Sunday, April 12, 2009

Irby quizzed Arlington Mayor Pro Tem Ron Wright about danger of contamination to Pantego's Drinking Water in 2007

Excerpt from Arlington Texan - Oct. 21, 2007


Harriet Irby, of Pantego, became concerned when she learned of gas drilling in adjacent Arlington and Fort Worth. Pantego and DalWorthington Gardens rely on well water for their municipal water supply. At a League of Women Voters Gas Drilling Symposium in 2006 Faith Chatham quizzed Arlington Mayor Pro Tem Ron Wright about the danger of contaminating drinking water through the gas development process. Mr. Wright blew it off as not an issue stating "Arlington doesn't get its drinking water from aquifiers." Harriet Irby spoke up and stated: "But we do in Pantego!" Mr. Wright's response was: "Arlington is always ready and willing to sell water to Pantego!"

Not satisfied with that answer, Ms. Irby began visiting the City Manager and Mayor of Pantego, alerting them to developments in neighboring Fort Worth and Arlington. Dale Henry was always just a telephone call away, advising her and educating her on technical issues which she presented to the leaders of her town. At the time, neither DalWorthington Gardens nor Pantego had gas drilling ordinances. Both have developed some and are polishing them now. Pantego's plans include water testing to establish a baseline plus requirements that gas drillers pay for perodic testing of the water supply. "These are, however, only measures that address part of the danger." Ms. Irby is also concerned with depletion of the water supply through Gas drilling.

Gas is removed from the ground by a fracing process which utilizes millions of gallons of water. Gas drilling is an industrial process which has encroached into high density residential neighborhoods in Tarrant County. In rural western Tarrant County, Parker County and Wise County, some water wells have been sucked dry by the drain on the aquifier by gas drilling. Residential water usage is monitored but industrial gas drilling is exempted from water conservation caps. Current Texas law does not require that water usage for gas drilling be recorded and reported.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Fair Use

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Material from diverse and sometimes temporary sources is being made available in a permanent unified manner, as part of an effort to advance understanding of the social justice issues associated with eminent domain and the privatization of public infrastructure. It is believed that this is a 'fair use' of the information as allowed under section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 USC Section 107, the site is maintained without profit for those who access it for research and educational purposes. For more information, see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/ To use material reproduced on this site for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', permission is required from the copyright owner indicated with a name and an Internet link at the end of each item. [NOTE: The text of this notice was lifted from CorridorNews.blogspot.com]

See ARCHIVE on side bar

Content is being archived weekly. Many pertinent articles regarding Transportation in the DFW Region are in the archives.

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. - Thomas Jefferson

The Opnions On this Site are Diverse

DFW Regional Concerned Citizens attempts to examine issues from all directions. When a story says "By Faith Chatham" it contains my viewpoint. When it is by others, but posted by Faith Chatham, it is from someone else's viewpoint. When I discover contents which is on topic for this site, I frequently link to other sites. Usually those sites contain content which differs from my viewpoint (and frequently that of other members of DFW-RCC).