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.

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!

APPLAUSE!! Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Westchester Gasette.

We launched the Westchester Gasette blog on September 8, 2010. It's been a very wild and often strange ride.

Click here to see our very first blog post exactly 3 years ago today.

It's simply a video about land farming elsewhere in North Texas created by Texas Sharon.  It features a very nice, soothing song. 

Thank you for joining us for this journey into gasland over these past 3 years. There's lots of water under that bridge.

Or rather (thankfully) lots of water remaining behind the Joe Pool Lake Dam.

Amen.

Grand Prairie, TX City Council: "We're Adjourned!"

The vote that had been tabled during the November 15, 2011 City Council meeting was back on the agenda last evening. See these blog posts about the non-odorized gas gathering pipelines here, here, here, and here. Oh, and here, too.

When Agenda Item #33 came up, the Speaker Cards were read aloud. Then, one at a time, the 3 speakers speaking in "Opposition" were called to the microphone.  Staff spoke in support.  (There were no visual aides on the screens as in all other presentations that evening.) This was noted by one of the speakers. The Mayor then asked that the Map go up on the screen! No one from Chesapeake or their pipeline-affiliated company, D/FW Midstream, were present.  When the last of the 3 speakers finished, Mayor England then called for a Motion for Approval. 

What followed was weird. But this kind of "weird" is "Just Fine." Councilwoman Jackson announced that there were Boy Scouts in the Council Chamber and she introduced their leader who promptly stood up and  spoke briefly about the Scouts.  Then Mayor England thanked the Boy Scouts and mentioned the Motion, again. "Well, what about that Motion"? A very, very brief silence and then Councilwoman Jackson announced a A Motion for Adjournment! Made. And Seconded. That's all folks. No Citizen Comments, tonight. Go Home!! 

WOW! No non-odorized, gas gathering pipelines  (brought to us by Chesapeake's D/FW Midstream) for Westchester ~ at least this week.

Oh, and it looks as if PG&E is going to pay out lots of money for the devastating San Bruno, California gas pipeline explosion just 1 year ago.  Clearly, an explosion like this could devastate Westchester neighborhoods and any of our surrounding neighborhoods. These non-odorized gas gathering (sales) pipelines have already gone in all over Grand Prairie, Texas. 

Here's a picture of the September 10, 2010 San Bruno, California explosion:

Link to the CNN Story About the Pipeline Rupture

The September 9, 2010, explosion blasted a 72-foot by 26-foot crater and destroyed 38 homes in San Bruno, near San Francisco International Airport. A 28-foot segment of the pipe was found about 100 feet from the crater. Scorched homes and the shells of burned-out cars lined charred streets, where firefighters battled hot spots trying to save the devastated neighborhood.

Over and Out.

The Closest Residential Frac Pond in the Barnett Shale

So, Chesapeake must be mighty proud of their work-in-progress handiwork rammed up against our beautiful neighborhood. But Oops! Not only did the City of Grand Prairie fail to tell anyone about this lovely "pond," but they forgot to officially notify the Westchester Association of Homeowners (2,295 homes) about this High Impact Gas Well Permit now known as the Corn Valley Pad Site.

According to the Grand Prairie Gas Drilling Ordinance, it's a requirement.

Page 11

Sec. 13-507. High impact gas well permit.

(a) High impact gas well permit shall be required if the proposed well is to be located within six hundred (600) feet of a protected use for which a building permit has been issued on the date the application for a permit is filed. Notice shall be sent to all registered neighborhood associations within one-half (1/2) mile of the proposed drill site. [emphasis added.]

What? No mention of how close all other gas drilling pad site activities may be? And no mention of Frac Ponds?? Oops! Again. What was our City thinking??

(And why does the Grand Prairie Gas Drilling Ordinance refer only to a "well," when in fact, most of these drilling operations involve "multiple wells," on Pad Sites?)

Alright. So, if you are confused and don't have any idea what any of this means, Join the Club!! It's free.

In the meantime, we would like to suggest naming this monstrosity the "Chesapeake Frac Bowl." It's not exactly like the Grand Prairie Football Stadium in North Grand Prairie known far and wide as the "Gopher Bowl," and we think gophers and other rodents might eventually drown in it, but hey, a bowl's a bowl. And this one is HUGE!! Yay, Team!


Day 1 ~ August 25, 2010



Day 2 ~ August 26, 2010


Still Day 2. Wow. That Didn't Take Long.