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 ~  
<
Earthquake #1 in Arlington, TX on Sunday, September 7, 2014:

2.4M #Frackquake NO #InjectionWells in #Arlington #NTX http://t.co/2FVl5vbDoc Did You Feel It? http://t.co/qhXDJV0RRu pic.twitter.com/Qt2WGu5svS
— Westchester Gasette (@WCGasette) September 7, 2014

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

2.9 M earthquake in N. TX this morning just N. of Irving. http://t.co/6TBdnRpRqb #fracking
— TXsharon (@TXsharon) September 11, 2014

Earthquake #3 in Arlington, TX on Friday, Sept 12, 2014:

#Frackquake Friday! #Arlington @USGS #Earthquake. http://t.co/S5grd2nNPa @Fishcreek1269 @CityOfArlington #Fracking pic.twitter.com/DDMorR8rae
— Westchester Gasette (@WCGasette) September 13, 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:

210 West Camp Wisdom Road, Grand Prairie, TX (*Updated*)

It's been awhile since we blogged about this now "plugged Chesapeake well."  Over 3 Months later and there's still no housing construction activity on this now former drilling site that had been the source for so much controversy over the years.  

 Plugged 

Well #1H API #42-113-30195

Corn Valley A Lease

As you may recall, this private land (about 19 17 acres) was suddenly being promoted by a "Housing Developer" who hadn't really completed any MAJOR housing developments anywhere.  He had a "Yahoo" account for his business e-mail address.  Yee Haw!!  He was asking for a "Zoning Change" from "Retail/Commercial Development" to "Residential Development." After some debate, this "Zoning Change" was eventually approved by Grand Prairie's City Council on May 20, 2014.

Yes.  It's true. A gas drilling site was "Zoned" Retail Commercial at some point in the past.  It was never zoned "Industrial." So much for "Zoning."

For the recent background for this story, click here, here, and here.

Strangely, we had never seen any photographic evidence of the FRAC Job for the Corn Valley A Lease Well #1H from back in early 2011.  (Neighbors didn't obtain photographic evidence at that time.) And we questioned all of that a few months ago.  (See the blog posts linked to above.)

In the meantime, we discovered that the Grand Prairie, TX Interactive Aerial Google Map for the drilling site's address (210 W. Camp Wisdom Road) does show the site and the FRAC tanks in place for a FRAC Job.  (Plug in the Address and Check "Gas Wells" under General Info at the link. Then at the top scroll over to "Aerial View.") Wow. For a 3-day operation, this FRAC Job seems to have become a permanent fixture for this land and its history.  Good. 

 Click on the map to see the bigger picture (with added text and labels).

BUT is it for real, or is it Photoshopped? We think it's odd that we are seeing this FRAC Job operation on a current map. Odd and weird.  The Railroad Commission couldn't be certain this well had ever been hydraulically fractured as we blogged about it on April 10th.  The well had been shut in for 3 years without a sales (gas gathering) pipeline primarily because of the efforts of the Westchester Grand Prairie Community Alliance. (*Update* June 14, 2015: The RRC had no records of Well 1H being fracked because there was no state law requiring "Fracking Dates" until February 1, 2012...but we now believe this well was completed (fracked) in the last week of January 2011 and the RRC just hadn't ever seen a well completed and then plugged without production. Funny that.)

The Alliance had pointed out (in late 2011 and early 2012) that there was a "Moratorium" on ALL gas drilling activities within 3,000 FT of ALL water retention structures inside City Limits. We ALSO pointed out (during City Council Hearings) that adding a pipeline would be in "violation" of the city's own "Moratorium."  We were surprised by the city's attempts to get this pipeline hooked up...very surprised. Shocked, really. Good Grief!

The city also told us that there was all sorts of oversight while this well was finally being plugged just this past April 4, 2014. 

