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:

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.

Dateline: Texas. "They've Fracked Our Dams." *Update*

Back in 2010, there was a general feeling from our group in Westchester and individuals and groups in Dallas that there was something bizarre going on at the Joe Pool Lake Reservoir (a man-made Texas lake primarily used for flood control and recreation) in southwestern Dallas County, Texas.
 

Joe Pool Lake Dam and Spillway (December 27, 2010) 

The story about Joe Pool Lake mineral leases being flipped by Bernie Madoff in New York and elsewhere was already quite the buzz back then. Then something else began to brew in early 2011 that encouraged our group.  And then there was silence for awhile.

It was a very HOT and DRY Texas summer in 2011, Epic Drought and all.  Even so, according to our neighbors backing up to the Corn Valley drilling site, Chesapeake seemed to be conducting some kind of prepping activity there.  After seeing something curious come across our Twitter feed on June 24, 2011, we were flummoxed.  The heat had gotten to us.  We finally decided to submit an Open Records Request (ORR) to our City on July 25, 2011 seeking any correspondence with USACE and the City about the dam.  We received the results of that ORR on August 3, 2011.  The ORR contained a somewhat surprising letter dated February 25, 2011 to the City of Grand Prairie from USACE.  All the documents seemed disjointed, at best, which is often the case for Open Records Requests. Then, while we were trying to make some sense out of all of it...

On September 6, 2011, the City of Grand Prairie passed its own Moratorium on all drilling activities within 3,000 feet of Joe Pool Lake Dam.  And that seemed to stop the pending activity from Chesapeake in its tracks.  Fast forward to September 3, 2013 ~ USACE has continued their Moratorium to request that the City of Grand Prairie keep in force the city's Moratorium and recently requested they extend it for another year (through September 2014) to complete the nationwide study on this new "unconventional" drilling technology being conducted near their dams. As  result, Grand Prairie recently extended its own city-wide Moratorium for the 4th time as of September 3, 2013.*

Oh, and the new GIS Map viewer on the RRC Web site offers a lot more vivid detail than the older one does. We see that USACE-controlled Lake Benbrook Dam looks to be surrounded, with no way out, in our opinion. (We've added some labels to the Screen Shot.)  

Click to Enlarge the Screen Shot for this GIS Map:

Important documents we've referenced on the GIS Map (above):

Texas Resource Management Plan BLM Leasing (1996) by Westchester Gasette

Southwest District Policy USACE March 17, 2011 by Westchester Gasette

Enough for now. 

*Update*:  Stay tuned for an update to the current Moratorium. Of course, it's a doozy.

Zone of Exclusion?

.@ChristiCraddick Industrial Zone R Us. Portion of Ft . Worth's #shalegas landscape. Benbrook Lake/Dam. #FromGasland pic.twitter.com/obBBENznFg
— Westchester Gasette (@WCGasette) October 8, 2013

Click here to review the Texas Resource Management Plan (1996) defining the Zones of Exclusion for oil and gas exploration and extraction near USACE-managed dams in the State of Texas. Page 21 for Lake Benbrook's Dam.

City Council to Approve Padsite, Only??

Constructing a pad site that may never have drilling??
Seriously??!

 The Dorchester Levee, Grand Prairie, TX

Click Here for Page 183 of the Grand Prairie, TX Agenda Details for the January 15, 2013 Meeting:

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS ALLOWING FOR
PADSITE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION AT 2200 LOWER TARRANT
ROAD TO NEWARK E&P OPERATING, LLC.

Click Here for Page 191 of the Agenda Details:

 Attachment A Special Specifications

 – Newark E& P Operating, LLC. –

Race Partners Padsite 

1. Since this drill site is proposing to include horizontal drilling that crosses beneath the Dorchester Levee, the City is requiring third party geologic and geophysical review to ensure the integrity of the existing levee. The information below and third party review will be required prior to any drilling activity. The cost of this review will be the responsibility of the applicant. 

2. Prior to drilling, the applicant will provide any detail geologic, seismic and geophysical data and information in the subsurface of the vicinity of the well and laterals that will allow a third party evaluation of any subsurface fracture (e.g. faults and fractures and their potential for being reactivated and generating earthquakes) as part of this drill site. At a minimum this information shall consist of bore hole logs, hydraulic fracturing parameters, geologic and hydrologic characteristics of the rock above and below the fracture zone and seismic and geophysical survey data.

