For the first time in 12 years, a new highly opposed natural gas drilling site is slated to break ground in east Arlington.
Following almost two hours of comments and feedback at a Jan. 28 City Council meeting, City Council members voted unanimously in favor of the drill site. District 4 council member Andrew Piel was absent.
At the site, French oil and gas company TotalEnergies plans to drill 10 new gas wells at 2020 S. Watson Road, just down the street from The Mother’s Heart Learning Center, an Arlington day care center that predominantly serves children of color.
Previous councils denied TotalEnergies’ requests to drill near the day care in 2020 and 2022. City Council will now hold a second vote Feb. 25, which would confirm the company’s permit to drill and operate new wells.
Council members did not comment on the vote after hearing from speakers.
Before opening the floor to public comments, Mayor Jim Ross said the city was limited by state law in what it can do to regulate oil and gas wells in the city.
House Bill 40, signed into law a decade ago, limits the power cities have over oil and gas well regulations at the municipal level. Council members have repeatedly cited the law when approving permits, noting their desire to avoid lawsuits from gas companies.
But several speakers against the wells said the law shouldn’t stop council members from voting against the new gas wells.
Opposing speakers said the council still has the power to extend the required distance between a gas well and a school or day care center. They wanted to see the city not just deny the application to drill new wells but also require a greater setback distance.
Ingrid Kelley, an Arlington resident, was one of the 29 people who spoke against TotalEnergies' new drill site at the Jan. 28 City Council meeting. (Fort Worth Report | Nicole Lopez) Speakers opposing the wells also told council members that allowing TotalEnergies, known in North Texas as TEEP Barnett, to drill at the site would put the health of children at risk.
Ingrid Kelley, an Arlington resident whose grandson attends The Mother’s Heart Learning Center, told the council that approving the gas wells would be the same as selling the health of her grandson.
“There is no price on my grandson’s life and wellbeing, just as any parent or grandparent would agree,” Kelley said.
Ranjana Bhandari, executive director of environmental advocacy group Liveable Arlington, told the council that the health effects of gas wells aren’t acceptable and that the City Council needed to make its decision based on the well-being of residents.
“That’s what we’re voting on today,” Bhandari said. “Not 10 wells, not cheap gas.”
Some speakers questioned whether the council serves Arlington residents or a multinational energy conglomerate from France.
TotalEnergies operates 31 of 51 natural gas drilling sites permitted in Arlington. The Bruder drill site, pictured in February 2024, was criticized by west Arlington residents concerned about loud noise and pollution. (Haley Samsel | Fort Worth Report) Of the 30 speakers who addressed the council, 29 spoke in opposition. Because of the number of people who wanted to address the council, speakers were limited to two minutes each.
Leslie Garvis, a spokesperson for TotalEnergies, told the council that the drill zone “represents the best location to access these minerals.”
Garvis said the plan presented to the council exceeded the city’s minimum setback requirement by about 50%.
Dean Foreman, the chief economist for industry group Texas Oil & Gas Association, was the only speaker in support of the permits. He argued that the tax income from gas wells, along with mineral rights income to the city and residents, made the drilling a good thing.
Garvis added that the opposition was speaking out of fear rather than science.
The vote comes after a yearslong battle between TotalEnergies and residents opposed to gas drilling. The company owns 31 of the 51 drill sites permitted to operate in Arlington.
The energy company first sought permission to drill new wells in 2020 at 2000 S. Watson Road, just hundreds of feet north of the newly approved site. City Council members denied the request, citing concerns over how gas drilling would affect nearby low-income residents and communities of color. A year later, TotalEnergies applied again to drill at the same site.
In its second application, council members gave the company preliminary approval to expand its drilling zone, but rescinded their decision in January 2022 after being confronted with a lawsuit from Liveable Arlington and the director of The Mother’s Heart Learning Center.
TotalEnergies’ third attempt to operate new gas wells began in December, when the Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission granted a specific use permit to the company.
To emphasize opposition, Liveable Arlington created and publicly screened the “Faces of Fracking” docuseries, six short films about gas drilling in the city.
“It is our responsibility to make a positive difference in the lives of our children,” said Wanda Vincent, director of The Mother’s Heart Learning Center. “Because of your decision on this board, you are likewise responsible for leaving things better and for making a positive difference in this community.”
Nicole Lopez is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Arlington Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
