It Is Election Season and We Haven’t Forgotten!

We had planned to stay quiet this election season until we saw Mike Walker accuse his opponent Joy Bowen of being pro drilling. Seriously, are you kidding?

No matter how you feel about gas drilling, the Flower Mound Oil and Gas ordinance must be followed. That is why we fought so hard to make it stronger. If a pad site meets the criteria in the ordinance, it will be approved.  Of course Mr. Walker and his supporters twisted Joy Bowen's statements in an attempt to take attention away from his own gas drilling history.

We asked Joy Bowen for her stance on drilling. Here is what she told us. Joy Bowen supports our extremely protective and nationally recognized drilling ordinance. Joy Bowen has stated to us that she would never vote to weaken the ordinance and would always be open to making it even stronger as new technology presents itself. Joy Bowen has never signed a gas lease. Joy Bowen has never supported putting wells near homes, schools, parks, and hospitals.  In 2010 Joy Bowen, along with 6000 other residents, signed the Flower Mound Cares Petition to stop the Centralized Collection Facility.  We can’t say the same about her opponent.

Mike Walker was appointed to the Oil and Gas Board of Appeals in 2006. During his service, he voted to grant many variances. The most disturbing vote was in mid-2008 when he was the only member to vote for all variance requests at the Riverwalk property. This is the property where our new hospital sits. One of the variances on which he voted YES would have allowed a pad site 695 feet from a day care center and 312 feet from a public park. Click here and go to page 151 to read the variances and how Mr. Walker voted.

In 2008, as a board member on the Bridlewood HOA, he participated in meetings with Williams Production. The purpose of these meetings was to explore putting gas wells on Bridlewood Golf Course in the middle of homes and schools. The meetings were conducted secretly without input or notification of residents and despite Bridlewood's HOA documents defining Bridlewood as a non-drilling community. Outraged Bridlewood residents voted to recall Mr. Walker in 2008. Even with 62% of the voting members in favor of recalling him, he refused to step down based on a technicality. For documentation, click here, here, here, here and here. Mr. Walker continued to serve on the Oil and Gas Board of Appeals. His service on the board was to vote for granting or denying variance requests, exactly what Williams would need to drill in Bridlewood. Yet, he met with the gas drilling company anyway? His tenure on his HOA Board and the Oil and Gas Board of Appeals is marred by his record of poor judgment, lack of transparency and appearance of conflict of interest. All the above links to documents came from the blog, Bridlewood Quality of Life Coalition.

UPDATE: We found this map of the proposed wells on Bridlewood Golf Course.

We can’t forget Jean Levenick’s gas drilling record. Mrs. Levenick and her husband signed a gas lease with Williams back in February 2009. In January 2010, she refused to recuse herself from discussions and voted to amend the ordinance to allow for the zoning of a Centralized Collection Facility. Why recuse herself? The only company advocating for a CCF at the time was Williams! The same company she signed a gas lease with. Here are her comments from the meeting minutes. 

“Mayor Pro Tem Levenick stated that the process tonight would lay the groundwork to process a future application. She stated there had been so many emails and so much information. She read a portion of an email about leukemia clusters, and asked people to stop sending out false information.”

In spring of 2010, after 6000 residents signed the Flower Mound Cares Moratorium and CCF petition, it was presented to the Town Council. Mrs. Levenick voted NOT to accept the petition. The no vote would forced the town to hold a special election. The no vote would delay the moratorium from going into effect and could have allowed a company, most likely Williams, to put in an application for a CCF. Click here for meeting minutes. Read pages 17 through 20.

As fate would have it, there was some controversy and Jean Levenick decided not to run for office again. A new council majority was elected and they immediately accepted the petition.
This open letter written by one of our local journalist said it all.  

Click here to read previous posts on this blog about Mrs. Levenick.

We met Tami Ryan and asked her how she feels about gas drilling and our protective ordinance. Here are her answers. Tami Ryan also signed the Flower Mound Cares Petition in 2010. Tami Ryan is opposed to weakening the ordinance and is committed to protecting the health, safety, and quality of life of our residents.

With the industry pushing for LNG exports, we need to make sure we have the right people in office to assure our community will always have the best protections in place. Here are a few paragraphs from a recent article that sum up the LNG export issue.

Eben Burnham-Snyder, a spokesman for House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rep. Edward Markey said “Sending more of our natural gas resources abroad, instead of keeping more of it here for consumers and manufacturers and providing a diverse energy supply, is not a policy to make us more energy secure…[it] makes us less independent, not more.”

Berman added, “These companies have stupidly, imprudently overproduced their own product to the point they can’t make money at the price they’ve created themselves. So now they’re looking for a solution to that problem, and they’ve managed to convince a number of idiots in Congress that this is a good idea.”

Tad Patzek, chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas said “We are at that stage right now and it’s only going to get worse,” he said. “We will be encroaching more and more on where people live.”

People of Flower Mound, we cannot afford to vote for candidates that have failed us in the past when it comes to gas drilling. Do your research before voting.

Here is the candidate slate for 2013.

Place 1

Joy Bowen http://electjoybowen.com/

Mike Walker http://walkerforfm.com/

Place 3 (Uncontested Race)

Mark Wise place3@flower-mound.com

Place 5

Tami Ryan http://www.tamiryanfortc.com/#

Jean Levenick http://jeanlevenick.com/

Flower Mound don’t take a gamble on protecting the Oil and Gas ordinance and the health, safety and quality of life of all in our wonderful community.

Early Voting - April 29, 2013 through May 4, 2013, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. May 6-7, 2013, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Election Day - May 11, 2013, 7:00  a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

We will only post comments from real people. If we can't verify that a name is real, we have the right to refuse posting the comment. We will not post any inflammatory or crude comments. We have the right to refuse  posting any or all comments. We are not responsible for the comments and opinions of others.

 

One Step Forward, Three Steps Back...

Is anyone else experiencing Deja Vu? Last night our new council had the audacity to appoint Jean Levenick to Place 5, the seat Tom Hayden left to run for Mayor. We heard it was a unanimous. So  basically we have the same majority we had during 2008-2010, (Bryan Webb will now play the role of Mike Wallace).

For us here at FMCAUD, this brings back memories of the "old" days when council members said one thing and did another AND Disrespected their office and the people of Flower Mound. (Don't forget to read the comments.) Apparently, it seems others are shocked and angered by this decision since we have received many phone calls and emails on this topic today.

There really isn't anymore to say that can express our disappointment in this selection when there were so many qualified prospects to choose from. Click here for a link to all information on Jean Levenick that has been posted on this blog.

Why would anyone want to take one step forward and three steps back?

A New Mayor, A New Councilmember, and a Re-elected Councilmember

I want to write a bit about Monday's (May 17th) Town Council meeting where the results of the election were certified and the "NFL" were sworn in.

First, outgoing Mayor Smith and Councilmember Levenick offered cordial remarks and best wishes for those that were taking office. Mayor Northern then presented both Ms. Smith and Ms. Levenick with gifts and photographs.

Mayor Northern, Councilmember Filidoro, and Councilmember Lyda then made their acceptance remarks. All were gracious and a reiteration of their campaign pledges.

Councilmember Lyda's remarks were especially moving and I have received his permission to post them in full:

Thank you Madam Mayor and thank you fellow members of council, and thanks to the people in the audience tonight in attendance for coming out and seeing us tonight.

