Tuesday, September 06, 2011

DAM (*Numerous UPDATES*)

***MORATORIUM***
Ordinance providing for a moratorium on the conducting of any natural gas drilling and fracturing activities within 3,000 feet of any dams and other water retention structures owned and/or operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Joe Pool Lake Dam and Spillway 
(850 Feet from Chesapeake's Drilling and Fracking Activities)


File #: 11-1293 Version: 1 Name: Moratorium on Gas Drilling Activities

From:  Jim Cummings, Environmental Services Director

Ordinance providing for a moratorium on the conducting of any natural gas drilling and fracturing activities within 3,000 feet of any dams and other water retention structures owned and/or operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Recommended Action:  Approve

Analysis

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has expressed concerns regarding natural gas exploration activities within 3,000 feet of dams and other water retention structures. The USACE intends to study this issue in the coming months. A moratorium will provide time for the USACE to initiate engineering studies.

[...]

SECTION 4. That this ordinance shall take effect immediately from and after its passage and it is accordingly so ordained.

PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS, ON THIS THE 6TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2011.

(*UPDATE* February 19, 2015):  The Moratorium has been extended for the 2nd 4th 5th (maybe 6th) time and now through October 1, 2015 according to the Grand Prairie, TX City Council.  The study from USACE is not ready completed, but still under review. Stay tuned...and be sure to read our original blog post about this issue over 2  3 1/2 years ago when we first layed out the BIG picture.  Thank you. Click Here. 

(Another *UPDATE* July 30, 2015): Currently (as of July 30, 2015) a housing developer, Sandlin Homes, is selling NEW homes atop the former Corn Valley Drilling Site and FRAC Pond, unbelievable as it might seem.  So, the MORATORIUM on the Corn Valley Drilling Site appears to be MOOT with this drilling site gone and the one well plugged.  Or is it?

XTO's Lynn Unit (the one remaining ACTIVE drilling site within the 3,000 Ft. DAM Exclusion Zone in Grand Prairie, TX) currently has 3 wells in production.  USACE requested that the City of Grand Prairie add production to the Moratorium in September 2013.  However, the City of Grand Prairie declined that request!  So, Fracking Extraction (production) continues. (Click on this link to see production for one of the 3 wells (Well 3H) on the Railroad Commission Web site. Scroll to Page 6 at the top of the chart to see current overall total for one of the 3 wells ~ over 1.3 Million Cubic Feet since 2010.) 

We are not sure how passage of House Bill 40 affects this Municipal Moratorium that was implemented at the request of the United States Army Corps of Engineers as of September 6, 2011 and extended every year since.  ***Question: Does a request from a federal agency (USACE) regarding below surface activity TRUMP Texas House Bill 40?)***

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