Paperwork (the Form W-3) was said to be completed/signed by the Railroad Commission while their inspector(s) was/were present and even Grand Prairie's Gas Well Inspector was said to be present for the operation conducted by Chesapeake.  

Seriously? There were city and/or state "witnesses" to the plugging operation as it actually happened over a 5-day period??  As the saying kinda goes,

"Fool me once, shame on you ~ fool me twice, shame on me."

We think there's been more than enough foolin' and downright goofin' with all of this. Amen.

Voilà!! Let's Just Cover it Up with NEW Homes!! *UPDATE*

Developing Story...(*Updated*)

Click on this Picture to see the BIG Picture. 


And, NOW Click on this PICTURE below to see the 
BIGGER Picture.

Just to follow-up on this story, the City Council Public Hearing on this "Zoning Change" from Retail (yes, a gas drilling site was zoned as "Retail" when any amount of common sense says it should have been "Zoned" as "Industrial") was conducted on April 15, 2014 and ended with a VOTE to Table. 

The SECOND Public Hearing on this Zoning Change will occur tonight, May 20th, 2014, 6:30 PM at Grand Prairie, TX City Hall.

Here's the Agenda for Tonight's Meeting (See Item 37 on Page 9 of the Agenda Below):

Grand Prairie, TX City Council Meeting Agenda 05-20-2014 (Includes April 15, 2014 Minutes) by Westchester Gasette

A Public Meeting was conducted on May 8th at the Betty Warmack Library on Bardin Road. 

We learned from that meeting:

• NO Soil or Groundwater Testing will be conducted for this land that was used for shale gas mining operations beginning in 2010.  "City staff" told us that the city would have to pay $60,000 for that and, of course, that's too much!!  

•  In addition, we were told at that meeting that Disclosure will NOT be required for any developer who builds new "Homes" or "Anything" on this damaged land.

Really??

It's not over, 'til it's over.  AND Just to make it perfectly clear, the Westchester Gasette is your source for reporting Barnett Shale bizarro, irresponsible and potentially deadly decision-making by North Texas city leaders and their city managers.

Amen.

*UPDATE*:  We now believe Corn Valley Well 1H was perfed and fracked beginning somewhere around January 27, 2011.  (RRC records refer to it as an "unperfed" completion since not all leases were obtained.)  Due to a death in our Westchester family and extremely cold weather conditions, attention was elsewhere and so no pictures were obtained during the time frame for this FRAC job. But we are assured that this well was completed even though the Kilgore District Office of the Railroad Commission of Texas has no record of it due to no rules/requirements for Completion (Perfing/Fracking) paperwork in place at that time. (Westchester Neighbor. June 15, 2015)

Happy Earth Day 2014.

Happy #EarthDay! LBJ was the first US President to sign acts concerning Clean Air and Water Quality. #GettingItDone pic.twitter.com/XgvZ5MrRwa

— LBJ Foundation (@LBJLibraryNow) April 22, 2014

Corn Valley Drilling Site ~ Drilled, Perforated, Hydraulically Fractured...*UPDATE: Question from P&Z Commissioner*

NOT about cleaning!! About #Methane migration. #Seismicity @edgray1906 @Fishcreek1269 @gardencatlady #Cement CRACKS/SHRINKS over time.
— Westchester Gasette (@WCGasette) April 15, 2014

Neighbors/Donnie Ln. want it GONE. BUT #Plugging #shalegas well doesn't make LAND whole again.@edgray1906 @gardencatlady @Fishcreek1269
— Westchester Gasette (@WCGasette) April 15, 2014

AND PLUGGED as of April 4, 2014  
(Confirmed by RRC, District 5 Office, Kilgore, TX)

Planning & Zoning Voted April 7, 2014 for a "Zoning Change" to Build NEW Homes on top of the same land that still holds the infamous FRAC Pond and is right next to the Corn Valley Drilling Site...

Seriously? 
Do you think we can put this genie back in the bottle?