What a great, great honor it is to sit here tonight as your councilmember. I am humbled to have this opportunity to serve you.

When His Holiness, Pope Benidict, was chosen by his peers in an election to the Papacy, no doubt the world was watching when he made his first speech as Pope. As he spoke from the papal apartment in Rome and uttered these simple but memorable words in his first address as Pope, “I do not know how the Lord continues to work with imperfect tools.”

Likewise, I’m sure the people of Flower Mound are awaiting the first speech of their newly sworn councilmember. Although the world is not watching, many people in this Town and this area are. ..And the first thought that comes to my mind is: “I do not know how the Lord continues to work with imperfect tools.”

I am still in awe of the number of people who turned out to vote in the 2010 election, one of the things I have always said in this campaign was that I would love to see increased voter turnout in our local election. Flower Mound, you really delivered on this one and for that you should be proud. Today, your voice has been heard.

What does the outcome of this election mean? That for the first time in a long time this council has been given a clear mandate by the people. That is for the council to listen to it’s residents, to do our best to protect our homes and our families, and to return control of Flower Mound to the citizens who created it.

What does this election mean in the future? Absolutely nothing. From this day forward, we will now be defined by our actions, by our record, and by what we do and do not do as a council. One thing is clear, if we don’t answer the mandate of the people…the people will be back to mandate who is on the council.

To the citizens of Flower Mound, you have my oath that will serve this Town justly, and to the best of my ability. Although I am an “imperfect tool”...I remember one thing, that I am a citizen in this Town just like you, I have to live here just like you do…and I want my Council to do what is best for my family..as well as yours. Be certain, I will not take this charge lightly.

I would like to take a moment to tell my wife Amy that I love her..and without her support, I would not be here. Thank you for always encouraging me to believe in myself. To the greatest first children in Flower Mound: The A-Team, Allie, Aubrey and Austin Lyda…I love ya’ll too and thanks for putting up with your Father not being there for the past several months.

To all the countless volunteers who helped with the campaign, especially my campaign manager Sue Ann, and campaign coordinator Kelly…your tireless efforts will not be forgotten for a long time, and I hope I can remain someone you can believe in in the future. Remember, there is no “I” in NFL…but there is a team. Never forget some of you worked just as hard for this seat as I did…so don’t hesitate to call with your questions or concerns.

To the new Mayor Pro Tem Emeritus, Jean Levenick, thank you for your service on this council, your seat is in good hands. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Mayor Northern…present for duty at this meeting tonight is Councilmember Steve Lyda, servant of the people of Flower Mound. I am ready to get to work. May God guide us on this lofty quest.

Let's go to work...

YOUR 2 CENTS: Wake up, Flower Mound!

Thanks Ladd for putting the thoughts and concerns of many into words.

Evidence of urban drilling dangers can no longer be ignored

Last month, I wrote about several recent accidents tied to natural gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) operations reported from around the country. A pipeline rupture in Virginia. An 8,000-gallon frack water spill in Pennsylvania. A pipeline explosion in El Paso.

I felt it was important to use real-world examples – rather than hypothetical possibilities – to illustrate the legitimate threats posed by the proliferation of gas drilling in our community. After all, only a fool fails to learn from the mistakes of others. None of us wants the next catastrophic accident to occur in Flower Mound.

Little did I know that in just a few weeks’ time, the dangers would strike much closer to home. Better grab a pitcher of coffee…we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
On March 17, roughly 3,000 gallons of flowback water, a toxic byproduct of the fracking process,
was spilled at the Cummings gas well site in Flower Mound. The site is operated by Williams Production, the busiest driller in town, which claims the spill was contained before it could affect surface water. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining at the time, or the damage could have been much greater, since the spill occurred at a high elevation on the Cummings property. State and local response teams were dispatched to the scene; but, as usual, details are hard to come by.

Curiously, there’s no mention of the spill on the Town’s web site whatsoever.
(For the record, the 8,000-gallon spill referenced above led to a suspension of fracking operations in Dimock Township, Pa., and fines from the state on Cabot Oil & Gas totaling $176,650. So far, no word on whether Williams will be fined for its Flower Mound spill.)

Last Friday, tank batteries storing a petroleum by-product of the gas-drilling process exploded in Decatur, injuring two workers. Four tanks were set ablaze, and a fifth was blown away from the others. Video of the fire, which fortunately took place in a fairly remote location, offered a stark reminder of the potential perils of centralized storage facilities such as the one for which zoning changes were approved by our Town Council in January. Williams is planning a massive complex off Scenic Road, within a mile of Liberty Elementary and several neighborhoods, with as many as 38 tanks to store waste water from more than 125 proposed gas wells. As we witnessed in Decatur, and in Lamesa last May, when one tank blows, the rest can follow quickly.

Earlier this month, methane levels 20 times above normal background levels were detected in the air around the same Williams site on Scenic Drive. The methane plumes were so high, they exceeded the upper limits of the instrument’s detection range. Methane is a surrogate gas for benzene, xylene and other toxic and carcinogenic volatile organic compounds, according to Wilma Subra, an environmental chemist. Tests are being conducted to determine whether any other toxins were also present.

As if to underscore Subra’s concern, elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene, methane and other toxic chemicals above the state’s levels for safe short- and long-term exposure were reported last Saturday at Range Resources’ Rayzor Ranch gas well in Denton.

And don’t get me started about the elevated carbon disulfide levels found at three sites across Flower Mound. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) now wants us to believe that its standards are “unrealistically low.” In other words, we can’t possibly maintain these levels with all the drilling go on around us…

More air quality tests performed in February by the TCEQ found extremely high levels of toxic emissions at a Chesapeake Energy facility in Godley, roughly 30 minutes southwest of Fort Worth.

And in one of the most egregious examples of “Drillers Gone Wild,” Aruba Petroleum has virtually destroyed the property of Tim and Christine Ruggiero with seemingly non-stop leaks, spills and emissions at its drilling site in Decatur. The Ruggieros’ story would be shameful if it took place in the former Soviet Union. That it’s happening here seems downright criminal.
Not to be forgotten, Flower Mound residents are still awaiting the findings of a childhood leukemia/cancer cluster investigation being conducted by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Results were expected in February, but were apparently delayed due to all the media attention. The study was elevated to the Governor’s office for further scrutiny and “edits,” and is expected to be released this week. We can only hope the oil and gas lobby has not been granted editing rights.

Meanwhile, several local and state governments have taken proactive measures to protect their citizens. Oil and gas leases have been suspended in Montana, while drilling moratoriums are being pursued in Colorado, New York, and Pennsylvania. Even the industry-friendly Texas Senate is beginning to seek more accountability for drillers.

Perhaps most encouraging of all, just last week, in a groundbreaking development with far-reaching implications, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $1.9 million study of potential health and safety threats posed by hydraulic fracturing. That’s right, the feds have gotten so many complaints from citizens in Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Arkansas, Texas and elsewhere that they simply couldn’t ignore the obvious any more.

Get the picture?

Flower Mound Council Members Al Filidoro and Tom Hayden have. They’ve called for a six-month moratorium on new drilling and centralized facility applications, to give the town time to consider new ordinances and other measures that will protect the health, safety and quality of life of our citizens. Given the mounting evidence of risks in and around our area, and the nightmarish experiences of other communities around the country, who could quarrel with such prudent, commonsense steps?

