Council To Vote on Eighth Avenue Variance
by Steve-OThe proposed variance on Chesapeake Energy’s high-impact drilling site at Eighth Avenue is scheduled for a vote at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. An email is circulating that indicates that the city staff recommendation is officially neutral: “It is recommended that the City Council consider a waiver for the high-impact gas well permit and issuance of a gas well pad site permit requested by Chesapeake Operating, Inc., to allow the drilling of the Railroad-1H and 2H gas wells on Pad-A of the 8th Avenue Railroad Lease located at 2592 8th Avenue in the Adolph Gouhenant Survey, Abstract 612, Tract 3E.”
However, a source in one of the neighborhood associations in the neighborhoods around Eighth Avenue indicated that staff discussion indicated that drilling at the site “would not be OK.”
So, what do you think? Does the variance get approved or denied?
Tags: Barnett Shale, Chesapeake Energy, eighth avenue
18 Comments, Comments or Pings
John Peter Smith
Approved.
Joel Burns and Kathleen Hicks voting No. All others voting Yes.
Oct 6th, 2008
John MacFarlane
I think that we have the 5 votes to deny the variance. However, I’m still going to voice my opinion and the president of RP is going to ask the council to deny the variance, as well as the neighborhood associations of Fairmount and Berkeley.
REMEMBER, IF YOU ARE AGAINST THE VARIANCE, WEAR A RED SHIRT IN PROTEST AND SIGN UP TO SPEAK!!
Oct 6th, 2008
Greg
I have the personal assurance of a vote from a person whose integrity I have no reason to question. And I have on good authority that another is aboard as well. If Mr. Jordan recuses himself as he has routinely done for all things gas it’s at worst a 4-4 tie. The request is therefore not granted.
No well.
Oct 6th, 2008
Don Young
Based on council voting history and the fact that Chesapeake has never been denied, I’ll take a wild guess: Approved with conditions.
IOW: We All Lose.
Oct 6th, 2008
John Peter Smith
Hey Steve I couldn’t help but notice that you haven’t tossed your prediction into the mix. Come on, take a guess.
Oct 7th, 2008
Steve-O
I’m out of the loop on this one, but I offer two possibilities:
More likely is Survivor: City Council Edition where Joel Burns and Kathleen Hicks are left on an island as the majority votes with the mayor.
Less likely, but possible, is the direct opposite where the variance is slapped down with six or even seven votes against.
Oct 7th, 2008
Chris H
Won’t matter.
Riding the bike to work Sunday morning I saw a dreaded sign at Hemphill and Bolt street, I think it’s the old Texas Steel property. Looks like they’ll probably be doing it there if the 8th Ave site falls through. I don’t know, just happened to notice the sign as I was riding by.
Sad thing is, that neighborhood is poorly organized and lower income compared to Ryan Place and Fairmount. Means they probably have no voice. Geographically, it’s appears to be about the same set-up at the 8th Ave site. Wonder if it’ll be as big of a battle with the same players.
I remember in the beginning when Fort Worth Energy came and talked to my neighborhood they mentioned that side as one of the options to the 8th Ave site. This was about 2 years ago.
Oct 7th, 2008
John MacFarlane
@ Chris H,
I thought you were talking about the drill site at Page and Hemphill. That site is an XTO site. I’m unfamiliar with the site you are talking about.
Oct 7th, 2008
David AKA Rico
@John
I think Chris is talking about a site further south (almost to Seminary South) than the Page location. I believe you are correct though that it also is an XTO site. I am a little surprised that they could not avoid a high impact variance on a property that size.
Oct 7th, 2008
Don Young
Keep in mind that 600′ is an arbitrary distance that has nothing to do with public safety or neighborhood impact. It has everything to do with what gas drillers want. The’ setback distance, determined by the original gas drilling Task Force, was even less. It was bumped to 600′ ONLY after the Forest Hill blowout that killed a worker and evacuated a neighborhood. The original TF (just like the current version) was made up of a majority of industry reps, developers and lawyers. They were OK with the 600′ because they had their secret weapon loophole: High Impact waivers.
So far, no High Impact well or pad-site has been denied by a spineless mayor and council. The Scott Avenue well is High Impact but Chesapeake paid off the affected homeowner. That is their practice on other HI wells, including 8th Ave.
Sensible people understood and demanded that, 2 -3,000′ was the only safe distance. But that would have required drillers to abide by the same zoning regulations as every other industry. Moncrief made sure the drillers would have their way. Thus, Fort Worth is now known as Dirty Ol’ Town.
Oct 7th, 2008
David AKA Rico
I was not making a statement about the Hemphill-Bolt Site, merely musing about the logistics of the pad and the size of the property.
…But since you brought it up, are there any independent (read: not industry) studies on gas well safety, specifically around residences?
Oct 7th, 2008
Chris H
I don’t know who owns it. I’ll check next time I ride by. I was just commenting on the fact that both spots are pretty much equadistant from me, so one way or another there will be a gas well near my home.
However one is being met with outrage and intense discussion, while the other one seems to be going up with nary a comment. Only difference is the price of the houses the drill pads butt up against.
Oct 7th, 2008
Chris
Wow, the Council unanimously denied Chesapeake’s waiver request. I’m shocked.
Oct 7th, 2008
Greg
Joel did a great job of pulling votes together. That was a real test for him and I am really proud of how he took care of that issue in his district. He deserves a lot of credit.
The rationale of some of the council members was interesting… just a few houses might be OK and houses just inside 600′ might be OK, but forty some-odd inside 600′ with the closest at just over 200′ doesn’t pass the test.
They really need to clean up that ordinance. But for tonight, how great was that?
Oct 7th, 2008
Suzette Watkins
Yes, Joel Burns did do a good job of pulling the votes together and took care of that issue in his district which is how it should be, right? It helps when the Neighborhood Associations have engaged, informed and active members which seems to be the case in the his district. I wonder how much of a part, if any, he personally plays in keeping the Neighborhood Associations informed and active in District 9 and how the Neighborhood Associations themselves keep their members informed and active — not only the leaders of such, but the members. Active members are what actually supply the “power” to such causes. In East Ft. Worth, we have the Neighborhood Associations, we have members, but don’t seem to have the activity and passion in the membership. It hurst us, IMO.
Oct 8th, 2008
Kevin Buchanan
Suzette,
As I am now a Fairmount resident and property owner, I’ve been to a few Fairmount NA meetings, and Joel comes by pretty often. A couple of meetings ago he gave a speech about quite a few District 9 issues including the 8th Avenue site that was quite informative, and he then stayed the rest of the meeting. The Fairmount NA itself is quite involved in drilling issues - president Randle has done a fantastic job of keeping everybody up-to-date.
Oct 8th, 2008
David AKA Rico
One of the keys to having members active and vocal is they have to BELIEVE that they can affect change. In the case of the Ryan Place Improvement Association (the only local neighborhood association I can speak of with any confidence), many, if not most, of the members realize that they can make some difference and are willing to do so. I would only hope that the people so motivated about this particular site will carry that support over to similar sites throughout the city.
Joel Burns, aside from being our council representative, is also our neighbor and has made extraordinary efforts to keep us informed about any issues affecting our neighborhood. At this point, I would be hard pressed to find any serious criticism of our representation for Council District 9. Sorry if I sound like a shill, but I am very excited about last night’s ruling.
Oct 8th, 2008
Suzette Watkins
Thank you Kevin & David. Be thankful for how yours are conducted because not all of us are so fortunate to have one where the issues are actually allowed to be discussed. It is very comforting to know that some do function properly. It’s great for the community!
Oct 8th, 2008
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