Take a look at the paper below...seems industry pros are not so sure about the plug:

Excerpt (Page 12): 

Horizontal wells

• The horizontal orientations introduce different gravitational effects compared with vertical wells. In a typical vertical well, where there is a large column of cement, some migration of the solids downward or the water upward does not cause a significant change in the cement properties. In a horizontal well, the solids migrating to the bottom of the section and the water migrating to the top can provide areas of the well that do not have a complete seal. If the water in the cement separates from the mixture before the cement is set, it can migrate to the top of the wellbore and form a channel along the top of the wellbore which can allow migration of formation fluids. If the solids in the cement mixture settle to the bottom of the cement before the cement can harden,the solids can cause the cement to not set up correctly and the weakened area along the bottom of the wellbore can fail under pressure during stimulation activities. (Salehi and Paiaman, 2009).

Well Plugging and Abandonment Paper from a National Petroleum Council Study (9.15.11) by Westchester Gasette

The long history of the Corn Valley Drilling Site seemed to be coming to an end after last Monday's 8-0 Planning and Zoning Vote. However, we were baffled when watching the re-play of the meeting...baffled as to why there was no mention from anyone about the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Grand Prairie, TX MORATORIUM. And with some of the other statements during that meeting.

Here's a link below to the P & Z meeting.  Go to 39:51 to watch and see this discussion that never mentions the Moratorium. (We can't get the embedding code to work. It never has worked on the city's web site.)

Here's the link to the entire meeting ~ Scroll to 39:51: 

April 7, 2014 P&Z Meeting

As a reminder, this drilling site's well is 850 feet (literally across the street) from the Joe Pool Lake Dam and Spillway.  A 3,000 Ft. Exclusion Zone for drilling activities near USACE dams was in place since 1996, but it was ignored by Chesapeake. Or they didn't know about it. Or they didn't care about it. They told the city that USACE knew about their plans back in 2010.

That controversy has had many headlines over the years and yet this Planning and Zoning Commission made no mention of any of that.  Was the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) informed about the planned plugging of the horizontal gas well? Seems that is definitely a gas well drilling activity.  There was a workover rig on the site as you can see from our previous Westchester Gasette blog post, here.

So...this zoning change was approved so that a developer can build 55 homes right there in the shadow of the spillway and dam and atop the drilling site.  Interesting that this housing developer made a derogatory statement about our Westchester Association of Homeowners.  How very weird was that?  And more weirdness followed. Watch the meeting at the link above. Oh, what a tangled web. 

We'll have more about all of this and other developments, soon.  

It's always a doozy in gasland.

After a Lengthy Community Battle ~ Chesapeake "Officially" Leaving Westchester

Almost Gone
But Never Forgotten...

Grand Prairie, TX Shale Gas Drilling Status Report

Our Joe Pool Lake Dam and Spillway 
Appears to Be Watching Over (lower left) 
Chesapeake's Plugging of the
Corn Valley Drilling Site's Well 1H

 210 W. Camp Wisdom, Grand Prairie, Texas

April 1, 2014

From the moment Chesapeake's Landmen came to South Grand Prairie, TX (in Southwestern Dallas County) and began encouraging homeowners to sign over their mineral property (around 2007 and for as little as $150.00) most of us had no idea what our community was in for. 

Thank you, Westchester-Grand Prairie Community Alliance, for all the hard work over the past 4 years.  Recommending changes to the city's Gas Drilling Ordinance was a daunting task that we all worked  hard to accomplish.  We were motivated, in part, when Chesapeake dug out the monster FRAC Pond right behind Rosemary Reed's home and behind others' homes in the Westchester Valley neighborhood ~  without notice on a very HOT, August Saturday and Sunday in 2010.  

Since most all of our neighbors on Donnie Lane had refused to sign leases, that alone was an insult. The operation shook the homes and caused sheer TERROR for our Westchester Valley neighbors.  