Perhaps Upton Sinclair answered that rhetorical question best when he said “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
Indeed, the drillers and their apologists have gone on the offensive, casting moratorium supporters as “cry babies,” “whiners” and even Communists. They’ve disputed every negative test result, trivialized every accident and, predictably, threatened litigation against the town should it attempt to slow down their full-on industrialization of Flower Mound.

Ironically, if mineral owners would stop singing from the drillers’ hymnal long enough to pay attention, they’d realize they could be the biggest beneficiaries of a moratorium. According to Dr. Anthony Ingraffea, a Cornell professor and expert on hydraulic fracturing, prices for natural gas at the wellhead have dropped by more than a factor of two over the past year and a half. “If you’re a landowner, now is not a good time to sell your gas,” says Ingraffea. “Wait. It will never be worth less than it’s worth now.”

Hmm. No wonder Williams is in such a hurry to plunder the Barnett Shale.

Mayor Pro Tem Jean Levenick, who leased her mineral rights to Williams, had the audacity to accuse Filidoro and Hayden of waging a “politically motivated fear campaign.” Right out of the drillers’ talking points…

She disputed their contention that drillers have accelerated their applications, saying none had been received since December 7. But she conveniently failed to mention that 10 applications were submitted that very day – roughly as many as had been received in the entire previous year – less than 24 hours before an administrative moratorium was quietly enacted by the town. Curious timing, no? Why did Levenick gloss over that? Who is she protecting?

Mayor Jody Smith, another Williams lease holder who is running for re-election despite promising during her last campaign to “term limit” herself, has offered nary a comment about the latest drilling incidents. Hopefully she’s using her down time to familiarize herself with the petition drive that’s been underway since mid-February. You may recall she feigned ignorance of the petition at the last council meeting in one of the most brazen acts of political gamesmanship ever seen in local government.

What strange vortex has Flower Mound been sucked into?

One last point: Drilling advocates frequently cite the oil and gas industry’s stranglehold on Texas, as if their right to tap minerals had been ordained by God. They caution that any attempt to thwart the drillers would inevitably be overturned in Austin or by the courts. Threats of litigation from our “good neighbors” in the drilling industry, they say, could bankrupt the town. Mayor Smith and her cronies have repeatedly encouraged this cowardly stance, leading many to wonder what they are doing in office if they are afraid to stand up for their constituents.

Yet evidence suggests we aren’t as impotent as they’d like us to believe. In fact, Flower Mound prevailed in a suit brought by Red Oak Gas which challenged the town’s refusal to grant 15 variances to drill on the River Walk development. The suit cost Flower Mound less than $35,000 to defend. Contrast that with the $409,134 spent on median beautification in 2009, and you start to get a feel for the priorities of our elected officials.

Another lawsuit, brought by the good folks at Williams-affiliate Mockingbird Pipeline, is setting up a precedent-setting legal battle to determine whose rights to eminent domain are superior: a utility’s or a town’s. Heaven forbid the town loses this landmark case, which will be watched closely all across the nation. Methinks even mineral owners would shudder at the notion that a drilling company could trump a municipality’s rights to its own property.

It may cost us $50,000 to $100,000 in legal fees to defend this suit throughout the inevitable appeals process (though other communities with a stake in the result could help offset some of our costs); but I, for one, am willing to sacrifice a little shrubbery to defend our land.
At the risk of sounding alarmist, it’s safe to say the fate of our town will be decided over the next few weeks and months. As the Flower Mound Cares petition drive approaches its 6,000-signature goal – more than 4,700 concerned citizens have signed as of March 21 – residents have made clear that they will demand action even in the face of opposition and intimidation by the Mayor and her allies on the Town Council.

And on May 8, citizens will go to the polls with a very clear choice to make: Support Mayor Smith and her slate of like-minded candidates, who champion the acceleration of urban drilling and refuse to demand accountability from the drilling companies; or elect candidates who have listened to the concerns voiced by the vast majority of Flower Mound citizens, and who are dedicated to protecting the health, safety and quality of life of all their constituents – not just mineral owners who have sold their rights, if not their souls, to the gas interests.

The drillers have made clear they will spare no expense to elect “their” candidates. You’ll see evidence of that very soon, as their advertising, phone banks and public relations campaigns kick into high gear. Former council member Jeff Tasker, an attorney now representing Williams (wink, wink), is orchestrating the effort like only a former town official could.

God help Flower Mound if they prevail.

Ladd Biro is a small business owner and syndicated sports columnist who has lived in Flower Mound since 2002

An Open Letter to Mayor Jody Smith and Town Council

An Open Letter to Mayor Jody Smith and Town Council

Written by Ladd Biro
Tuesday, 02 March 2010 08:24

I just witnessed the most brazen act of arrogant, unaccountable “leadership” that I have ever seen in local government. It was politics at its sleaziest. It made me sick, and every citizen of Flower Mound should be outraged.

On Monday night, Mayor Jody Smith and two of her cronies on the Town Council essentially thumbed their noses at the 3,000 concerned citizens who signed a petition seeking a temporary moratorium on the acceptance and processing of a special use permit for centralized collection facilities, pipelines, gas gathering and compression stations.

After a request was made by Councilmember Al Filidoro to hold a special meeting next Monday to consider placing the moratorium on the May 8 ballot for citizens to vote up or down, the Mayor suddenly grew very agitated and, among other things, said she would not attend such a meeting were the Council to approve it.

If that wasn’t offensive enough, Mayor Smith also had the audacity to utter these words: “I haven’t seen a petition. I don’t know what it’s about.”

That’s right, folks. Your Mayor, who has presided over this town for the last six years, is oblivious to the high-profile petition drive going on all around her. Apparently she missed the yellow signs lining the streets. She has overlooked the many newspaper columns and op-eds written on the subject, including one by Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dixon, who sits to her right, and the many television and radio reports documenting our exercise in democracy.

I could have sworn she was presiding over the last council meeting when the petition drive was officially announced right in front of her.

Does she take us for fools?

She asks us to believe that she isn’t behind the mysterious calls to the LISD that forced them to reverse course and deny the use of school parking lots as petition-signing stations, after the organizers had already received written permission. Or that she and her allies weren’t involved in pressuring local businesses not to cooperate with the petition groups.

Madam Mayor, you should be ashamed! You revealed your true colors tonight, and, pardon me for being so bold, they aren’t flattering on you.

Mayor Pro Tem Jean Levenick, I don’t think you had uttered a dozen words all night until the issue was raised more than four hours into Monday night’s session. But you sure became energized when it came time to fend off the threat of the petitioners!

You, too, left no doubt where your loyalties lie: with the drillers with which you and Mayor Smith have signed mineral rights leases.

Ladies, if anyone should avoid the appearance of bias and impropriety, it is you. You are the two with leases. You are the two who brought embarrassment to yourselves and the town with your recent sexual harassment scandal (for pinching a police officer in the rear end). There’s no telling how much your juvenile acts cost our town in terms of taxpayer dollars and distraction from more important duties.

Yet you have the gall to claim “fiscal responsibility” as a rationale for not directing the Town Secretary to expedite the validation of petition signatures? You had heard the Town Manager report earlier that it took 10 days to process a petition with 35 percent of the town’s signatures in 2007. How much of a burden would it be to process one-seventh of that amount in half the time? And wouldn’t that effort be worth it, to avoid the added expense of a special election, which is what the petitioners were trying to avoid in the first place?

Levenick even scoffed at the 3,000 signatures, as if they represent a tiny sliver of the town’s eligible voters. Yet she knows all too well that she received a mere 1,449 votes in her 2008 election, in which she prevailed by a scant 47 votes. Mayor Smith, who ran unopposed, received just 2,314 votes two years ago.

Their actions Monday night were an abomination, and they know it. I think even Mr. Dixon recognized the folly of their arguments, which is why he remained silent during the deliberations. He knew he couldn’t claim ignorance to the petition’s intent, since he had written about it publicly. He wisely kept mum, though I certainly would have preferred for him to do the right thing and support the petitioners’ request.

Mayor Smith, I can only speak for myself, but I believe you have proven yourself to be unfit to serve this town any longer. Here are just a few more reasons why I hope others will join me in urging you to retract your decision to seek an unprecedented fourth term in the upcoming elections.

1. Your decision not to recuse yourself from the January 21, 2010, vote on the CCF ordinance was ethically and morally irresponsible. You navigated a legal loophole to vote on an issue that you knew would specifically benefit Williams Production, the company to which you have leased your mineral rights and from which you receive remuneration.

2. Your grandstanding at the February 1, 2010, Town Council hearing, in which you lambasted Council Member Tom Hayden for bringing a container of wastewater to the January 21st session, was a farce. The fact that you chose to blind-side Mr. Hayden publicly, and then refused to allow him to respond in kind to your accusations, was both unprofessional and patently offensive.

3. Your allegiance to Williams and the other gas drillers that are slowly but steadily transforming our town from a peaceful, family-friendly suburb into an industrial zone has violated the trust placed in you by your constituents. You’ve made it clear whose side you’re on – most recently, and obviously, during Monday night’s meeting – and it’s not with the vast majority of the town.

4. I believe you should be held accountable to your campaign promises. Specifically, in February 2008, you said “I’d like to encourage other folks to … plan to run for mayor because I’d like to call my third term, my last term.” After acknowledging the lack of term limits on your office, you followed with this unequivocal statement: “I’m going to impose term limits on myself.” Those are words upon which you and I can agree.

Finally, in a recent interview you said “Every town and city has problems, but it’s how you react to those problems that separate the good leaders from the bad.”
Madam Mayor, I couldn’t agree more. Sadly, your recent actions have separated you from the ranks of the good leaders.

I implore you to leave now of your own accord, before you sully your reputation further. And before you do more harm to the town I presume you still love. Respectfully, Ladd BiroMarch 2, 2010

P.S. To find out how you can sign the petition and send a message that we will not be ignored, please visit http://www.flowermoundcares.com/.

Ladd Biro is a small business owner and syndicated sports columnist who has lived in Flower Mound since 2002.

Click here to go to Cross Timers Gazette

Who Benefits from Gas Drilling in Flower Mound?

Here is another great article by Ladd Biro. It is so good we just posted the whole article.
Enjoy
On August 10, 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation imposed a $952,500 fine on Williams Gas Pipeline following a September 2008 natural gas pipeline rupture and subsequent fire in Appomattox, Virginia. Five people were injured, 23 families were evacuated and two homes were destroyed in the incident.

Last September, Cabot Oil & Gas was fined $56,650 and forced to suspend its hydraulic fracturing operations in Dimock Township, Pa., after spilling more than 8,000 gallons of a hazardous water/liquid gel mixture over nine days. Two months later, the state of Pennsylvania fined Cabot another $120,000 for contaminating 13 homeowner water wells. One of the wells blew up.

In the early morning hours of November 5, 2009, a pipeline owned by El Paso Natural Gas exploded in Bushland, Texas, destroying one home, damaging two others, and sending three people to the hospital. The explosion produced a 10-story fireball and a massive blaze visible from 20 miles away.

Other incidents tied to gas drilling, especially the fracturing process used to extract natural gas from shale formations, have been reported in Colorado, Wyoming, New York and elsewhere. In fact, over the past half-dozen years, more than 1,000 documented incidences of water contamination in the western U.S. have been linked to hydraulic fracturing.

Accidents happen. Even to Williams Production, the company at the epicenter of the drilling controversy now roiling the Town of Flower Mound.

Calling these catastrophic incidents to your attention doesn’t make me a fear-monger, an alarmist, a Communist, a tree hugger, unpatriotic or, worst of all ‘round these parts, a liberal.

Yet these and other less-savory epithets have been hurled at my fellow drilling opponents and me by the friendly folks who are relentlessly expanding their drilling operations closer and closer to our homes, schools and waterways.

Williams Production’s apologists – the vast majority of whom appear to be retired empty-nesters with substantial acreage on the west side of town – are fond of lecturing their younger neighbors about the many benefits drilling offers to “everyone.”

It’s funny how greed can cloud one’s perception.

Many of these same folks who years ago argued against the development of Bridlewood, Wellington and other higher-density neighborhoods in their beloved Flower Mound now get positively misty-eyed about the many blessings afforded by the drilling rigs, tanker trucks, storage tanks and compression facilities on or near their properties. They stand on their mineral rights soapboxes, draped in the U.S. Constitution, wagging their fingers at those who would dare keep them from exploiting the full value of their property.

But here’s the thing. Nobody I know would object to a landowner’s right to profit from his mineral rights so long as doing so does not encroach upon the rights of others. Want to allow Williams to use a controversial drilling method known as fracking hundreds of feet from your home? Have at it, my friend! Just don’t ask to build a massive collection facility across town to store the millions of gallons of toxic water produced by those wells. Don’t ask to run pipelines across my property to transport that toxic wastewater, either. Don’t expect the homeowners who abut your land to compromise their personal safety when Williams seeks to violate the town’s 1,000-foot setback ordinance by drilling within a few hundred feet of their back yards.
You may not be overly concerned about open gas valves, pipeline ruptures, storage tank explosions or other accidents that could threaten the health and safety of your fellow Flower Mound residents. It’s easy to gamble when you’re receiving hefty royalty checks from Williams each month.

Pardon us if we don’t pledge our allegiance to your sugar daddy.

The sad truth is Williams’ duty is to its shareholders. Your personal welfare and Flower Mound’s long-term survival are not their concern. Sure, you’re getting paid handsomely for your trouble. After all, you deserve to be compensated for permanently spoiling your beautiful land.

All the while, the robber barons from Tulsa will smile and tell you exactly what you want to hear, because they’re desperate to get to the huge deposits of natural gas that lie a mile beneath your property.

Ever wonder what their rush is? After all, the gas has been there for thousands of years, and it’s not going anywhere.

Here are just a few reasons:

1. Natural gas futures prices are trending up. Given the unpredictability of the markets, Williams needs to cash in while times are good. If gas prices suddenly plunge, as they did in mid-2008, drilling in the Barnett Shale may no longer be profitable. The pressure is surely intensifying at Williams headquarters after the company disappointed Wall Street with its fourth-quarter results.

2. Regulatory pressures are mounting. The U.S. Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency have recently begun re-thinking the wisdom of the "Halliburton Loophole," which exempts oil and gas companies from having to comply with the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and a host of other laws designed to protect public health. In addition, a bill known as the “FRAC Act,” now pending in Congress, would lift the veil of secrecy on the contents of the wastewater produced by the fracking process. Williams knows that being forced to reveal the 250-plus toxic chemicals it uses to frack its wells would be a public relations nightmare. Having to post “hazardous materials” placards on dozens of trucks rumbling down Flower Mound’s neighborhood roads might stoke the natives’ outrage even more.

3. The citizens have woken up, and they’re organizing quickly. While the vast majority of Flower Mound residents weren’t paying attention, Williams convinced the town’s Oil & Gas Board of Appeals to approve variances on all but one of the 32 wells it has drilled, according to recent public testimony. In other words, the “exemplary” restrictions our Town Council put in place to protect its citizens, trumpeted at every opportunity by Mayor Jody Smith and her fellow drilling advocates on the Council, have been waived to accommodate nearly every well Williams has drilled in Flower Mound! It makes you wonder what good it is to have regulations in the first place. It also raises questions as to why these variances are so routinely granted, at least for Williams.

It’s been well-publicized that Mayor Smith and Mayor Pro Tem Jean Levenick have leased their mineral rights to Williams. So has Carlos Cabre, a member of the Oil & Gas Board of Appeals who was dismissed from his position earlier this week after failing to recuse himself from votes concerning Williams.

Meanwhile, attorney Jeff Tasker, a member of the Town Council from 2005 to 2009, has been retained as a representative by Williams and is regularly seen at public sessions of the council alongside his deep-pocketed clients. Well now, isn’t that special?

Is Tasker now assisting Williams in its pending lawsuit against the town he formerly served? Is Cabre about to be invited into the Williams fraternity? Inquiring minds want to know.

Something stinks in Flower Mound, and it’s not just the toxic emissions coming from the wells.
It’s gotten so bad that even some homeowners who signed contracts with Williams have begun speaking out in opposition to the company’s proposals. They complain about misrepresentations, errors of omission, and outright lies told by representatives of the company.
They’ve done the calculations and figured out that the checks they receive from Williams amount to chump change when compared to the decline in their homes’ market values. They worry about reports of hazardous levels of cancer-causing benzene detected at sites across the Barnett Shale. They’ve met many of the five kids and two adults in Flower Mound who’ve been diagnosed with leukemia since 2005.

They’ve heard that Texas has 273,600 wells and only 106 regulators to oversee them. Each well is inspected just once every three years, on average, according to the Texas Railroad Commission. That means the gas industry is, for all practical purposes, responsible for policing itself.

That’s all well and good when they’re drilling in the middle of nowhere. But when the wells come within a few hundred feet of homes, schools and parks, the margin for error is unacceptably thin.

As we’ve seen, accidents happen. Even to Williams, as the fine folks in Appomattox, Va., can attest.

Nobody wants the next catastrophic natural gas accident to occur in Flower Mound. Nobody wants another child to be diagnosed with leukemia.

That’s why the concerned citizens of Flower Mound are banding together in a battle for the town’s future. This weekend, the Flower Mound Cares Petition Association, a non-profit civic organization, officially kicks off a petition drive seeking a temporary moratorium on the approval of permits for new pipelines and centralized collection facilities. We want to be certain that before Williams goes any further, proper safeguards are in place to protect public health and safety. Signatures from roughly 5,600 registered voters are needed within 45 days to force the Town Council to enact the moratorium or put the issue up for popular vote.

Volunteers will be manning information booths and petition-signing stations at sites across town between 10 AM and 6 PM Saturday and Sunday. Those interested in more detail, as well as a list of petition-signing locations, may visit http://mysite.verizon.net/fmcares or join the Flower Mound Cares Facebook group at: http://www.flowermoundcares.com/.

Drilling is enriching a few property owners in Flower Mound, along with an Oklahoma-based gas conglomerate and its legion of lawyers, consultants and lobbyists. For all its efforts, the Town of Flower Mound earned a paltry $521,000 in fees and incremental property taxes in 2009. The rest of us are left with a plethora of short- and long-term risks, both known and unknown.
It’s not worth it.

It’s time to make a stand.

Ladd Biro is a marketing agency owner by day, and syndicated sports columnist by night, who has lived in Flower Mound since 2002. He can be reached at lbiro@championmgt.com.

Jean Levenick, Flower Mound Town Council, Place 4, will not seek re-election

Candidate filing begins today and continues through March 8th. Flower Mound Town elections are May 8th.

Click here to read the News Connection article about Jean Levenick not running for re-election

Flower Mound Mayor Smith and Council Member Levenick's Ethics are questioned

The same article in the Dallas Morning News that addressed the Sexual Harassment Case of Mayor Smith and Council Member Levenick mentioned the issue of their"conflict of interest" since they both signed gas leases with Williams Production.

This is about ethics plain and simple. Something that Mayor Smith and Council Member Jean Levenick might not understand. Many residents of Flower Mound understand it very well. In fact, the question of Mayor Smith and Council Member Levenick's ethics played a big role in possibly changing the direction of the town the evening of January 21st.

They also have come under fire for not recusing themselves from deliberations or voting on ordinance changes that would affect a gas drilling company's desire to expand its operations in Flower Mound.

Both women have gas leases with Williams Production. The company has sought to conduct
seismic testing on town roads and to pipe drilling wastewater to a centralized collection facility.

Smith, who as mayor votes only when there's a tie, did not cast a vote on either measure but participated in the discussions. Levenick voted with the majority of the Town Council to prohibit seismic testing but allow wastewater to be piped to a central site.

The town attorney gave this reason for Levenick being able to vote.

Smith and Levenick defended their participation, saying there is no conflict of interest because the town – not Williams – proposed the measures.

"If the application came from Williams, there would be a conflict of interest," he told the Town Council. "But the applicant is the town in both instances."

Hmm...it is a safe bet that Al Filidoro and Tom Hayden didn't put in the application. So who directed the town to put in the application?

UPDATE: Flower Mound Mayor Smith and Council Member Jean Levenick Sexual Harassment Case

The Dallas Morning News reports about Flower Mound Mayor Smith and Council Member Jean Levenicks sexual harassment case.

We mentioned this last week after the January 21st Town Council meeting. Mayor Smith thinks this is a smear campaign. But, some residents were surprised that she was going to run again since last time she ran for Mayor, she said it was her last time.

It's election season, and Jody and I are both up for re-election," said Levenick, who declined to comment further.

Read more about the ethics of Mayor Smith and Council Member Levenick.

Flower Mound Says No Fracking Way!!

This was written by Flower Mound resident Ladd Biro, a syndicated sports columnist and small business owner who has lived in Flower Mound since 2002. It was such a good article that we had to share it. We had to share the future logo of Flower Mound too!

Ladd can be reached through the Facebook group "Flower Mound Cares."

Flower Mound Says No Fracking Way!

The sleepy Town of Flower Mound is under siege from a deep-pocketed army of 21st Century robber barons, and many of the town's elected officials have hoisted a white flag high above Town Hall.

For roughly three years, few residents of this quiet suburb paid much attention as gas-drilling rigs periodically sprouted from huge tracts of ranchland along the western edges of town.

After all, the towers were few and far between, and Flower Mound had a well-earned reputation as a family-friendly residential community unreceptive to commercial and retail development. Let Southlake, Grapevine and Highland Village become shopping Meccas. We’ll stick to our horses and buffalos, our quiet restaurants and shops, and our modest traffic.

Then, seemingly overnight, the gas wells started creeping closer to our peaceful neighborhoods and exemplary schools. Huge tanker trucks began rumbling down residential streets. And kids started getting sick.

