I haven’t said much on this blog about the Denton drilling panel/task force.
Saturday we learned the City had chosen their panel, and the “likely” winners are…
- Darren Groth, the city’s gas well administrator;
- Karen Moss, who works for the oil and gas engineering firm New Tech Global in Fort Worth;
- Eastern Research Group, the company performing Fort Worth’s air quality study;
- Ed Ireland, executive director of the industry-funded Barnett Shale Energy Education Council;
- Tom LaPoint, an environmental researcher; and
- Vicki Oppenheim, an urban planner.
The city attorney’s office initially presented some names to council members in a confidential memo in late May, according to a June 17 memo from Campbell to council members.
…
Asked why task force updates were sent through memos, instead of presented in public meetings, the city replied: “The City Manager’s Office and City Attorney’s Office were simply keeping the City Council apprised of an on-going staff project, which included privileged information. The [city attorney’s] report contained attorney-client communications, and incidentally mentioned some of the potential members in that context.”
What’s with the secrecy? Where they scared to tell us they put an industry paid liar in a position to decide about our health and safety?
Thursday we learned the city is getting some “flak” about some of their choices. I can’t imagine why. Can you?
Denton resident Sharon Wilson, a regional organizer for environmental group Earthworks’ Oil and Gas Accountability Project, questioned whether the panel’s technical representatives would deliver the expert advice city leaders say they want.
“Karen Moss … has a vested interest in keeping the industry happy because that’s who she works for,” Wilson said. “Ed Ireland is a public relations man. He is not a technical person, and his job depends on making the industry look good.”
And today we were treated to this beauty:
Naming an efficient gas drilling panel
One particular sentence made me laugh out loud. I’ll let you guess which one.
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.
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Secrecy? A bad deal for the public. The Montana Governor is blowing a fuse right now about Exxon's secrecy about their crude oil pipeline rupture there.
Just another example of locally appointed BBO's!
Damn son of a bitch Ed Ireland slithers into every cities drilling advisory panel like Grima Wormtongue from the Two Towers. If only we had a Gandalf the white to banish Wormtongue from Rohan.
Does Ed Ireland get a bonus for every advisory panel he can land on?
Actually, I don't think Ed has gotten on many panels/task forces. I'm not sure what that says for the Denton Council. They are either more easily corruptible or stupider. Either way it's not good for the citizens.
I thought college towns were filled with smart people and so less stupid…must be "the stupid" disease. It's really, really hard to recover from it.
Oops! I made a typo in that other comment. What I meant to say:
Eggheads in the ivory towers… That's my experience with academics. Maybe the students are smarter but the faculty–not so much. Some, not all, have very little common sense.
that denton would put Ireland on the panel shows the level of corruption in the denton council. the mayor, city attorney, manager and council have sacrificed denton to the oil and gas industry. residents should evacuate!
Hey give them a break…they could have solicited Meth Mel LeBlanc.