Apr 5, 2008
by Steve-O
That’s funny, Bernie. I saw a completely different sign at the proposed Eighth Avenue drilling site. I’m glad that Chesapeake finally decided to come clean about the harm they are doing to the surrounding neighborhoods. The first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. Thanks for taking such a bold step! You know, together we can ALL win.
Tags: 76110, 8th ave, Chesapeake Energy, near south side, Ryan Place, urban gas drilling
Related Posts on West and Clear
- September 29, 2008 -- Chesapeake Canvassing the Neighborhoods?
- June 8, 2008 -- W&C Podcast: Gas Drilling Task Force Member Jim Bradbury Discusses Monday’s Hearing
- February 9, 2008 -- Eighth Avenue Drilling Site Back On?
- December 3, 2007 -- Fort Worth’s Gas Drilling Task Force Is Coming Back. Will We Like the Sequel Better?
- November 17, 2008 -- The Ethicist Visits The Barnett Shale
- October 17, 2008 -- Chesapeake Bails Out of Crestwood
- October 14, 2008 -- Some Good News for Chesapeake
- October 13, 2008 -- Shale.TV Unplugged
- October 13, 2008 -- “milk at dawn” at the Chat Room Pub
- October 10, 2008 -- Chesapeake Energy Withdraws TCU Permit
21 Comments, Comments or Pings
quaid
Did you see the infomercial on NBC today extolling the virtues of Chesapeake?
Quote “It’s just a bunch of trees… you can plant more tress!”
Will post video on youtube and send it to Bernie if I can.
Apr 5th, 2008
Kevin
Quaid,
“You can plant more trees”? They actually said that?
Crimeny. Why don’t we just plow every tree in Fort Worth down so Chesapeake can fill every square inch with wells. After all, we can always plant more later!
Apr 5th, 2008
Kevin
Here’s my contribution:
Apr 5th, 2008
quaid
Here is the link to the video
http://senduit.com/be4c96
Apr 6th, 2008
peteg
Here’s a web friendly version of the vid:
Chesapeake Advertorial from pete geniella on Vimeo.
Apr 6th, 2008
Jonathan
This will be an unpopular comment, but isn’t it true that if they can’t drill anywhere then all the leases people have signed never generate more income for the homeowner than what they’ve already received, the signing bonus? If there’s no production, there’s no cut of production profit for all those people very excited about some extra cash.
Apr 7th, 2008
Jonathan
And secondly, if there’s going to be a drill-site somewhere, isn’t adjacent to a railroad, where who-knows-what steams by in tanker cars every day, kind of appropriate?
Apr 7th, 2008
Ben
Jon, Jon, Jon! Don’t try using logic on these people. They love natural gas drilling, as long as it’s somewhere out of sight! Kind of like everyones favorite liberal, Ted Kennedy. He loves windmills as long as there not on Marthas Vineyard where he has to look at it from his mansion. I hope the Fort Worth & Western nixes the entire southwest rail project to protest not being able to use this beautiful pristine greenbelt for a drillsite!
Apr 7th, 2008
Bernie
Jonathan-
We welcome the “unpopular” comments here, too. We know there are two sides of a story, and we enjoy a good debate. All we ask is that you keep it civil… you know, try not to resort to name-calling or anything.
So thanks for coming and sharing your viewpoint in a respectful manner. Stop by again soon.
Apr 7th, 2008
Don Young
Ben, Ben, Ben. They have drilled east, west and south Texas into oblivion. Some want to drill what hasn’t yet been drilled in Alaska and most of the formerly protected desert southwest. The beautiful countryside of Arkansas is next then much of Pennsylvania will be drilled to access the Marcellus Shale. We’ve Drilled the oceans. We’ve drilled the middle east, much of Africa, Mexico and S. America and most of Europe and Russia. Canada is allowing drillers to access pristine country for gas. They want what’s left of our lovely north Texas prairie. Check out the countryside around Prairie Park near Crowley or Weatherford or Granbury or Azle or Eagle Mt. Lake or Bembrook for a wake up call. The beautiful rolling hills of my youth are dotted with 5 acre, gravel parking lots, studded with gas wells and stitched with gravel roads crammed with tanker trucks.
Now they want to drill the heart of our cities our backyards our parks, even our universities. And they have! Now those who resist drilling next to a historic neighborhood are labelled radicals and NIMBY’s???
I beg to disagree with Ben. After sacrificing most of the natural world, do we really need natural gas bad enough to sacrifice our neighborhoods, too? What’s going to be left after they finish drilling?
The drilling fanatics need to be sedated. They have gone too far. What I can’t tolerate is the fact that some of our brightest minds like to claim that they are not against gas drilling just drilling in the urban core. That’s a joke. Guess what my friends, The urban core is the ONLY place that hasn’t yet been fully drilled. You better stand on your hind legs and fight back with more enthusiasm or your urban core will soon be an industrial zone.
DY
Apr 7th, 2008
Ben
At least you are consistent Mr. Young. I have no doubt you are also against any new roads, developments of any kind, hydroelectric power plants and mining for coal. You are a actually a Luddite as opposed to a NIMBY.
Apr 8th, 2008
Pete Wann
I’ve been to Don’s house. It’s pretty obvious that he’s not a Luddite. He actually uses MODERN technology, like efficient design and passive cooling (which also happens to be an OLD technology) to make his environment comfortable.
No, I’d say that environmentalists are about as far from Luddites as you can get. The real Luddites are the people who keep their fanatical attachment to PROVEN HARMFUL energy sources.