The news traveled fast, prompting the locals to start asking questions. But answers were elusive. Representatives from the drilling firms, most notably The Williams Companies, smiled and assured everyone that they had only the best interests of the community in mind. But they refused to address the tough questions, while making it patently clear they had no intention of slowing down.

Though the numbers keep changing, Williams plans to drill at least 100 more wells throughout Flower Mound over the next few years, with many of the new pad sites in close proximity to homes, schools and businesses.

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

Despite increasingly strident pleas from constituents to tap the brakes and assess the short- and long-term consequences of their actions, a firm majority of the council stubbornly votes in lockstep on behalf of the gas interests. On January 21, roughly 600 Flower Mound citizens packed a Town Council hearing to voice their concerns with the latest sell-out to Williams. An overwhelming majority of those present voiced their opposition to the proposed ordinances, just as a similarly vociferous group had advocated a temporary moratorium on new drilling permits at a December 17 hearing. In both cases, three of the five council members thumbed their noses at the irate crowd and sided with the drillers.

Mayor Smith and her pro-drilling cohorts offered various defenses for disregarding the will of their constituents. They claimed to be prohibited from preventing drilling within the town, citing the takings clause of the U.S. Constitution. They dismissed as overblown “scare tactics” many of the health and safety concerns raised by their opponents. They worried aloud about the inevitability of lawsuits brought by Williams should the town dare stand in its way. And, in true political fashion, they insisted upon having more “facts” before they would reconsider their position.

Perhaps most insulting, the officials inexplicably ignored the words of caution offered by the mayors of several nearby towns, including Dish, Texas, which have been grappling with drilling issues far longer than Flower Mound.Nothing, it seemed, could dissuade the Council from moving forward, leaving most observers scratching their heads in disbelief. In fact, Mayor Smith and Council member Jean Levenick each have leased their mineral rights to Williams, which has forced the officials to recuse themselves from certain votes tied directly to the company. A loophole allowed them to skirt the strict, legal definition of “conflict of interest” in the key votes held on January 21. However, many questioned if their actions passed the smell test.

Yet, as concerns abound about ethical conflicts within the Council, even more crucial questions centered on Williams’ conduct in the area remain unanswered. Among the most significant –

Is it safe to drill so close to populated areas?

Urban drilling is a relatively recent phenomenon, so its long-term effects on health and the environment have yet to be fully measured. Likewise, the process used to extract natural gas from shale formations – called hydraulic fracturing – is new to the urban landscape. In its simplest terms, “fracking” involves combining millions of gallons of fresh water with a mix of sand and 80 to 120 tons of toxic chemicals which are then pumped deep into the ground to break up the shale and release the gas. Each well can be fracked up to 18 times, requiring between two and nine million gallons of fresh water each time. In an area subject to persistent drought conditions and mandated water-use limits, most residents wonder where all that water is coming from.

The fracking process generates toxic vapors and waste water that can contaminate the air, water and soil. Over the past half-dozen years, more than 1,000 documented incidences of water contamination in the western U.S. have been linked to hydraulic fracturing. Most of these have occurred in remote areas far removed from population centers. In densely populated areas, the margin for error is much narrower.

What’s in the fracking fluid?

The only ones who can accurately answer this question are the drillers, and thanks to Dick Cheney and their other powerful friends in Washington, they don’t have to. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Other legislation enacted during the Bush Administration exempted oil and gas companies from compliance with the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, among others. As a result, the gas industry operates with virtual impunity, shielded by a federal veil of secrecy and answerable to no one.

The exemptions allow drillers to disingenuously claim that since they are not required to label the contaminated water as “hazardous,” it isn’t. But nothing could be further from the truth. Fracking fluids typically contain roughly 240 toxic chemicals, including carcinogens, mutagens, endocrine disruptors and other lethal compounds, the vast majority of which have adverse health effects.

Last Summer, legislation was introduced in Congress to give the EPA authority over the hydraulic fracturing process. But given the myriad of other issues facing the feds, not to mention the lobbying muscle still wielded by the oil and gas industry in Washington, there’s no telling when, or if, the “FRAC Act” will ever see the light of day.

Are the toxins seeping into the air and water causing cancer?

At least five children and two adults in Flower Mound have been diagnosed with leukemia since 2005. Four of the children live within a few blocks of each other, less than a mile from an active gas well. The Texas Department of State Health Services recently launched an investigation to determine whether a statistically significant “cancer cluster” exists in the area. Preliminary results are expected next month. However, hazardous levels of benzene – a known carcinogen with proven links to leukemia – were detected during tests recently conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality at several sites across the Barnett Shale. Needless to say, this irrefutable evidence of a legitimate health threat has triggered alarms all across Flower Mound. Except at Town Hall.

Is the produced water also radioactive?

It is beyond dispute that the contaminated water produced during the fracking process is hazardous. But is it radioactive? Levenick asked a town employee that very question during last week’s hearing, and was told that it wasn’t. Having heard the answer she sought, she probed no further. But according to a recent article in Scientific American, the wastewater produced by fracking in the Marcellus Shale in New York contains “levels of radium 226, a derivative of uranium, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink.”

Williams denies that its wastewater is radioactive, but they refuse to allow the town to test its samples. Smith and Levenick are awfully trusting souls.

Where's all that nasty water going?

Hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic, probably radioactive, wastewater are being produced in Flower Mound every year. If Williams is allowed to expand from its 26 current wells to 100 or more, it could be billions of gallons. (To put these figures in perspective, the typical elevated water tower holds two million gallons. The Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.)

Today, an armada of tanker trucks is hauling the sludge out, clogging the town’s narrow arteries and stoking fears of a catastrophic accident. Last week, at Williams’ unofficial request (wink, wink), the Town Council approved new zoning procedures to allow for a Centralized Collection Facility (CCF) to be fed by a web of pipelines installed across town. This has raised an entirely new set of concerns, ranging from the aesthetic intrusion of massive storage tanks, to the possibility of ruptured or leaching pipes, to the degree to which Williams may seek to condemn private property via eminent domain in order to lay pipe through residential neighborhoods, parks or anywhere else they see fit.

Supporters, most of whom signed the same types of leases as Smith and Levenick, see the CCF as a necessary evil that will reduce dangerous truck traffic through their neighborhoods. Opponents argue that perhaps they should have foreseen this problem when they sold out to Williams, and transporting the toxic waste through a maze of pipelines buried directly above the town’s water table could make a bad situation even worse.

Besides, all that toxic water can’t remain at the CCF forever. Guess what, citizens of Argyle? It’s headed your way! Williams has begun work on a mile-deep injector well within 100 feet of some Argyle homes to accept Flower Mound’s effluent. It should be operational shortly. You can thank us later.

Can’t the water be recycled?

Devon Energy is already recycling 100 percent of its flow-back water in the Barnett Shale, and may soon begin recycling its produced water as well. Recycling adds approximately three percent to the total cost of drilling a well, according to reports. Williams claims the costs are excessive and dismisses recycling out of hand.

The compliant leadership of Flower Mound’s Town Council refuses to press the issue.

But the natives are getting restless. They’re demanding answers to these and other urgent questions, not least of which is the impact all these uncertainties are having on property values. Local realtors have presented anecdotal evidence that an exodus may already have begun, while many new buyers are suddenly steering clear of Flower Mound. That’s a bitter pill to swallow for a town that was named the sixth-best place to move in the nation by Forbes in 2009.