We understand that two of our neighbors (with already compromised immune systems) died within weeks of the FRAC Job conducted 537 feet from their back fences in January 2011. With that in mind, there is very recent news that the Flower Mound, Texas cancer cluster needs another look by our state and country. Read and see that story here.

Of course, the amount of dirt and dust generated by the digging operation for the "Fresh Water" FRAC Pond, alone, would compromise very healthy immune systems.  May our Westchester neighbors rest in peace.

A community-wide meeting organized by WAHO and held at the Oaks Baptist Church drew hundreds of our South Grand Prairie, TX neighbors on July 19, 2010 with reps from environmental groups, the city, Chesapeake and even the Mayor of Dish, TX (Mayor Calvin Tillman). But none of this swayed Chesapeake whatsoever to reconsider what they were proposing at the southern entryway to our Westchester neighborhoods. 

By the way, we understand that a housing developer has already expressed plans to purchase the land from the church with the ever-changing name immediately next to the Corn Valley Drilling Site and build beautiful, new homes.  Yes, that's right. 

The fact that this same land at 210 W. Camp Wisdom sits 850 Ft. from the mighty Joe Pool Lake Dam and Spillway is also a concern.  As you might guess, we do have several issues with all of this and we will be discussing it here on the blog in more detail, soon.

As has always been the case, many of the specifics about neighborhood, unconventional drilling operations have never received proper discussion in our city or state's public square.  Recent man-made earthquakes in the Azle, TX area northwest of Fort Worth seem to have caused the Railroad Commission of Texas to go off its sturdy, old tracks.

For now, we are keeping a close watch on the "Plugging Operation." And we'll assume that Chesapeake is following the Railroad Commission of Texas Rules. Oh, click here for the Approved Cementers, as of April 3, 2014.  (Wow! That was just yesterday. )
 
Click here for the Texas Statewide Rule §3.14 for Plugging.  We are not aware of any Grand Prairie, TX specifics for "plugging" according to the GP Gas Drilling Ordinance. But we are always open to enlightenment. We do hope Chesapeake and the Cementers do it right.  We have every confidence they will!

Amen.

TX State Senator Kelly Hancock says, "Wow! It's a Liberal Runaway Train!"

Trinity Boulevard has collapsed and is closed west of Bell Helicopter, per @DFWScanner pic.twitter.com/WoI0HAc92x
— Bud Kennedy (@BudKennedy) March 16, 2014

Kelly Hancock, Grand Prairie and Westchester's Republican representative in the Texas Senate (at least portions of it) (District 9) (see the map below) is apparently alright with some name calling with the "L" word.

A road collapsing very near or in Mr. Hancock's district (hard to know by looking at the configuration of the weirdly-drawn Republican district) inspires him to criticize those who dare discuss this bad news.  

So, Mr. Hancock, we say, "Wow." We think our "Wow" makes more sense since we thought your job was to make Texas laws to protect us from infrastructure failures.  

Once again, "WOW!"

Vapors, Storage Tanks, Static Electricity = Catastrophic Explosion.

This photo provided by Nathan Hergert shows a fire burning at an oil and gas drilling site near Greeley, Colo., on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Static electricity is being blamed for the massive explosion and fire at the oil and gas drilling site north of Greeley that injured two workers. 
(AP Photo/Nathan Hergert)

Oil-and-Gas Explosion North of Greeley, Colorado Results in Two Minor Injuries 

By Monte Whaley The Denver Post Posted: 03/04/2014 10:44:09 AM MST 

Fire crews used a foam retardant to mostly extinguish a massive fire at an oil-and-gas-drilling site north of Greeley on Monday night. 

An explosion that could have been started by static electricity rocked neighbors out of their beds at about 11:20 p.m. Monday. 

The resulting fire was seen for miles. "We were getting ready for bed, and the whole house shook," said Liz Hegert, a resident in the area, told the Greeley Tribune.

