Gas Drilling Variance - Item 12 - variance concerning High weeds

XTO is requesting relief from the 300' radius around the well and tanks requirement for keeping the grass cut and trash picked up. About 173' feet north of the well bore is City ROW for the Lake Sharon Rd extension. North of that is a tract belonging to Pulte Homes of Texas.

Basically they need permission to enter those properties to do the cutting and pickup. I imagine the city can give them permission to do just that on the City Right of Way within 300' of the well and tanks. They can ask Pulte for permission for entry also - if they refuse we can grant them that relief. Otherwise I am not inclined to grant this. Fire safety is just too important near a gas well and its equipment.

More information>

Request for variance conerning the temporary fencing

Section 114.14(A)(1) requires a temporary chain link fence at least 8' tall with a locked gate. The fence is to surround the entire drilling site. The applicant is asking that the requirement for the temporary fence be dropped. The state that the sound blankets required by Section 114.12A(G)(3) on the three sides facing the protected uses are enough to screen the site. They are asking for no fence whatsoever on the North side.

The 16 foot tall sound blankets are required to help suppress noise from the drilling and fracing operation. They are in addition to the chain link fence. I am uncertain as to whether the sound blankets provide security. I intend to get that answer from our drilling inspector.

Unless the sound blankets provide real security to prevent casual intrusion, I am inclined to deny this requested variance. If the blankets actually can be relied on to keep intruders out, I would be willing to allow them to put the chain link fence on the north side. Under no circumstances would I be willing to allow the entire north side of the site to be unsecured.

My primary concern is kids, who will be very inquisitive about the drilling platform and the sounds and smells and such. They will go over there. The fence around the Christian center property as a whole is not going to keep them out in the least. The chain link fence and locked gate will keep out all but the most determined intruders - most kids won't fit that category.

Second gas well variance - Item 10 on agenda

XTO is asking for a variance to the 600' well bore to protected use setback requirement in Section 114.13(A)(4) of the Corinth City Code. XTO has acquired consent agreements and in some cases liability waivers from all land owners that have physical buildings within the 600' distance.

The Lake Sharon Christian Center has buildings between 200' and 300' from the well bores. They too have provided and filed signed consent forms to allow this variance.

With these agreements from the actual impacted land owners and referring to my earlier discussion on drilling rights, I see no real alternative to approving the variance.

We are allowed to impose additional requirements for the reduction in distance. As to what meaningful requirements we could impose that would insure safety, I am unclear.

Additional Information

What we can and can't do concerning Gas Well Drilling

As I was researching information concerning gas well drilling in cities, since we have a request for a permit to drill a well in Corinth, Texas, just southeast of the Lake Sharon/Oakmont intersection, I found some good guidance. State and Federal courts have long found that preventing an operator from drilling to get at Natural gas within the city limits has constituted a regulatory taking. As such it has been found unconstitutional (at least that is what I read).

So, while we can set rules to be followed in drilling a well, just like we set rules for how to xeriscape or how tall your weeds can be, we can't deny access to drill for gas. So we have rules defining how far wells have to be from residents (unless the residents that might be closer waive that), what type of fences, sound levels etc.

Whether we can impose air quality rules remains to be seen. I certainly intend to find out.

What I found out about Benzene

I spent some time over the last few nights reading information from the Center For Disease Control (CDC), OSHA, and NIOSH on Benzene. I was reading this because benzene has been associated with natural gas production in the Barnett Shale, and XTO energy is requesting a permit here in Corinth, Texas to drill a natural gas well. As it turns out, benzene is associated with both oil and gas production (not surprising), and as a result of our industrialized society, is floating around in the air we breathe.

According to the CDC people who smoke get a far larger dose of benzene than people who don't. Benzene in the cigarettes - another good reason not to smoke if you needed a new one. We have benzene around us in the house. What I gleaned from the CDC information is that benzene is occurring at something around 1.7 ppb (parts per billion) in our out door air - not associated with any particularly polluted location. If you are walking along behind your lawn mower, you are probably getting more benzene because that is a by product of internal combustion engines.

So - the first question becomes how much is too much? According to the CDC and OSHA 500 ppm (parts per million - contrasted to billion above) is life threatening. Immediately life threatening. 50 PPM is considered the highest level that a person can withstand for about 30 minutes or so to escape to clean air. OSHA sets the limit for occupational exposure (10 hours a day, 40 hours a week) at 1 ppm.