Some good news is emerging, however. A revolution is afoot in Flower Mound. Urban drilling opponents are organizing swiftly. A voter registration drive is underway with the goal of replacing Williams’ apologists with representatives of the people. A spunky band of citizen-activists is forming alliances with neighboring towns and appealing to state and federal authorities for help.

The people of Flower Mound are no longer standing idly by as their quiet suburb is slowly transformed into a Superfund site. Too many lives, and livelihoods, are at stake.

Flower Mound Town Council votes 3-2 to amend the zoning classification for the Centralized Collection Facility

Last night the at the Flower Mound Town Council Meeting, the vote passed for a CCF 3 to 2. Therefore, the zoning classification for Centralized Collection Facility will be added to our Agricultural Zoning as a Specific Use Permit (SUP).

This includes:
Amendment to Article VIII, "Oil and Gas Pipeline Standards," of Chapter 34, "Environment," of the Town's Code of Ordinances.

Amendment to the Land Development Regulations (LDR 04-09), by amending Section 98-2 (Definitions), Sections 98-952 (Use Classifications), and 98-273 (Agricultural District Specific Uses), to provide for a Centralized Natural Gas Production Facility definition, use regulations, and special use conditions.

Council Member's Dixon, Levenick, and Wallace voted FOR the above amendments.

Council Member's Hayden and Filidoro voted AGAINST the amendments.

Council Member's Hayden and Filidoro, by their comments, listened to the residents and shared their concerns.

One item that continued to be brought up was on-site recycling and purification. Council Member Hayden talked about this process at length. Stating the benefits would be great for people on both sides of this issue.

Here are the benefits on site recycling and purification:

Recycle and reuse of at least 70% of produced water.
Less potable (fresh drinking) water being used and wasted
Greatly reduced truck traffic
No pipelines needed for transportation
Reduce chance of soil and ground contamination

Many residents expressed their concern about the broad exemptions that the industry receives from many federal environmental and human health statutes. Voicing the health concerns because of the exemptions. Melissa Northern had this to say:

"The Natural Gas Industry feels that they can only do business if they are exempt from the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other protective human health statutes that other Industrial Businesses are required to follow. In 2005 Congress allowed them to do business with these exemptions. This should be alarming to every resident in our community. An industry who is allowed to pollute the very basic needs for living – safe drinking water and clean air."

Several speakers challenged Mayor Smith and Council Member Jean Levenick to recuse themselves from participating in any further discussions or vote because they have signed gas leases with Williams Production (the gas company that is proposing the CCF). The Town Attorney, Terry Welch, explained that it wasn't technically a conflict because there is not an actual application from Williams submitted to the town. The issue of ethics came up because Williams is the only company that has requested this type of facility. One speaker showed a recent ad taken out in a local newspaper by Williams, praising the CCF.

Resident Steve Lyda had this to say about the issue.

" You have to stand up for the people who cannot speak for themselves. To serve ethically, you must hold yourself to a higher standard that will sometimes require you to walk out and not participate in a vote that will be perceived by many as a conflict of interest. Yes, legally you have a right to sit there and vote, ethically you do not.

An even more ethical stance would be to sacrifice yourself and never enter into an arrangement where you have to make this choice: to serve yourself, or serve the people who elected you."

One very unusual thing happened last night and we're not sure what to make of it. Mayor Smith actually stood up at the beginning of the meeting and provided an explanation to an allegation that she and Council Member Levenick had been involved in a sexual harassment incident. She did not provide a lot of details other than that the complaint mentioned that they touched a body part of another employee.

The Town had hired an external investigator to look into the case. Mayor Smith said the case was "quickly resolved". The town attorney Terry Welch, of Brown and Hofmeister gave Mayor Smith, Council Member Levenick and their attorney's an e-mail at conclusion of investigation. Here is what we believed we heard that the e-mail stated "that no remedial actions be taken but there should be a clear understanding by your client of work place issues."

Very confusing.......

Centralized Collection Facility (CCF) for Flower Mound

We received this letter from a reader and thought that it sounded right on track. We have added links only.

The question is not, should drilling be allowed, but how should drilling be done while protecting the health and safety of residents as well as the drinking water and air we breathe?

NATIONAL
The Oil & Gas Industry wants us to believe that they could not do business if they had to comply with provisions in the major federal environmental statutes intended to protect human health and the environment.
These statutes include the:

Safe Drinking Water Act
Clean Water Act
Clean Air Act
National Environmental Policy Act
Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning
Community Right-to-Know Act
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

In 2005, Congress passed Halliburton’s Energy Bill exempting Oil & Gas Industry from these acts. Leaving our community and others without regulations that ensure we have clean air, safe drinking water, and clean water, as well as community emergency plans for any incidents.

“While the PR campaign for the Natural Gas industry promotes its product as “clean burning” it hides the fact that the new form of drilling, pioneered by Halliburton, is incredibly harmful to our environment and threatens to permanently contaminate a huge amount of the country’s water supply, create drastic air pollution conditions, and despoil huge areas. Despite overwhelming evidence of contamination, mismanagement and corruption, the general public remains unaware of the extreme effect the drilling may have on their lives.” (Josh Fox producer of GASLAND-the movie)

LOCAL
William Production Company submitted an application on November 25, 2009 to amend the Land Development Regulations to allow a Centralized Collection Facility as a Special Use in Flower Mound.

Mayor Jody Smith and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Jean Levenick have both signed leases with the Williams Production Company. Despite this being the only application for in our community for this type of facility, these elected officials have refused to recuse themselves from participating in this process. It appears they have found a loophole - Make this an ordinance change for the whole community and it won’t be just about Williams. Although, public comments by the Mayor, saying we will try to limit this to only this area, whether intentionally or unintentionally, giving this company an unfair business advantage and definitely a conflict of interest & cause for lawsuit.

By now I am sure you know what a CCF is. The name is pretty accurate. This collection facility will be collecting toxic waste from gas drilling activities known as Fracturing or Fracking. Dr. Theo Colburn, one of the first scientists to analyze the 274 chemicals used in the drilling process. She explains that these chemicals are known to cause cancer, damage to the central nervous system, dizziness, lung disease, headaches, nausea, and loss of sense of smell.

How will it work? Pipelines are buried 3 feet underground and will run from each well site to the CCF carrying toxic fracking waste. These pipelines have Eminent Domain rights. Meaning that drilling companies choose where they want the pipelines to go and can condemn personal property and run these pipelines through your yard. The width needed for eminent domain would be at least 30ft wide. There is nothing to prevent Williams from accepting tie-ins from other sites including other gas companies, creating an even larger industrial area with more pollutants. (statement from town)

On Thursday, January 21st @ 6:00 Town Council will vote whether to allow this new Industrial activity in our community. The statements have been made that this is just zoning. In our zoning for manufacturing we do not allow this type of activity, but we are willing to allow it for agriculture. It is much easier to fight a lawsuit for not allowing zoning verses allowing zoning but declining the permit.

Where is the Town’s due diligence? We have an application and will vote on it without any idea of how big the scope of this project is. Pipelines throughout our whole community devaluing developed property (homes & retail) and making undeveloped property undevelopable/worthless. Creating the snowball effect of reduction of property tax dollars and sales tax.