The fire came from a drilling site about 2 miles east of Lucerne near Weld County Roads 27 and 70. The Eaton Fire Protection District as well as crews from Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District and the city of Greeley responded. 

 [...] 

The exact cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, he said. But it could have started as workers were pulling a water/oil mixture out of storage tanks on site to take to a separator.  Static electricity may have set off the vapors. 

 "That is a distinct possibility," Kane said.

Breaking News...The Town Hall Commences in Azle, TX

Dateline: North TX 

Railroad Commission of Texas Comes to Azle for the 

First Town Hall in North TX about the 
Earthquake Swarm ~

In Progress...No Livestreaming. 

Updates as we have them.

When the #fracking industry loses rural #Texas, they have lost! pic.twitter.com/Yrm4EV4KOa
— TXsharon (@TXsharon) January 2, 2014

First speaker asks how any studies from RRC can be unbiased due to influence of campaign $$$ from #fracking ind. crowd erupted.
— TXsharon (@TXsharon) January 2, 2014

The #fracking industry has lost North Texas & they have no one to blame but themselves. VERY angry crowd.
— TXsharon (@TXsharon) January 2, 2014

"Recently a spring bubbled up in my yard and it's oily water. Will my house fall in a sinkhole." #fracking town hall

— TXsharon (@TXsharon) January 3, 2014

Man just asked for show of hands of who has heard "sonic boom" sound associated with quakes. Nearly every hand went up.

— Teresa Woodard (@twoodard8) January 3, 2014

@WCGasette @TXsharon Commissioner David Porter is here plus exec dir & another director. Not all introduced themselves so not sure if more.

— Teresa Woodard (@twoodard8) January 3, 2014

Woman refuses to leave mic until some tells who will pay for the damage to her home. #fracking #earthquakes

— TXsharon (@TXsharon) January 3, 2014

Lady says "feels like Tasmanian devil" under her home. Sleeps in clothes because afraid she'll have to run from home in middle of the night.

— Teresa Woodard (@twoodard8) January 3, 2014

Woman standing defiantly at microphone, saying I need someone to respond. pic.twitter.com/kbVHz3gbRD

— Teresa Woodard (@twoodard8) January 3, 2014

Melanie Williams was lady who refused to give up mic. What a story: Katrina survivor, now quake victim. More at 10. pic.twitter.com/PxBlrCB3Xo

— Teresa Woodard (@twoodard8) January 3, 2014

. @WCGasette @phwolfeDRC @OmarVillafranca @TXsharon no tweets from @DavidPorterRRC Silence only

— FrackingTestSubject (@gardencatlady) January 3, 2014

Click here to read the earlier story on the Westchester Gasette if you don't know what this is all about. 

Stay tuned...

Big Trouble at the Eagle Mountain Lake Dam! Where's the RRC? *Update(s)*

By now, most have heard about the earthquake swarm (*1st Update* now upwards of 20 earthquakes 30 earthquakes over the past month since November 1, 2013) happening in the vicinity of Azle, Reno, Mineral Wells and Springtown, Texas and near Eagle Mountain Lake and Dam.  The most recent one this morning was a 3.7 Magnitude.

Since we've written extensively about dams and fracking, specifically, the Joe Pool Lake Dam, we believe there should be a more heightened sense of concern from our Texas oil and gas regulatory agency, The Railroad Commission of Texas.

We don't see any recent Press Releases about this issue on the RRC's web site.  Our local North Texas news outlets are reporting on this issue daily. 

BREAKING--3.7 Magnitude earthquake reported overnight near Mineral Wells.
— WFAA TV (@wfaachannel8) December 9, 2013

We are baffled since it is such a serious matter for those living near this dam and for all of us who live in North Texas.  The industry has clearly and irresponsibly drilled and fracked directly below this earthen dam.