Now - the second question - how much benzene do gas wells emit? The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is asking that question, and is actively setting up monitoring. The TCEQ has identified some wells where significant amounts of benzene (along with a long list of other petrochemicals) were found down wind in the air.

So, there is the potential for benzene to be emitted by a gas well (or an oil well for that matter). Because there is that potential, it seems reasonable to me that the city should take steps at least to monitor any wells we have in the city limits. Part of our permit process might need to include provisions for not only sound monitoring and insurance, but air quality monitoring also.

In fairness that is a big job. How do we do it? How much does it cost? Who should pay for it? I am interested in finding a way to tighten our drilling ordinances to include air quality monitoring and have to get the answers to those questions and more to try and introduce that change.

First of the requested Variances to the Drilling Ordinance

XTO energy is asking for a variance to our ordinance on drilling. In short they want to substitute a Bond or Check for the required letter of credit. In any case the value would be $25,000, and is only for securing repairs to the roads they use in the drilling operation.

Unless I find that the mechanics of using a Bond or Check is significantly different from our perspective of accessing the money to perform repairs, I can't find any reason to oppose granting the variance. I have some additional information at my website.

More on the Lake Sharon Drilling Permit Request

I've been reviewing our Gas Well Drilling Ordinance at Chapter 114 Corinth City Code. Section 114.07(B)(10) provides the latitude for the Council to add to or modify the technical regulations as the Council deems in the public interest. Whether or not the Texas Railroad Commission, or the state courts, will view the exercise of that latitude favorably remains to be seen.

Already I have received numerous requests to vote to deny the permit to drill from residents (and some non residents). Most of the requests are focusing on the emissions component of the gas recovery operation. Others are on the safety factor of having heavy construction equipment traveling the roads near our schools and paths our children take to school.

Suffice to say it is a very complicated issue. Both the energy company and the residents have rights. Ultimately, I believe that we should issue the permit if all reasonable safety precautions that we are aware of today are taken.

I have additional information at my council session web page, and also at a page dedicated to discussing the drilling permit application.

Help with the Budget?

At the April 1st regular session of the City council of Corinth, Texas we will be considering appropriating funds to expend on projects that will be reimbursed by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG). When all is said and done it may be possible to remove some budgeted expenditures for the fiscal year because they fall under this grant.

This is particularly good since we are facing a budget shortfall this year due to declining sales tax and permits revenue. At last check, we are expecting a $200,000+ shortfall for this fiscal year (2009-10). Any amount we could carve off of that without dipping into reserves would be a very good thing.

See More on this and the rest of the April first session.

April 1st Council Session to be very busy

The April 1st Corinth City Council regular session will be a very busy one: there are 17 items on the agenda at this point, including 4 public hearings. At this time (the packet and agendas are not out) I believe that 3 of the hearings are related to action on the Dobbs Road Realignment. One hearing will be for the request for a drilling permit (with variances) for XTO energy for the the site southwest of the Oakmont/Lake Sharon intersection. Other business will include council review and action on the 2008-09 (last fiscal year) Audit, or Certified Annual Financial Review.

My understanding is that XTO is requesting 10 variances to our ordinances for their drilling permit. Some of the areas are in Tree Loss Mitigation, Salt water disposal, maintenance setbacks, well head to protected use distances, and letter of Credit requirements. All in all I expect a rather lengthy evening.

You can see more information at my Web site

Gas well Drilling permit will be controversial

As I mentioned before, there will be a public hearing for a permit to drill gas wells out near the Lake Sharon/Oakmont intersection. I have spoken with some of the residents near the proposed well site, and attended the first of the two XTO resident meetings (scheduled for March 24 and 25).

Some of the concerns that I heard there were drilling safety, traffic safety, Benzene levels, other chemical levels, waste products from the drilling and fraccing process, and seismic activity from drilling (and the effects it could have on houses and other structures).

All of these are definitely important considerations. And, there is the recent storage tank fire in Decatur Texas (just about 30 minutes or so to our north west) to consider.

I understand that XTO Energy will be requesting up to nine variances to our current drilling ordinance. As I do not have the subject of the variances yet, I can't speak to them. I hope to have some more information tomorrow (thursday).

