Titan may be gearing up to do seismic testing in the Northshore area

This was just forwarded to us. If you think the seismic testing is just about Williams....Read this. Titan may be banking on the yes vote from the Town Council on Monday. They are talking seismic testing for the Northshore Sub-Division!!

Once again, who is going to pay for any damages to your property or home? Not Titan, Williams or any other gas drilling company and not the Town of Flower Mound.

Show up Monday night and say no to seismic testing, waste water pipelines and collection (tank farms) facilities.

SIGN THE PETITION TO KEEP FLOWER MOUND'S ORDINANCE STRONG

http://www.petitiononline.com/fmogord9/petition.html

See e-mail sent to us.

Subject: The Villages of Northshore eMail Bulletin
Dear Residents,

In the weeks to come many residents will be receiving a letter from Titan Operating LLC regarding their mineral rights. As you know, your neighborhood falls within the Barnett Shale – a rock formation 8000 ft below surface containing “micro bubbles” of natural gas that spans across DFW. Over the past two years most of you have been contacted by Cherokee Horn to lease your mineral rights. Each individual home that signs a lease is then packaged together to form a large unit of producible acreage. Cherokee Horn is working in partnership with Titan to produce 1750 acres across Flower Mound. As a participant in this unit, leased residents will receive royalty payments on the natural gas that is produced. The packet you receive from Titan addresses Geophysical Surveys. The survey is a noninvasive mapping tool that increases production efficiency. For more information please visit the following links:

www.norwoodland.com/faq.php

http://www.titanoperating.com/


Cody B. Crocker Cherokee Horn Production
ccrocker@cherokeehorn.com
http://www.cherokeehorn.com/

Opposition of Natural Gas Drilling is Growing Nationwide

All over the country, opposition to natural gas drilling is growing. Many aren't opposed to the importance of natural gas but are opposed to the process in which it is extracted.

The Gas and Oil Industry is exempt from many federal environmental and health acts. Many states have loose regulations and/or very little regulations in place for natural gas drilling. Here is where the problem lies. The industry has enjoyed public support for years and it seems it has taken advantage of this support by cutting corners when it comes to extracting natural gas. Natural gas may be more clean burning but the extraction of it is toxic and deadly. Many areas where shale gas is being extracted has experienced toxic water, air, and ground. People are getting sick and are now finally speaking up. I agree with the statement below we may not be able to stop it.

Nationwide, few expect rising public concern to put a stop to new natural gas development.

But believe the next statements by Don Young to be true. We can demand the industry make the gas drilling process cleaner, safer and better for humans and the environment. Everything about the way gas and oil operate is about to change. They will be held accountable. Politicians everywhere should stop and listen.

In Fort Worth where the Barnett Shale is located, natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing has been going on literally right under the city for roughly a decade. Opposition here is getting a bit hotter, he said.
"The crowds are greater, and the hard questions are a little more frequent," said Young, "At first it was all about the money, but now it's about health, safety and the environment too."

Read the whole article from CNNMoney.com
http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/02/news/economy/drilling/index.htm

Update: Important Meeting of the North Central Texas Communities Alliance

The NCTCA is

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.



There was a great crowd for the first meeting of the NCTCA. Communities from Arlington, Fort Worth, Denton and Flower Mound were represented.
The motto tonight was "Together We Bargain..Divided We Beg"

The speakers tonight included residents from the Carter Street area in Fort Worth who have been fighting a high pressured gas pipeline that would carry raw, odorless, wet gas, under their homes.

Mayor Calvin Tillman of Dish, Texas had a message via video since he was called out of town for business at the last minute. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services will be testing 50 Dish residents for toxins in their system. More information to come when available.
Citizens unite to address the problems related to Barnett Shale gas drilling and pipelines.

Gary Hogan and Don Young were on hand. They were the first to really try to call attention to the environmental, health and safety issues from gas drilling.


Tim Reggiero spoke about Aruba Petroleum's assault on his property, home and family.
http://stopthedrilling.blogspot.com/2009/11/wise-county-messenger-tells-story-of.html

Sharon Wilson from the Oil and Gas Accountability Project http://www.ogap.org/ and Bluedaze Drilling Reform For Texas http://www.txsharon.blogspot.com/. The OGAP is forming a Texas Chapter. They have been very successful in New Mexico and Colorado in bringing state reform for the oil and gas industry.
They will work to:

• Establish strong local and state oil and gas regulations in Texas


• Ensure that where oil and gas resources are developed, companies utilize best practices to prevent and reduce their impact.