Let’s be realistic… This isn’t about William’s being good neighbors – It is about their bottom line. If this is passed how much will Williams make for turning Flower Mound into the Toxic Waste Storage for surrounding communities? If Williams were really interested in being good neighbors, they would do onsite recycling. (Less water, less trucks, less risk, and less toxic waste dumped into a well just north of the border of Flower Mound to our neighbors in Argyle). The protest of cost should not be the Town’s issue, but somehow it is always the first thing mentioned – cost prohibited. Where is the cost analysis? Of course William’s like many other developers in our community will have to include the cost of the land they purchased. It seems to be a trend in our community. Most developers put an option on land to insure they can change the zoning, but in Flower Mound that doesn’t seem to be the way business is done.

This is the last chance for our elected officials (Mayor Smith and Councilmember’s Levenick, Dixon, and Wallace) and our community to close Pandora’s Box before there is irreversible damage to our unique country atmosphere, heritage, and quality of life of the residents of Flower Mound.

This type of zoning does not fit within our community and the threat of a lawsuit should not scare of municipality from protecting its rights. Isn’t this why we, the taxpayers of Flower Mound, paid Fred Hill so much money to lobby for our Municipalities right to self govern?

Important information: Questions and answers about Williams FM Waste Water Collection Facility

The questions and answers below were sent to us by an HOA. The questions were presented to the Town of Flower Mound regarding the Centralized Collection Facility (waste water dump) that Williams is proposing for Flower Mound. But before you read the questions and answers. Here is a little bit of history and information about this issue.

Williams and the residents of West Flower Mound Shiloh area have been trying to convince all of Flower Mound and the council that this waste water collection facility is just about them. Their truck traffic and their safety. Many Shiloh residents and Williams employees have stood up at meetings and said it has nothing to do with the rest of the town. The questions and answers below validate that it has EVERYTHING to do with the whole town and the surrounding communities.

This is about Williams wanting to set up a new business in Flower Mound and the fact that the town, by voting for this Centralized Collection Facility, will be helping them set up a new business venture. This will be a money maker for Williams. Which makes you ask the following question.

Since Mayor Jody Smith and Council Member Jean Levenick have signed leases with Williams, they will recuse themselves from discussing and voting on this issue...right? We will just have to wait till January 21st, 6:00pm, at the Flower Mound Town Council Meeting to find out.

In a recent article about a waste water disposal well in Argyle, Williams mentioned that they are looking at piping or trucking the waste from the proposed Flower Mound waste water site to Argyle. We have received e-mails from residents of Bartonville telling us they are being told they’ll be using the Flower Mound CCF for their fracing fluids too. Williams keeps trying to convince the residents of Flower Mound that they want to be good neighbors. But a huge above ground toxic dump with several tank batteries storing toxic waste, 1 to 2 miles from over 5000 homes and 5 schools, doesn't sound like the kind of neighbor anyone would want to live by.

Then the toxic waste will be put into the ground up in an Argyle disposal well. Apparently, Williams wants to be their neighbor too.

Read the Town of Flower Mound's answers to the questions below.

1. What would prevent Flower Mound from becoming a reclamation point for other communities and increasing truck traffic?
Nothing. The current proposal is to create a central point for Williams’ well sites in west Flower Mound (up to 100 wells). But there is nothing to prevent Williams from accepting tie-ins from other sites including other gas companies.

Besides the obvious danger of toxic water being stored in tanks batteries, we have the issue of pipelines. Lots and Lots of pipelines. Pipelines for "go to market", pipelines for the produced water, and pipelines for the gas lift line. It has to be mentioned, those two words that violate every person's property rights....eminent domain! Read the towns answer to the HOA's question about pipelines.

2. Have the infrastructure transport lines been identified? Where will the pipes run?
No. Williams will have to acquire access or create private easements (thru purchasing or condemnation) to accommodate these pipes. Three pipes would be involved: 1 for the “go-to-market” gas well production line, 1 for the produced water line, and 1 for the gas lift line (injected to stimulate the well and separate the gas from the water). Williams currently has an agreement with Atmos and has been tying into their gas line and easement. Atmos is the owner of the gas easement which runs thru Wellington.

This easement would be a 30 foot or more in width and only required to be 3 feet deep. Just keep in mind two things: The owners of the easement have the right to enter the property where they own the easement at any time. Once there is an easement you cannot build on easement.

This may be your last opportunity to protect our community from becoming the Industrial Toxic Collection Site for Williams and other Drilling Companies. Just because the collection facility may not be behind your home, does not mean that it won’t impact you. Toxic chemicals blowing in the wind and pipelines carrying Toxic Chemicals running 3 feet under ground. And lets not forget that this is an industry who can only do business (their words) if they are exempt to complying with the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Water Act. That says plenty!!!

Let the Town Council know how you feel.
Show up and let your voice be heard, January 21st, 6:00pm, Flower Mound Town Hall.

Leukemia and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Study in Flower Mound (New info added)

The Texas Department of Heath Services is conducting a study on a possible cluster of Leukemia and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in the 75022 and 75028 zip code. The study was to be for children only and is for the period from 1998 to 2007. We received an e-mail today from the TDHS saying that they are now including adults in the study. Here are is what they will be looking at:

Childhood leukemia subtypes
Total leukemia subtypes
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

We have received many e-mails and spoke with families dealing with this terrible disease. In the e-mail from the TDHS, we were told they are unable to extend the study period to 2009 because they must have complete statewide data before we can analyze data for that year. They will be working with the parents to verify the more recent cases. Even if you have been diagnosed after 2007, it is important that you contact TDHS.

Again, if you or your child has had Leukemia or been recently diagnosed with Leukemia, please immediately. The study is being done out of Austin.
Here is the contact information:
Allison Lowrey, Assistant Press Officer 512-458-7111 Ext. 2213

Brenda J. Mokry, Epidemiologist
Texas Cancer Registry
Cancer Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch MC 1928
Texas Department of State Health Services
PO Box 149347
Austin, TX 78714-9347

Phone: 512-458-7111 Ext. 3606
Toll free: 1-800-252-8059
Other TDHS info:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/contact.shtm

NEW INFO:
Terry Nordbrock, MLS, MPH
Executive Director
National Disease Clusters Alliance
http://www.clusteralliance.org/
California Office
4758 Auburn Blvd Suite B Sacramento, California 95841
Arizona/Business Office 2602 E Helen Street Tucson AZ 85716
1-877-676-NDCA (6322) toll-free voice-mail
1-520-795-7228 phone/fax

You may contact us at fmcaudgroup@yahoo.com if you want to be in touch with others dealing with Leukemia in this area.

If you are concerned about what is going on in the 75022 and 75028 and want to voice your concern, we have some contacts for you below.
EPA Region 6
http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6pd/comentpd2.htm

TCEQ
http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/about/directory/

Jody Smith: Flower Mound Mayor
mayor@flower-mound.com

Flower Mound Council Members who voted against the temporary suspension.
Steve Dixon place1@flower-mound.com
Mike Wallace place3@flower-mound.com
Jean Levenick place4@flower-mound.com

Contact the Lewisville ISD Board Members about the health concern since they signed leases for almost every property they own.
Lewisville ISD Board members http://www.lisd.net/info/board/boardmembers.html

Kay Bailey Hutchison: US Senator http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm

John Cornyn: US Senator http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm

Chris Harris: Texas State Senator
http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist9/dist9.htm#email

Tan Parker: Texas State Senator
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/email.php?dist=63&rep=tan.parker