About the Moratorium

The wording of the Moratorium on the City's Web site:

Moratorium on Acceptance of gas well Permit Applications.

~ Grand Prairie, Texas City Council

November 18, 2010

The Corn Valley Pad Site already has 5 wells "permitted" by the Texas Railroad Commission. And they have also been approved by the Grand Prairie, TX Environmental Services Department ~ according to the GP Gas Drilling Spreadsheet, Scroll Down to Page 4, Item 3, (last updated 11.16.10).

So, the Grand Prairie, Texas 6-Month Moratorium will not have any effect on those wells. In addition, the 6-Month Moratorium will not have any effect on other wells already "permitted" and approved by the City through Environmental Services for drilling and then fracking.  That includes wells near the Trailwood neighborhood including Barnes Assembly A and West Carpo.  There are a lot of wells unaffected by the specifics of this Moratorium that will continue business-as-usual under the current Gas Drilling Ordinance.

 (Above) Corn Valley Pad Site (5 Wells Currently Permitted) ~Well 1H Drilled on Halloween~

Grand Prairie, TX

Note the close proximity to the dam. It's been measured at less than 2,000 850 feet.   Of course compared to Fort Worth near I35, Arlington near 360 and Mansfield (Below)...

Good Lord, this is truly a Nightmare of Epic Proportions. 

And then (below), in our very own air and water space, there's Joe Pool Lake. How did this happen? Why did it happen? Drilling in a lake?? All the red circles on the maps represent wells in production...the black lines and blue circles represent "permitted" well bores that may have been drilled, too.

 Joe Pool Lake, Grand Prairie, TXAnd Now We Get a Moratorium???Seriously.  Who Has Been Minding this Store???

Leaseholder Sues Chesapeake in Federal Court

Chesapeake Allegedly Made Unjust Profits of $5 Billion

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) NOVEMBER 24, 2010, 6:21 P.M. ET

--A Texas woman sued Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) Wednesday claiming the company, with the help of its bankers, violated the rights of leaseholders for oil wells by selling minerals without compensating members of joint operating agreements.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan by Mary Linda McCall, claims Chesapeake made as much as $5 billion in unjust profits since late December 2007.

According to the suit, seeking class-action status, Chesapeake "wrongfully retained" the proceeds of those sales for its sole benefit, while failing to adhere to the contractual guidelines with its leaseholders.



The suit hopes to recover "hundreds of millions--perhaps billions--of dollars" due to leaseholders.

[...]

The suit claims Chesapeake and its bankers violated the rights of the non-operating working interest owners. Chesapeake allegedly sold minerals in the ground without their consent.  [emphasis added.}

Click here for the rest of the story.

(Note:  They mean "gas wells," not "oil wells.")

now this is how you bike at night

Home for the Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving Y'All!

 Westchester Valley Neighborhood, Grand Prairie, TX November 2010

Yes.  It's a "No Drilling" Sign in the front yard.  How 'bout that? You see, these Westchester homeowners actually "own" the minerals beneath their homes, but neither of these homeowners agreed to lease their minerals.  Still, they have a 3.5 million gallon FRAC Pond 4 yards from their back fences and a Pad Site 537 feet from their back yards. The drill has been grinding and screeching now for 3 weeks while toxic fumes have been spewing out into the once clean air.  All of this just so happens to sit across the street from a segment of the Joe Pool Lake Dam! 



 

Corn Valley Pad Site, 210 W. Camp Wisdom Road Grand Prairie, TX, November 2010

On this day of Thanksgiving, we are reminded that shale gas drilling is  what Chesapeake's CEO Aubrey McClendon really wants for America. It's what the City of Grand Prairie wants for America. It's what Boone Pickens really, really wants for America. But at what price do we continue along this course? 

Corn Valley Rig & FRAC Pond, Westchester Valley

Grand Prairie, TX, November 2010

We count our blessings today.  And pray for all of our neighbors across the region who are now suffering because of this shale gas drilling campaign.  Amen.

 Gigantic Pipes, 3rd Street, Grand Prairie, TX, October/November 2010

Oh, Dam.

the "zen" of biking

Biking as a sport is loads of fun and often done in groups or bike club rides. Most folks like to bike with other people. Most folks bike for social companionship. Few ever bike alone as it looks odd if you are out there by yourself. Most folks who pass you think, gee, poor slob, she has no friends. She is all alone on the roads. How dangerous!

Well, this year, after biking exclusively with other folks, I got the courage to do it alone. I carry a cell phone, I can change a bike tire and I tend to bike on roads that are familiar to me. I make a route and off I go. After a full season of "alone biking" I have discovered it is a different activity when out by yourself.

It is completely silent. No one is talking. You tend to look around more and notice small stuff. You see birds, plants, trees, flowers and small animals. You hear the wind and the sounds of leaves falling. You get to a place where you are no longer biking but just enjoying the outdoors around you. You forget about your heart rate, your speed, your pace and all the stuff many weekend warriors worry about. Your mileage is not important. The only thing you want to do is to be out there; pedaling and moving quietly along the country roads.