 

Railroad Commission of Texas GIS Map of Horizontal Gas Wells  Under Eagle Mountain Lake Dam  (Managed by the Tarrant Regional Water District) Click on the map to enlarge it.  (We've added text & a circle around the Dam.)     Eagle Mountain Lake Dam (Description)   

So the Westchester Gasette's question is this:  

What is the Railroad Commission of Texas's Plan of Action regarding this North TX earthquake swarm in the vicinity of the Eagle Mountain Lake Dam? This is an earthen dam ~ already designated as "High" for hazard potential because of the people and property in such close proximity. We will post the reply here when we see or get a response. 
Have a very nice day, y'all.

*2nd UPDATE*   OK. Now we've learned that Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter will conduct a Town Hall in Azle, Texas on January 2, 2014 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Azle High School's Auditorium. Here's the News Release:

Press Release: Azle, TX Town Hall Hosted by TX RRC Commissioner David Porter 1.2.2014 by Westchester Gasette

The Westchester Gasette is certainly glad to see at least one RRC Commissioner coming to North Texas for such an urgent matter!  Stay tuned...

America's Nightmare?

 Click on this map to enlarge it and see the details.

In case you missed it, we wrote about DRHorton's retention of minerals for their properties last year.  Click here to read about that.

In recent weeks, we have discovered that our Grand Prairie, TX Gas Drilling Ordinance doesn't address the issue of homes being built dangerously close to gas drilling sites AFTER a drilling site is already established.  

Denton Drilling Blog has been writing about this somewhat confusing issue as well.  (Denton, TX currently has a 1,200 Ft. protected use setback, by the way.  Many residents had wanted it to be 1,500 Ft. with the latest revision to their Gas Drilling Ordinance in January 2013.) Read about that here.

Our current Grand Prairie, TX Gas Drilling Ordinance addresses protected use setbacks for already established protected uses...including homes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, businesses, day care centers. That protected use setback is 700 Feet with a variance of 500 Feet in certain cases that must be approved by City Council. (Our group and city staff had advocated for a 1,000 Ft. setback back in 2011, but unfortunately our City Council decided upon the 700 Ft. setback.) A 1,000 Ft. setback for parks is the current rule (with stipulations).

Grand Prairie, TX Gas Drilling Ordinance (as of January 18, 2011) by Westchester Gasette

Here's a Chart available to everyone on the Grand Prairie, TX Web Site and prepared by the Environmental Services Department.  It shows the new provisions enacted when the Revised Gas Drilling Ordinance was voted in on January 18, 2011.  We like the detail it shows for new permits vs. old permits.

The Dangerous Loophole 

The Howell Pad Site is situated several miles north of our Westchester community on Great Southwest Parkway near Jefferson/Abram St.  Surprisingly, the home builder, DRHorton, is not in violation of any current protected use setback requirements (as specified in our current Gas Drilling Ordinance) even though the new homes are dangerously close to the pad site (see the map above). (FYI:  Just for the record, we have learned that the minerals for this particular new DRHorton development were retained by past land owners, not DRHorton. Mineral property is such a tricky business.)

According to our current city Gas Drilling Ordinance, it appears that DRHorton or any developer can build homes  in Grand Prairie as close as they wish to drilling sites when the pad site already exists.  Or maybe they are working off of the 200 Ft. State of Texas protective setback requirement for oil wells in densely populated areas ~ a statewide requirement established long before horizontal drilling?  Not sure.

One would think "America's Builder" would have a stronger sense of ethics about it.  We just don't understand why they don't. And why they didn't ask the city? But wait...this would have been a zoning issue to do with a new housing development, so it must have been presented to the Grand Prairie Planning and Zoning Commission.  Surely P&Z would have seen the problem. Maybe Consent Agenda? We will check on that...

Important: If a drilling rig were up, then people might be more aware. But there has not been a rig up since 2011 according to the Grand Prairie Gas Drilling Status Report (Page 6).