• Protect key areas threatened by energy development such as the LBJ Grasslands and urban green space.


• End Industry exemptions to our nation's environmental and public health laws such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act.


• Advocate for an energy future that is based on clean, safe and renewable energy sources.
  

Here is the nctca website:
http://www.nctca.net/

Mayor Tillman of Dish, TX asks for a halt in operations of gas drilling activity

Advisory - Town of DISH, TX

DISH TX Calls For Five Natural Gas Compression Stations to Halt OperationsBased on results of recent air study, local officials in the town of DISH, TX has asked operators for a safety stand down.

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. . In a letter sent to company officials dated November 16, 2009, local officials from the Town of DISH have asked operators to cease and desist operations, until they can guarantee the safety of area citizens. This letter was sent to company officials from; Texas Midstream Gas Services, LLC, Enbridge Holdings, LLC, Energy Transfer Partners, Atmos Pipeline Texas, and Crosstex, Energy Services. To date one of the companies in question have not responded to this request.

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. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has performed subsequent studies that validated these concerns.

For more info:
Calvin Tillman, Mayor of Dish
http://www.tillman4council.com/
940-453-3640

Town of Dish
5413 Tim Donald Road
Dish, TX 76247
http://www.townofdish.com/

Another North Texas Town Has Radioactive Water

The town of Aledo was recently told that one of their wells registered for hazardous levels of radiation. Earlier this week Hudson Oaks discovered their water was "hot" too. Some residents are questioning if this could be drilling related.

The TCEQ if down playing this and claims it is naturally occurring. But the levels in some of the tests were 3 to 4 times higher than the EPA standards.
Watch the video from Brett Shipp WFAA News 8.
http://www.wfaa.com/video/featured-videos/State-issues-violations-notice-over-Aledos-radioactive-water-levels-72135482.html

Barnett Shale Air

Here is a great post by TXSHARON. It has videos from a number of well sites here in North Texas showing the fugitive emissions from tanks and compressor stations. These videos were filmed with the GasFindIR Camera. What you don't see may kill you!
http://txsharon.blogspot.com/2009/11/barnett-shale-tceq-videos-show-fugitive.html

Texas officials politely asks barnett shale gas companies not to kill too many people

Interesting article from D Magazine about TCEQ and the Oil & Gas Industry. It is time to stop handling this industry with kid gloves! The TCEQ "find it and fix it" policy is outrageous. How do you find it without testing for it? How many towns and private citizens can afford to do testing? This type of toxic air is invisible so how do we know when it exists? How can the TCEQ possibly get around to testing all gas well sites in the Barnett Shale?

Here is a simple way to take care of this problem. Demand better emission standards now!!! Make the Oil & Gas Industry accountable. No more exemptions from the clean air and clean water act. Higher fines when they are in violation. Even better...shut them down when in violation. They will clean up their act real fast when the rigs stop.

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2009/11/23/state-politely-requests-barnett-shale-operators-not-to-kill-too-many-people/comment-page-1/#comment-73609
Here are a few paragraphs from the D Magazine story
Tests show some wells are emiting benzene, a carinogen whose “long-term effects” are highly dangerous.

The Commission has known about these emissions since 2007 but forgot to share its test results with the Legislature or the Fort Worth City Council. I can understand why. The elected officials might have gotten a little upset, and in Texas we don’t want people to get upset, especially with the oil and gas industry. (It goes without saying that all three members of the Commission are Rick Perry appointees.)

A article from the Star Telegram mentions how high the toxic air levels have been at some well sites. One sample taken 7 miles from Dish, showed a high level. How bad do you think the air is when a well site is 300 feet, 500 feet or a 1000 feet from a home, school, or park?

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1782464.html
the below paragraphs are from the Star Telegram story
In August and October, the commission monitored well sites with infrared cameras and found hydrocarbon vapors coming from the hatches and valves on storage tanks and from vents on compressor stations, said Keith Sheedy, a commission engineer.

One sample taken downwind from a tank seven miles west of DISH showed a level of 1,000 parts per billion, which is more than five times the commission’s short-term exposure limit of 180 parts per billion.


That level is the equivalent of a person sniffing a can of gasoline, and it shows the need for more tests, including long-term sampling,

video of fugitive emissions billowing from storage tanks.
http://www.star-telegram.com/videos/#vmix_media_id=7429315