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Grand Prairie denies DFW Midstream pipeline

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I just got word that Grand Prairie denied DFW Midstream Services access to place their gathering and transmission pipelines in city streets.

Nice job protecting your residents, Grand Prairie. The $492,305 is not worth the risk.

Without the ability to place pipelines, there’s no reason to drill. Go home Chesapeake!

I’m sure Westchester Gasette will have a more detailed report later.

About Sharon Wilson

Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.

Comments

  1. WCGasette says

    Thank you, Sharon. Yes, they did. And we can’t believe it. But sometimes the stars line up. As you mentioned, a more “detailed” report will be coming in a little while.

  5. jeana cole says

    Not Good news for Arlington I will be the first and not last to say they will come here on the boarder of GP and run what ever they want and our city will let them. When GP did not let them build compression station It was relocated a few blocks away in South Arlington. I know it sounds like very good news for GP residents but for us in south Arlington or residents across GP lines in Arlington we will wake up with new construction in our backyards again and no one will know until they take our property again.

    • TXsharon says

      It is true. Arlington, like Fort Worth, has made a choice for profit over people. Grand Prairie is making a different choice. The deciding factor is the involvement of the people. It’s going to take a whole lot more people in Arlington to encourage different choices.

  6. Westchester Neighbor says

    When we started this leg of the journey (the summer of 2010), we were soundly rebuffed by our City Council. Over and over again. But we never gave up. One meeting was just one meeting. And we just kept pushing.

    Small victories are just that. They mean very little in the bigger scheme of things. Our community has a solid group of people who will go to the microphone at City Hall when necessary. Or sit in support at the Meetings when asked.

    Maybe some of the difference is that the southern Grand Prairie community of Westchester had early (2007), vocal opposition to shale gas drilling from its largest homeowners’ association (Westchester Association of Homeowners). Every community is unique. Leadership is key to all of it. And the right kind of tenacity specifically geared to your town or city. But there is no Manual or How-To for any of this. You create your own Manual. And Pray.

  7. G P Land Owner says

    DFW MIDSTREAM SERVICES have hired the law firm of Buford and Ryburn in Fort Worth, Texas to take eminent domain of my property (Hardrock Rd. Grand Prairie, Texas 75050) to place the very pipeline that The City of Grand Prairie denied them. Therefore, the city isn’t as safe as some of the people on here believe. The pipeline will be less than fifteen feet (15) from the street. They have purchased over twenty five (25) property right of ways in the city of Grand Prairie to date. With the pipeline being within fifteen feet (15) of Grand Prairie’s streets…DFW MIDSTREAM SERVICES has WON after all.

    • TXsharon says

      We need all hands on deck or all our neighborhoods will become industrial wastelands. When industry comes in claiming great riches from leasing mineral rights, people loose their senses and won’t listen to reason. Once they have leased up the minerals, it makes fighting back much harder. The pipeline is only a small part of the infrastructure required to produce the gas and industry never discloses that part.

  8. WCGasette says

    Hi, there, GP Land Owner,

    This blog post had to do with what was going on in South Grand Prairie in early 2012. Lots has changed since that time. Our group, the Westchester-Grand Prairie Community Alliance worked hard to obtain a Moratorium so that the Gas Drilling Ordinance could be updated in late 2010 and early 2011. With our efforts, the City did place a Moratorium on new drilling permits from November 1, 2010 through January 18, 2011. It was a brief respite from new permits. But the Ordinance was strengthened to provide for a stronger setback for protected uses. Only an additional 250 feet as it turned out.

    Then, in 2011, and because of new information that our group helped provide to USACE, the Army Corps of Engineers requested a moratorium on all gas drilling within 3,000 feet of their dams in Grand Prairie and elsewhere. The gas gathering pipeline system discussed in this blog post was stopped temporarily and for about 6 months on January 3, 2012 (after 3 successive meetings that required citizen participation). But the City Council turned around and voted FOR most of it in August 2012 (with no advance notice to us) leaving off the portion nearest Westchester. So, our success was brief after a lot of hard work.

    We are sorry to hear that you are having this issue now. Hardrock Road is in the corridor for the pad sites approved in North Grand Prairie since 2011. Grand Prairie had a recent public hearing about the pipeline construction you are talking about. Did you go to City Council and speak to them about your concerns? The City of Grand Prairie wants this activity because of the money they are receiving. It’s all done rather quietly since our city does not have any kind of public discussion via Planning and Zoning. We believe that is wrong and needs to be changed.

    DFW Midstream wouldn’t WIN unless the City of Grand Prairie didn’t want them to win and give them approval. Our cities in North Texas have not been very courageous and have said they have no jurisdiction over these pipelines because they are considered public utilities by our TX state laws. While this is true, they don’t do anything to get new state laws, either.

    Let us know if we can help by writing to us at this email address: westchesterneighbor@gmail.com

    Here is a link to the Grand Prairie City Council meeting (September 3, 2011) with Agenda Details for DFW Midstream’s request (Scroll down to Page 33):

    http://www.gptx.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7769

    It was a lump sum of $458,645 for the City. You get the pipelines, the city gets the money.

    Here’s the September 3, 2013 Meeting Agenda for the 6:30 Meeting. The approval of the DFW Midstream pipeline infrastructure was Item #9 on the Consent Agenda. So, no comments were permitted on this issue. We didn’t see any comments during Citizen Comments in the Minutes, either. So, no one spoke up to voice anything. This, too, is wrong to place such important items like this on a “Consent Agenda.”

    http://www.gptx.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7770

    Sorry this is happening to you. It’s they way they get it done. And the citizens know very little about it. Feel free to contact us or go to City Council and let them know how you feel about it.

    The GP City Council meeting is scheduled for October 15th (next Tuesday night at 6:30 PM) . You should go and tell them your concerns. Here are the directions:

    http://www.gptx.org/index.aspx?page=1111
    WCGasette recently posted..APPLAUSE!! Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Westchester Gasette.My Profile

    • WCGasette says

      Correction: The Moratorium was from November 18, 2011 through January 18, 2011 just to correct that. And there was no Public Hearing for the DFW pipelines in North Grand Prairie, just to correct that as well. It was done via the Consent Agenda. There was NO opportunity for the citizens to discuss any of it in the public square. It was all done by the City Council and the City.
      WCGasette recently posted..APPLAUSE!! Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Westchester Gasette.My Profile