3. Prior to the initiation of any construction activities that are governed by federal floodplain regulations, the applicant shall provide the City copies of valid U.S. Corps of Engineer permits, a Corridor Development Certificate, and obtain a City of Grand Prairie Floodplain Development Permit that covers any planned activities.

Last we heard, there is a Moratorium in place on drilling operations within 3,000 feet of ALL water retention facilities owned and/or operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the City of Grand Prairie, TX.

Click Here to Read About that Moratorium.

However, it appears that the Dorchester Levee is owned by the City of Grand Prairie, TX??  So, we suppose it's OK to drill/frack under it?? Or to put down the concrete just in case!?? 

C-R-A-Z-Y and Dangerous!! Amen.

Click Here to Read About Dallas County, TX Levees and their "intense scrutiny."


And Click here to read about Earthquakes/Seismicity in the Gas Patch. They Are NOT a Myth!!!

Regarding the USACE Ruling

(Scroll down to Page 25 ~ Page 28 on the Document)

Joe Pool Lake Dam 

Appeals Court Reverses Katrina Decision

(Reuters) - (September 25, 2012) A U.S. appeals court has reversed itself (yesterday September 24, 2012) and found that the Army Corps of Engineers cannot be held liable in property owners' lawsuits over flood damage during Hurricane Katrina. More than 400 property owners had filed lawsuits following the August 2005 hurricane, many targeting the Corps of Engineers.  

The plaintiffs had alleged the Corps of Engineers delayed armoring the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel against flood damage due to incorrect scientific decisions rather than public policy considerations. In an unusual move, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday withdrew its earlier ruling in March that had been in the plaintiffs' favor. 

Monday's ruling came after the federal government sought review of the panel's earlier decision by the full appeals court. Judge Jerry Smith, writing for the court, said the Corps of Engineers is immune from being held liable for property damage under the so-called "discretionary function exception" to the Federal Tort Claims Act, which governs litigation against the U.S. government. 

The exception bars lawsuits against the government for conduct arising from statutes and regulations that don't require an agency's action but involve its discretion. [emphasis added.]

A Little Background and More:  In 1996 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decided, "No leasing of federal land for drilling activities within a 3,000 foot buffer zone of Joe Pool Lake Dam."  NSO (No Surface Occupancy) and ND (No Drilling) (See Page 25 in the above document.)   

So, in 2010, Chesapeake Energy drilled and fracked within 850 FT. of the Joe Pool Lake Dam and Spillway! OOPS.  USACE later tells our community, "We didn't know Chesapeake planned to do this."  Hmmmm...Is this 1) USACE using their discretion to NOT KNOW; 2) USACE not knowing their own regulations;  and/or 3) Chesapeake Energy using the City of Grand Prairie, TX, a church with an ever-changing name, homeowners who have no idea what's going on, AND the United States Army Corps of Engineers ~ Was/Is this Chesapeake using all these parties to make it appear well and good to do as they Da** well please??

That Jury is clearly still out (far out) on this one.  Meanwhile, let's refresh our memories and re-read our story from September 25, 2011 (exactly one year ago today, ironically ) about all the myriad possibilities. Amen.
 
Dam

Pipeline Explosion: Homes Destroyed in Ohio Inferno

This happened Wednesday, November 16, 2011.

The Failure to Communicate: Update**

Link to the Video

Link to the Story

You see, the problem is, municipalities like Grand Prairie, TX have allowed the shale gas operators to "tell them" what is safe and what is not safe. If you watch the video and see Chesapeake's response (Leah King, Sr. Director of Public Affairs for Chesapeake) it's clear that "the company" (even after this report from the United States Army Corps of Engineers aka USACE) continues to push its own agenda.

Fact is, USACE is "planning" to conduct geotechnical testing at this site. To continue with drilling activities under those circumstances is well, dumb.

Oh, never mind. Apparently Chesapeake is A-OK with being DUMB. They do it all the time. We're sure you must know by now.

**Click right here to check out TXSharon's Blog Post (Saturday, September 17, 2011).