Ben, you’re welcome to have your say, but keep it civil. Attack the argument, not the person.
Apr 8th, 2008
Don Young
Thank you for the kind words, Ben. I try to be consistent. But be careful what you say about Luddites. Some of my best friends are Luddites. I’ll defend them with my life, if necessary. Although I aspire to be like them, I fall short. I still drive a car, (a Scion). I use electricity and a tiny amount of gas each month. I never said or wrote that I was against development or energy production if done with sensitivity and an eye on the future. I don’t see that happening in the Barnett Shale region, Ben. Quite the opposite, With few exceptions, I see systematic destruction of my hometown and the surrounding region. There are no serious checks and balances in the system to protect what is special about the region. Otherwise, Jarid Manos would not have to defend Prairie Park from three enemies at once. I would not have to tangle with the City of FW and Chesapeake over Tandy Hills.
At least those places have defenders. With the existing system, many other special places are bulldozed or drilled daily with little oversight. For example, I serve on the Urban Forestry Board and have witnessed up close how the tree ordinance fails to protect trees but bends over backwards to assist developers. We have all witnessed how the mayor and council feel about urban gas drilling and green space.
If you mean that I am consistent in pushing back against such a system and desiring a sustainable world for my granddaughter to live in, I’ll take that as a compliment, Ben. Now, please tell me about the world you’d like for your granddaughter to inherit.
Apr 8th, 2008
Pete Wann
@Jonathan - With regards to your second comment, normally I would agree with you regarding near railroad tracks being “more appropriate.” However, when you consider all the other things that are adjacent to that site, it pretty easily fails that test.
Call it gentrification or whatever you like, but Ryan Place and Fairmount have been experiencing a renaissance lately. Younger people are moving in, fixing up old houses, and re-establishing neighborhood connections, keeping those areas vibrant and vital.
This process is very fragile, though. Destroy the “vibe” or whatever you want to call it, and the new blood stays away, current long-term residents die off and/or move away, and the neighborhood falls back into disrepair.
Our city has enough neighborhoods in disrepair. We need to work to keep the momentum going in the neighborhoods that are turning around, and find ways to bring up other areas that need the help.
Apr 8th, 2008
Jonathan
Fair enough Pete, but are there alternate sites available? If the residents of Fairmount and Ryan Place had refused to sign leases there wouldn’t be nearly as large a push to get a drilling site in the neighborhood. They did, though, and as much as I love the neighborhood (I live in Fairmount, but currently rent so I have no financial incentive at stake here,) thems the breaks. You can’t realistically take the money and then expect them to drill through from China. Maybe the homeowners were ill-informed, but that may have also been willful. It’s hard to turn down a check.
If the residents of Fairmount and Ryan Place had organized, refused to sign, and this drill site was strictly for another adjacent neighborhood they’d be in a much stronger position to oppose it.
On the other hand, I do recall hearing that there was some sort of restriction on the use of this drill site written into the leases. Does anyone happen to have a copy of it? Am I remembering wrongly?
Apr 8th, 2008
Ben
First, I think Don’s reply to me shows that he feels I am being civil, so I think you’re being a little over protective there Petey. As far as the lease terms, I believe (as previously noted in this forum) the RP lease terms restrict XTO from using the railroad ROW for a drillsite but not Chesapeake.
Keep up the good work Jonathan!
Apr 8th, 2008
Pete Wann
The residents of all of the affected nearby neighborhoods were presented a lease that specified a drilling site east of Hemphill, in an established industrial area. This was still not ideal, as it is close to a school and a few businesses, but it’s where the neighborhoods wanted it.
Unfortunately, that lease was with Four Sevens/XTO, so Chesapeake is not bound by any of the terms. The neighborhoods specifically went AGAINST Chesapeake, because they didn’t have any alternate drilling sites besides the one we’re discussing now. Anyone in Ryan Place that signed did so with the understanding that XTO wouldn’t drill at the 8th Ave site according to the terms of the “template lease.”
I don’t remember being told at the time that Chesapeake had a contract with Baylor to drill under their property from the 8th Ave site.
@Bennie - It’s my forum, and I hope that I afford the same protections to everyone, including you. If you think asking you to be civil is overprotective, then so be it. Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m that kind of guy.
You’re absolutely right. Don presented his argument without resorting to name calling or personal attacks. I haven’t seen you present an argument for why drilling there (or anywhere else, for that matter) is a net positive for anyone but the drilling companies.
Apr 8th, 2008
Bernie
Wow… I read too quickly and thought you were calling ME out. I was thinking “Wait, What’d I say?”
Apr 8th, 2008
Ben
I’d say it is a net positive for the Fort Worth & Western Railroad. The citizens of Fort Worth are fortunate that a local company like FWWR bought the railroad corridor which ultimately preserved the corridor for commuter rail use. I think it is good that they are able to make some money off their investment since they have been such good stewards of the land over the years. I think that the Tarantula Train has been a good thing for the Stockyards & anything that helps passenger train service to FW, whether it be for business or pleasure, is a GOOD thing.
Apr 8th, 2008
Jonathan
Ahhhh, I see. So is this site being used to drill under Ryan Place/Fairmount, or somewhere else?
Apr 8th, 2008
Pete Wann
Jonathan - The 8th Ave. site will be used for drilling under Baylor Medical Center. Chesapeake has no rights to anything under any of the surrounding neighborhoods, on any side of that site. To drill under them without a lease would be theft.
Apr 8th, 2008
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