Grand Prairie, TX City Council: "We're Adjourned!"

The vote that had been tabled during the November 15, 2011 City Council meeting was back on the agenda last evening. See these blog posts about the non-odorized gas gathering pipelines here, here, here, and here. Oh, and here, too.

When Agenda Item #33 came up, the Speaker Cards were read aloud. Then, one at a time, the 3 speakers speaking in "Opposition" were called to the microphone.  Staff spoke in support.  (There were no visual aides on the screens as in all other presentations that evening.) This was noted by one of the speakers. The Mayor then asked that the Map go up on the screen! No one from Chesapeake or their pipeline-affiliated company, D/FW Midstream, were present.  When the last of the 3 speakers finished, Mayor England then called for a Motion for Approval. 

What followed was weird. But this kind of "weird" is "Just Fine." Councilwoman Jackson announced that there were Boy Scouts in the Council Chamber and she introduced their leader who promptly stood up and  spoke briefly about the Scouts.  Then Mayor England thanked the Boy Scouts and mentioned the Motion, again. "Well, what about that Motion"? A very, very brief silence and then Councilwoman Jackson announced a A Motion for Adjournment! Made. And Seconded. That's all folks. No Citizen Comments, tonight. Go Home!! 

WOW! No non-odorized, gas gathering pipelines  (brought to us by Chesapeake's D/FW Midstream) for Westchester ~ at least this week.

Oh, and it looks as if PG&E is going to pay out lots of money for the devastating San Bruno, California gas pipeline explosion just 1 year ago.  Clearly, an explosion like this could devastate Westchester neighborhoods and any of our surrounding neighborhoods. These non-odorized gas gathering (sales) pipelines have already gone in all over Grand Prairie, Texas. 

Here's a picture of the September 10, 2010 San Bruno, California explosion:

Link to the CNN Story About the Pipeline Rupture

The September 9, 2010, explosion blasted a 72-foot by 26-foot crater and destroyed 38 homes in San Bruno, near San Francisco International Airport. A 28-foot segment of the pipe was found about 100 feet from the crater. Scorched homes and the shells of burned-out cars lined charred streets, where firefighters battled hot spots trying to save the devastated neighborhood.

Over and Out.

Life on the Gas Pipeline Super HighwayGrand Prairie, Texas

Take Cover - This is Just the Beginning

Click here to read the story.



This is part of the huge gas gathering system going in all around Grand Prairie. It's coming to a neighborhood near you. If you see a road being torn up and a sign that says, "Utility Work Ahead." That's it. We're just part of the gas highway. Maybe it's like a "Trail of Tears"...people will suffer and die along the way. And all the misery will be explained away as unfortunate accidents. The gas operators hope you don't figure this out.



In Grand Prairie, for example, the current Gas Drilling Ordinance does not require a gas drilling permit to provide details about gas compressors (necessary to get the gas to market) or gas pipelines associated with the drilling site. Really, to be fair, the State of Texas doesn't either. It's an unregulated free-for-all.

To Grand Prairie residents living near a pipeline construction project at Arkansas Lane and Highway 161, the equipment and activities had been little more than an eyesore.



Until last Friday, that is, when a device called a "pig" — being used to pressure test a pipeline under construction — was launched like a missile out of the end of a pipe, straight toward a house 500 feet away.



As the photographs provided to News 8 showed, it was a direct hit — right into Robert Heredia's bedroom.



"It looked like a war zone in here when it hit, it was really bad," Heredia said.



He and his wife were not at home at the time, but his daughter Christina was. While she was in another part of the house, he realizes the incident could easily have had tragic consequences.



"If it would have been 20 minutes later, she probably would have been in here getting ready to go to work," Heredia said. "That's what gets me as a dad... you know what could have happened." [emphasis added.]

Reading the comments attached to this article, it's clear that people have no idea what is going on. Many of the comments are chastising Mr. Heredia for the possibility that he might "sue." Hmmmm. I wonder who really made all those comments? And even the article states that the pipeline construction was "little more than an eyesore." Little more?



There is nothing "little" about any of this. It's HUGE.