But most people will have no idea what to expect with future drilling operations. This is an URGENT matter that must be addressed by our cities in North Texas.  

What are we doing to our communities and to the families that only want to live the American dream of owning a home? We must address this Critical Issue. NOW. 

Gas Well Explosion Today ~ Southwest of Dallas, TX

Shale Gas Industry Funds Grand Prairie, TX City Elections *UPDATE*

*ELECTIONS UPDATE Nov. 5th 8:00 PM Central* RUNOFF 
December 10, 2013 ~ City Council District 3

Kurt Johnson and Lila Thorn

YAY, Kurt!*
*Update December 10, 2013*
Lila Thorn Wins Runoff
Kurt Will Not Run in May. 
That's all folks.

Dateline. Grand Prairie, TX. November 3, 2013: 

News Flash. Let's talk. Has anyone else been wondering about those BIG, Beautiful Signs all around town and those BIG, beautiful, colorful Campaign Flyers in the Mail? Good Grief!!  This is a local election!!  Serious $money$ has been spent!! 

 Right click on this picture to enlarge it.

Another News Flash.  We've heard from several reliable sources that current Grand Prairie, TX Mayor Ron Jensen (who also happens to have Chesapeake shale gas wells on his property) was not endorsing any candidates running for these two races (City Council District 3 and City Council At-Large District 7).  Hmm...We don't think it's simply a coincidence that the same mail company that created first-time city council candidates Thorn and Copeland's flyers also created Mayor Jensen's flyers in the mayoral race last spring (see the picture above)...well, when they call it a SPECIAL Election, we now know what that means!  It's one big happy SPECIAL Family!!

Hopefully, you are still reading because there's a lot more.  We've also discovered that not only did shale gas industry executives from Newark E&P and Beacon E&P heavily fund the chosen candidates (Lila Thorn Total Donations from Oil and Gas reported thus far and from 9/26/13 through October 26, 2013 = $1,000.00 and Jeff Copeland Total Oil and Gas Donations as of 10/26/13 = $10,000.00) but these two candidates spent the BIG BUCKS they received from ALL their donations with a Dallas, TX printer Valentine Direct Marketing. 

(Note:  Click here to see who the Beacon/Newark shale gas guys are!)

Booker Industries shows on the Campaign Finance Reports (same address as Valentine Direct Marketing.  Click Here for the 2nd Address for Valentine).  We've linked to the latest finance reports for the two candidates below on Scribd. 

Lila Thorn: $5,625.44  $6,913.62 Advertising Expenses (including signs, flyers AND consulting) with Booker Industries (Valentine Direct Marketing) from 9-26-13 through 10-26-13:

Campaign Finance Report - Lila Thorn 9-26-13 through 10-26-13.pdf by Westchester Gasette

Jeff Copeland: $10,312.31 Advertising Expenses (including signs and mailings) with Booker Industries (Valentine Direct Marketing) from 9-26-13 through 10-26-13:

Campaign Finance Report - Jeff Copeland - 9-26-13 through 10-26-13.pdf by Westchester Gasette

We'd like to know how this kind of spending is good for Grand Prairie's Economic Development? Wow.  It sure looks as if local businesses lost out big time. Any candidate running against these two SPECIAL candidates (Ms. Thorn and Mr. Copeland) should have been forewarned that the oil and gas industry would make the campaign totally UNFAIR and highly profitable for a Dallas printing and mailing company.

If you haven't already early voted, we still hope you will vote Tuesday, November 5, 2013.  We suggest candidates who didn't receive the BIG BUCKS from shale gas operators hoping to gain favor and votes for expansion of their operations in Grand Prairie.

We have endorsed Kurt Johnson Place 3 and Charlie Womack for Place 7 At-Large.  These two men believe that residential drilling is wrong for our communities. We agree wholeheartedly. 

Please vote Tuesday, November 5, 2013 for Kurt and Charlie. 
Thank you!