It becomes more "zen" like. I imagine many runners feel this same way as running tends to be a singular activity. Solo biking is relaxing and quiets the mind. Far better than sitting at home watching TV or sweating away in a spinning class. In a spin class, all you think about is how many calories you are burning.

Solo biking is worth it. You have to do a lot of it to get to the point that you stop fretting over the cars and getting buzzed or taunted. That all slides away and you reach a point where it is just you and the road and your bike.

BREAKING: Moratorium

6-Month Moratorium on acceptance of gas well permit applications.

 ~ Grand Prairie, Texas City Council

November 18, 2010 

Here's the Dallas News Story:

Click Here

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One More Pad Site. 4 More Wells. Happy Holidays!

Proposed Pad Site Right Behind the Hills of Westchester

Grand Prairie, TX

XTO ~ (City of Dallas SUP Application) 

Luminant Lease: Railroad Commission API #113: 30210-30213 

The 60 Minutes Story: Sunday November 14, 2010

"You Don't Want to Drink Fracking Fluid." 

                                     ~  Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake CEO

West Chester dude commutes 60 miles a day to school

Frey is commuting 60 miles a day from West Chester PA to center city Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania. Frey sold his car to help pay for grad school. He had to spend some cash to get his bike "commuting worthy".

Panniers were a must. He did 10 weeks with a backpack and realized he needed panniers to tote gear and food and liquids. Reflective jersey a must as well. Frey has front and back lights, each running 400 lumens of light. Battery packs are attached to his bike. Frey bikes with a lot of weight on his bike. It is heavy when you pick it up.

Frey is 6'7" and had to get an extension for the fork to get his handlebars up high enough. The bike is a store bought Cannondale 63 cm, more than 5 yrs old. He has a setback seatpost and 185 cranks.

His supplies consist of tons of food and his trademark "Triathlon Juice". He carries a pump, CO2, tubes, tires and tools. Way more than the normal bike rider carries. He comes home at night and has to be prepared for most anything as the bike stores along the way are closed.

To quote Frey, "bike commuting is the best part of grad school". He likens it to taking two additional classes as he spends 4 hrs a day on the bike. So with 4 courses already, the commuting puts that up to 6 classes.

One thing Frey has noticed is that the regular folks along his route remember him and they wave to him. The crossing guards sometimes help him cross a 4 lane highway. Heading home at night and in the cold takes lots of planning. Lots of layers are packed in the panniers.

Penn is very accommodating. He has an indoor spot to lock his bike. He rents a locker right in his classroom building to store his gear and a change of clothes for classes . So he does not have to drag winter coats and stuff to walk around campus. His wardrobe is a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that he leaves in his locker.

Frey is closing in on 10,000 miles for the year. His most mileage ever for one year. Biking is such a cool way to get places. Most folks find millions of excuses as to why they cannot bike commute. It does take preparation. It takes time and dedication. Frey gets in around 9 pm Monday night and is back on the road at 7 am the next day.

Anybody can get in a car and drive to work. It takes someone special to bike there. Hats off to you Frey. A job well done.

Thank You Women Veterans

We Honor All Of Our Grand Prairie and North Texas Veterans

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Madoff, the Barnett Shale and Joe Pool Lake

"Lease Dallas County gas rights with New York capital and flip the leases at a profit."

Bernie Madoff ~ The King of Thieves



12:11 AM CDT on Sunday, November 7, 2010



By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News

rloftis@dallasnews.com



...

On its face, the Dallas County venture looked like many others in the Barnett Shale, the nation’s biggest gas field, where companies have drilled an estimated 17,000 wells since 2005.



The party obtaining a gas lease from a mineral rights owner might be just a middleman, hoping to resell the lease to a production company.



...

Court filings do not list the total profit for all participants, but they do specify Conglomerate Gas II’s share: more than $3.34 million. [emphasis added.]

Read the rest of the story here.

why I love biking part 5, making new friends

a great slide show plus I had a large heron fly right over me and two red tailed hawks soared close as well, a great day for riding, cold, windy and brilliant sunshine......

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READ FULL JOB DESCRIPTION
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why I love biking part 4

there is a large heron in this pic, look hard, my cell phone camera skills suck

what we all have in mind when we hear "free range chickens"

real grass fed cows

my bike and Cookie the cow (her name was on a tag in her ear)

I have discovered that this time of the year in Pennsylvania is the best time for biking. I love, loves the low 50s for biking. Love not sweating. Love the changing leaves. Love the gusty winds. Love seeing all the animals and birds. Deer everywhere. Herons and hawks gracing the skies and the landscape. Biking is the bestest ever activity. It is just plain fun.

Get out there and bike.