Dobbs Road Realignment moving forward

CoServ has already appeared before the Corinth Planning and Zoning commission to get the plats and site plans related to the Dobbs Road realignment approved. Because there were some technical/legal defects in the applications, P&Z denied the Plat and Re-Plat until some conditions were met. All of the conditions had to do with legal notes attached to the Plats. The site plan was approved with the same conditions as the Plat.

It sounds confusing, doesn't it? The plats are legal documents with specific purpose for zoning and development. The plats as submitted were acceptable - they needed the additional legal information added, and there is no recourse to force the adding of the conditions after the plat is approved. Therefore, the commission denied the plats; provided the conditions have been met by the time this is in front of council, council can then approve the plats. It's probably no less confusing after I explained it....

This is all part of the process to get the intersection of Corinth Pkwy and Dobbs changed; Corinth Pkwy will now continue south past Dobbs and then curve to the right (west) and loop back towards quail run.

Gas Well Drilling in Corinth

On April 1, 2010 we have a public hearing and consideration of a permit for Drilling two wells on the west side of Corinth. Already I have been contacted by residents nearby the proposed drilling site (which is near Oakmont and Lake Sharon).

Their primary concerns are with some perceived safety issues with the drilling and pumping operations. One issue brought up about the safety of the kids on their way to the nearby schools and the impact on traffic the drilling operation with its heavy equipment and trucks hauling drilling supplies will have.

I'm examining these issues; as part of that I will be out near the site talking with residents Wednesday night (March 24).

Sales Tax Decline

For the last several years we have been seeing a decline in sales tax revenue for the City of Corinth. There was a 1.1% decline from 2006 to 2007, and then a further 6.5% decline from 2007 to 2008 (our most recently completed budget year - we are currently in the 2009 budget year). We are down 7.6% for 2009 to through January compared to the same period in 2008.

Overall, compared to October through January of 2006 we are down 10% in sales tax revenue for 2009. As you can imagine this has impacts for the remainder of this budget year as well as for the next budget year.

In round numbers our finance department is expecting a $200+ thousand shortfall for this year. This can be absorbed by from the reserves in the general fund. the $520 thousand shortfall projected for next year (2010 budget year) is going to be the real problem if sales tax revenues don't turn around.

Disc Golf may not be gone

After all the drama of the last several months with the Disc Golf Course in Corinth, and the council vote to reject the course on the hill at community park - we could still wind up with a course in Corinth.

The volunteer that worked on the original course is proposing a course on property west of the soccer/football fields - west of the parking for them as a matter of fact. This time, the request is following the proper procedures: it will be considered at a meeting of the parks commission on March 16, 2010.

I have not seen the plan yet. The area proposed to contain the course appears to usable, and would provide some challenge for the players. It is not as suitable as the original site on the hill, however, it would still be a nice area for a course.

It would still provide a nice amenity for the city. It will be interesting to see what the plan is that is being pitched.

Disc Golf Course decision

We have a decision on the Disc Golf Course on the pavilion hill at Corinth Community Park: the council voted to stop the course.

It was a very difficult decision for me. On the one hand, the volunteers installing the course contacted the city administration, pitched the idea, and received permission from a city official to proceed with the project. Through no fault on their part, the city official did not have the authority to authorize the project. On the other hand, by this point the proper process had been completely ignored, and for my part, I was unable to find a truly compelling desire on the part of residents to complete the park. When I went door to door and spoke to people, almost none even heard of the park and the controversy. While some (less than fifty percent) agreed the park was a good idea and should go ahead, their comments were almost always that "it may be a good idea: I will never use it, but it may be a good idea". In all cases they only wanted the course "if it won't cost the city anything".

Ultimately at the point I had to make a decision for my vote, that cost factor and the lukewarm reception the idea received caused me to vote against the course. The final vote was 4-1 to dismantle the course.

I simply could not be sure that the volunteers would be able to deliver on a "cost free" course for the city. Although the materials had already been purchased, the cost of ongoing maintenance, while not high, was not negligible either. We would have to rely on the volunteers to make it work.

When members of the trails committee expressed that they did not wish to participate in making the trail and the course coexist, it seemed that the only action would be to keep the existing trail and dismantle the course.