Tuesday, September 16, 2014

City of Grand Prairie, TX Should HALT Extraction at the Lynn Unit *UPDATE*

 The Zone of Exclusion for the Joe Pool Lake Dam
Click on the Map to View the Details.
Map from the City of Grand Prairie, Texas 9.16.14 Agenda Packet
(Note: There are 3 Producing Shale Gas Wells on XTO's Lynn Unit.)

So, here's the latest.  During tonight's Grand Prairie, TX City Council Meeting (Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 6:30 PM)  (Click on that link ~ go to the Consent Agenda, Item 29 on the Full Agenda Tab) the Council will extend the Moratorium on all Gas Drilling activities within 3,000 ft. of all water retention structures in the city limits through October 1, 2015. This Moratorium was first put in place on September 6, 2011 and has been extended every 6 months to a year since that time.

Apparently, USACE (United States Army Corps of Engineers) is not ready to release their National Study just yet.  These things take time and lots of review before they become public.  We have been told by district personnel for USACE that Joe Pool Lake Dam is the centerpiece of this study.

So, now we must ask this question:  What about the Lynn Unit?  If there is a Moratorium on ALL gas drilling activities, then why isn't there the same Moratorium on "Extraction" aka "Production"?  

The Corps asked the City of Grand Prairie, TX to halt production (extraction) as part of the Moratorium at the Lynn Unit one year ago.  And to our knowledge, production for the 3 XTO wells in production at this site has continued.  The City told the Corps that it was their call, not the city's call.

So, whose call is it, anyway?

In light of the 3 Earthquakes in North Texas since last week (in adjacent cities to Grand Prairie), 2 in Arlington, TX and 1 in Irving, TX ~  
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Earthquake #1 in Arlington, TX on Sunday, September 7, 2014:

Earthquake #2 in Irving, TX on Thursday, September 11, 2014:


Earthquake #3 in Arlington, TX on Friday, Sept 12, 2014:
 
Isn't it time to HALT all production within 3,000 ft. of the Joe Pool Lake Dam and within 3,000 Ft. of ALL Dams in North Texas with shale gas production in the zone?  

These EXCLUSION ZONES were established by the United States government via the Corps of Engineers' *New* Southwest District Policy released on March 17, 2011 and the much earlier 1996 Bureau of Land Management guidelines for oil and gas drilling activities near USACE-managed Dams. We have blogged about it extensively on the Westchester Gasette.

This is clearly one more Elephant in the Room.  But it's way past time to deal with this BIG one that can impact so many lives in one fell swoop. Extraction causes seismicity. Extraction causes earthquakes. Why risk this in such densely populated areas?


EARTH to City of Grand Prairie, TX:

Stop Production/Extraction on the 3 producing wells at the Lynn Unit. Thank You.

**UPDATE**: Read IMPORTANT Information regarding the Original Moratorium and the new Texas 
House Bill 40 Here: