Following vocal opposition from more than a dozen residents and environmental advocates, Arlington City Council members gave the go-ahead to new natural gas wells near the eastern edge of the city.
Raul Gonzalez was the lone vote against Total Energies’ request to drill four new wells on its Highpoint site at 2250 E. Arbrook Blvd. near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Highway 360. Council members will finalize their Feb. 27 decision in a second vote set for March 5.
The 6-1 approval comes as Total Energies, known in North Texas as TEEP Barnett, faces criticism from residents who say loud noise and pollution from fracking activity has disturbed their daily lives. Total owns 31 of the 51 drill sites permitted in Arlington.
Leslie Garvis, a spokeswoman for Total and TEEP Barnett, told council members the Highpoint site was selected because of its location in an industrial park near warehouses and commercial businesses. Another drill site down the road was more cost-effective but sat closer to homes, schools and a day care center, Garvis said.
“We, on all of our sites, work with city staff to make sure we’re in compliance based on our permits as well as based on your ordinance,” Garvis said. “That’s the same thing that will happen at the Highpoint location.”
Several residents pointed to scientific studies tying natural gas activity to increased risks of asthma and other serious health effects.
“We are all hard-working citizens who deserve to be able to breathe freely without the fear of developing diseases and who deserve to not be unwillingly exposed to known carcinogens daily just by simply living where these gas drilling sites pop up,” Emily Nickles, who lives near a Total site in west Arlington, said.
Volunteers for environmental advocacy group Liveable Arlington also cited video footage of emissions at Total’s Arlington sites. Activists say the videos, captured by environmental group Earthworks on an optical gas imaging camera over the past six months, are indicative of methane leaks and other emissions problems.
Ingrid Kelley, who has lived in Arlington for more than 40 years, urged council members to table Total’s permit request until the company fixed any issues related to emissions.
“Are we just one big science experiment in the land of fracking?” Kelley said. “At what point are the metrics and statistics sufficient to say stop?”
Gonzalez, who represents southwest Arlington, called listening to people’s negative experiences “always tough.” Helen Moise, the outgoing council member for north Arlington, said city leaders have revised the city’s gas drilling ordinance to increase the required distance between drilling and day care facilities, among other changes. Moise plans to follow up on the emissions information Liveable Arlington shared.
“We really do care, and we really do listen,” Moise said. “We go through this every time there’s a new drill site that comes to us, but I do intend to support this tonight. Y’all meet all the state regulations.”
Garvis said Total conducts its own emissions monitoring program and meets all regulatory requirements. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conducted air quality sampling near the Highpoint drill site and found nothing of concern between 2011 and 2017, Garvis said.
Ranjana Bhandari, executive director of Liveable Arlington, said several council members previously requested air quality monitoring data to inform their votes on gas drilling permits.
“I brought them a ton of monitoring data, which they did not even look at, obviously,” Bhandari said. “I feel like residents are being disrespected more by this council than they ever have been on this issue before.”
The zoning change paves the way for Total to begin drilling at the Highpoint site in April. Company representatives estimate the process will take about 70 days.
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them by email.
This story was produced in partnership with Kailey Broussard, KERA’s Arlington accountability reporter. You can email Kailey Broussard at kbroussard@kera.org or follow them on Twitter @KaileyBroussard.
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This article first appeared on Arlington Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
