenged.

Even though he was raised on oil and gas, his income depends on oil and gas and he's the mayor of the largest city in the USA to allow urban gas drilling he was dumfounded to recently learn that natural gas drilling is dangerous to human health.

He was shocked to discover that benzene and other toxic by-products of drilling are polluting north Texas air on a massive scale (not to mention our water and land). But he claims to be very concerned about the residents and quality of life in Fort Worth. He wants more testing done, dadgumitt, and he wants the State of Texas to do it with help from the polluters.

But, sorry, no moratorium on new drilling permits, says the mayor. We can't risk getting sued by the drillers. Besides, his income depends on the drilling. (Uh-oh!)

The university itself deserves some of the credit for TCU students and players getting a daily dose of benzene. They have been cheerleading the Barnett Shale for years. Maybe that's because several alumni own one of the largest drilling companies in FW.

As a result of their influence and the lure of Dirty Dollars, TCU set up the TCU Energy Institute, basically a lobbying group for gas drillers opposed to regulation and drilling reform.

If we keep waiting for drillers to do the right thing, we will all end up like the endangered Texas Horned Lizard. Don't it make your purple heart blue?


DY


PS: After you've had a good cry, write a letter to or call TCU Chancellor, Victor Boschini and tell him how you feel about TCU's support of gas drilling.

Chancellor@tcu.edu
817-257-7783


Still mad? Tell Mayor Moncrief to stop issuing drilling permits until the industry learns how to Drill Right:

Mike.Moncrief@fortworthgov.org
817-392-6118



Don Young
FWCanDo
P.O. Box 470041
Fort Worth, TX 76147
http://www.fwcando.org
"God bless Fort Worth, Texas. Help us save some of it."

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More Water Whoa's

Guess WHO is causing them?

Read all about it in the Fort Worth Weekly.

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Water wagon

As usual, the FW Weekly was ahead of the game on the gas drilling killing our water supply and as usual, they tell it like it is.

Fort Worth's daily newspaper has coddled if not brazenly protected the natural gas industry ever since the explosion of the Barnett Shale almost a decade ago. Now the paper has finally grown a pair of (eye)balls and taken a hard look at how the industry is affecting the local water supply.

The story also noted that gas drillers and state regulators deny any correlation between gas wells and water pollution, despite an avalanche of circumstantial evidence. The drilling industry says chemicals used in drilling are safe but has successfully fought like hell to keep from having to reveal them. Nice.

Let's see ... seems like Fort Worth Weekly wrote about the correlation between gas drilling and groundwater problems a little earlier than that - say, more than four years ago in a story ('Til Your Wells Run Dry," June 29, 2005) that drew heat from the industry and skepticism from drilling advocates. But other newspapers, most notably the Denton Record Chronicle and Texas Observer, soon began writing similar stories about drilling's impact on water sources.

The Star-Telegram continued to ignore the obvious for years and wrote countless love notes to drillers in the form of "news" articles that read more like public relations releases. After all, city leaders such as Mayor Mike Moncrief kept saying how good the shale was for the Fort, and why would the local newspaper disagree with the mayor?

Still, welcome aboard, Star-T. Better late than never - though the thousands of people whose air and water have been poisoned by drilling activities in the intervening years might not agree.

Amen.
The citizens and real news have been reporting these issues for years.
WHO's listening?

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Another Invitation

Clear your schedule - you have plans Thursday!

For Immediate Release: DISH TX Mayor Calvin Tillman to Speak at North Central Texas Communities Alliance Meeting

Where: Hotel Trinity Inn and Suites, Interstate 30 and Beach, in Fort Worth, TX.

When: January 7, 2010, doors will open at 6:30 PM for networking and interviews, meeting starts at 7:00 PM

DISH Mayor to speak on Air Quality Issues, And Discusses The Calls For A Moratorium On Natural Gas Activity In The Barnett Shale

DISH, TX -- The results of a DISH, Texas municipal Ambient Air Quality Study recently revealed high concentrations of toxic air emissions, including neurotoxins and carcinogens, near and on residential properties in the small town of DISH, Texas. DISH Mayor Calvin Tillman has been asked to speak at the North Central Texas Communities Alliance meeting on January 7, 2010 to discuss this testing. Other items that will be discussed is a new policy implemented by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in the Barnett Shale. Mayor Tillman will also discuss the proposed moratorium on gas drilling throughout the Barnett Shale. DISH is located in the epicenter of the Barnett Shale gas play and is home to a megacomplex of compressor stations, as well as pipelines, metering stations, gathering lines and gas wells. The Town of DISH's air study sampled air at seven locations from August 17 to 18, 2009. The results of this analysis revealed high concentrations of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds near and on residential properties. TCEQ has committed to install permanent monitoring equipment near the massive compressor facility, as well as respond to all complaints of toxic fumes within 12 hours.

NCTCA - North Central Texas Communities Alliance is a broad-based coalition of individuals, organizations, and communities throughout the Barnett Shale area working on local, state, and national levels for positive solutions to the problems related to natural gas drilling and pipelines.

For More Information

* Calvin Tillman, Mayor, DISH, TX (940) 453-3640, tillman4council@aol.com.
Town of DISH
5413 Tim Donald Road
DISH, Texas 76247
Links

DISH, Texas Municipal Ambient Air Quality Study can be found online here: www.townofdish.com
North Central Communities Alliance http://www.nctca.net/
Calvin Tillman Mayor, DISH, TX (940) 453-3640

"Those who say it can not be done, should get out of the way of those that are doing it"

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Says WHO?

The following is from an article in the Fort Worth Business Press. Notice how it says "another report". WHO do you think that report was done by?


Recently, there has been considerable attention paid to whether natural gas production in the Barnett Shale is contributing to area air pollution, notably the presence of benzene in levels higher than expected. Some reports have shown high levels of benzene, while another report questions those findings. Many oil and gas companies and advocates have said because Barnett Shale gas production is mostly dry, meaning it produces little to no condensate, the presence of benzene is due to other causes. Concerned residents, state regulators and elected officials still are talking about it, and a moratorium on drilling has been discussed in Fort Worth City Council meetings.

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Fort Worth Water Shortage

While the Tarrant Regional Water District sues other states to try and take their water and takes private property by eminent domain for Trinity Uptown (instead of doing their job), the City of Fort Worth and those involved with Gateway Park (ahem, the Tarrant Regional Water District) and TCEQ allows gas drillers to take water from the Trinity River. Soon to be, lots of water.

Thanks to Detective Durango for the great shots and blog. You can't afford to miss it!

Ask some questions of your supposed leaders. Hold them accountable.

The Water Board has an election coming up, maybe it's time for some fresh faces.

UPDATE 11/2/2010: Those of you looking for the latest information on the Fort Worth Water Shortage, go here.

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Demand it!

Don says so. We couldn't agree more.

Read the entire letter from Mr.Woodard, about Mission Impossible, also know as Trinity Uptown, in the Fort Worth Business Press.

Trying to convince the gung-ho Trinity Uptowners that an election should be called to see if taxpayers really want to pay for their billion dollar, confluence-covering Fantasy Island is like trying to empurple the Trinity River by pouring a vial of food coloring into the fast-flowing water.

Trinity Uptowners! Historic, financial, and environmental icebergs dead ahead! Taxpayers! Demand an election or get ready to run for the lifeboats!

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Happy New Year Y'all!

To all our readers and contributors - those who are trying to make a difference in our corner of the world - we wish you all a successful New Year!

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