New Drill Permits 4/23 - 4/30/10

Here are new permits pulled in last week for new gas wells in the Argyle - Bartonville area.   

Submitted 04/28/2010 687019 121-33851 WILLIAMS PROD. GULF COAST, L.P. (924558) RICE RANCH UNIT A 3H  Location - Bartonville

The pipeline for this well site went before the Bartonville city council on April 20th. Steve Vogal with Mockingbird Pipeline stated the pipeline was permited as a class 4 line. This will trigger annual inspections. The Railroad Commision of Texas last updated the pipeline permits on 3/25/10. As of that date no new pipelines have been permitted for Denton County this year. ABCA is watching the RRC website closely and will update you when information becomes available.  


Submitted 04/23/2010 694980 121-33958 HILLWOOD O & G OPERATING CO LP (388852) W. J. LAKES UNIT J 3H   09 DENTON Location  - Country Lakes

Submitted 04/23/2010 Approved 04/26/2010 694981 121-33959 HILLWOOD O & G OPERATING CO LP (388852) W. J. LAKES UNIT J 4H   09 DENTON  Location - Country Lakes 

What to expect on Jeter Rd. in the next month.

Information from Kelly Swan and Evan Junker, representatives with Williams production.

• The pipelines are scheduled to be done by May 15th. 
• The fracking processing will begin at the Blessing well within the next week and it will take about one month. 
• At the Jeter Rd. site there will be a dozen storage tanks and a gas lift compressor installed and made operational. The compressor is a 300 HP compressor about the size of a truck. This compressor will not be housed in a barn but it will have a sound wall around it. 
• Williams is saying that they can not put storage tanks and a gas lift compressor at the well pad due to not enough space. The frack equipment will take up all available space. 
• The storage tanks to be located on Jeter Rd. will need to be emptied every day. So truck traffic will greatly increase on Frenchtown Rd.
• Williams is looking at an alternate site in which the Jeter Rd. equipment would move to. However, at this time Williams is unwilling to share any information as to the location of that site. Most recently Mr. Swan has stated that Williams will share more on this by mid May. ABCA has expressed a desire NOT to have this location near homes or schools, be in a industrial or commercial area and use all the available green completion methods. 
• With a new sight, Williams could need to negotiate new right-of-way agreements for pipeline.
• Mr. Swan has stated that Williams will be taking air samples periodically during the next few months and will make that information public on http://williamsinthebarnett.wordpress.com/towns/argyle/. This is an effort to be more transparent with the community. However, to truly be transparent I would hope they would report disparaging results as well. 

Statement posted by Williams:

Williams is developing approximately 20 new natural gas wells in Argyle. (currently 23 wells with more planned)

To facilitate these efforts, our pipeline affiliate purchased a 7-acre site near the corner of Frenchtown and Jeter Road for the purposes of installing natural gas compressors and tanks for water associated with natural gas production.

We participated in a public meeting in January to discuss and explain this project to local residents.

The original plans for the site also included the development of a saltwater disposal well by a third-party. That part of the project was canceled in February.

Since that time, we have also announced that we are pursuing an alternative site for the compressors and water tanks, with the goal of re-locating our Argyle facilities further from the interior of a neighborhood, moving closer to established traffic routes for water hauling and pursuing a larger amount of acreage to help create greater buffer around a prospective site.

We are currently evaluating and working toward securing such an alternative site. The closing on that transaction is yet to be complete, pending our survey, environmental and right-of-way research.

In the meantime, pipeline work is underway at the existing Jeter Road site, which is necessary and independent of the ultimate future location of the compressors and tanks.

Additionally, we do have a need to install temporary equipment at the existing site, including tanks and meters, to meet contractual requirements for bringing gas production online at wells that have been drilled.

These temporary facilities could be necessary for an estimated period of six months to allow for construction of permanent facilities at the alternative site, as long as it proves viable.

Williams expects to announce a decision during May.

Pictures from around town.

Wright well site on Gibbons 

Thank you!

Help spread the word. The Argyle - Bartonville Communities Alliance is a great source of valuable information as to the gas exploration in the community. Thanks to all who viewed the site today. It was a great first day.

Pipeline Installation between Wright well, Blessing well, Jeter Rd. site and beyond to Enbridge

Runner Susan asks - What’s the hurry with all the pipeline? Is all the gas going to magically disappear? Then she gives a great video showing all the pipeline on the ground between the Wright well on Gibbons, the Blessing well on 407 and the Jeter Rd. Site. I am going to attempt to answer this question.


ABCA ask Evan Junker the community relations guy with Williams on 4/9/10 Q: Define fulfill the lease agreement. Agreement with who? ( This question was asked based on a hand delivered letter received a week prior. But the answer applies to runner susan's question.) 


Evan Junker's response:
Each mineral owner signs a contract called a lease with Williams. Each lease has a series of terms and conditions. Some of the terms and conditions involve time limits on when production must be established.  That is what is driving us to get the pipelines in place. 


Therefore, the deadline is fast approaching as Mockingbird/ Williams is moving rapidly on installing pipeline.  For those of you who want to know more here is some interesting info on the pipeline. For example, how it is not even permitted through the Railroad Commission (RRC) and it will NOT be inspected by the RRC. 
On March 9th, 2010 this question was asked to a permitting representative with the RRC.


Why does Mockingbird's, Argyle pipeline not have a permit with the RRC?  

As far as pipeline permits go the railroad commission requires a pre construction permit if the gathering line is a class 2,3,4 or 5 or is over one mile long. Okay, so if you look at the map presented to the town the gathering lines would be classified as a Class 2 and be over one mile long. However, there is not a pre construction permit filed with the RRC. So that means Mockingbird is trying to say that this gathering line is a Class 1 and is less than one mile long. (Class 1:1-10 homes within 250 of pipeline/ Class 2:11-30 homes) The only way they can claim this is to segment the line. So they are saying that from the Wright well to the Blessing well is one segment.....the Blessing to the Compressors is another segment.... and Compressors to meter another, so on and so forth) However, remember what was presented to the P&Z and council was all one line of gathering pipelines. So when I asked the question to the RRC if they could do this the response was " we do not like for them to do this but there is nothing we can do to stop them". Yes guys NO penalties or fines from the RRC. Also a class 1 pipeline is not inspected by the RRC. In fact......
At the January "Town Hall" meeting in Lantana the Denton Record Chronicle reported:"In the final half hour, some residents asked which state officials had rule-making authority over the proposed wastewater pipelines. Williams has told local public officials that they plan to collect wastewater at centralized facilities and then pump it to the injection site. State officials said no one had rule-making authority over those pipelines.

No one from the railroad commission's pipeline safety division would inspect the wastewater lines, but the commission's oil and gas division would come out if the line failed and a clean-up was required."

Oh, okay this really makes me feel better. So when someone's life or property has been compromised then the RRC will come out. 

Letter to TCEQ

As per TCEQ and RRC records, Williams production has not gone through a permit process for the Compressor Station and Centralized Collection Facility (CCF) for the Jeter Rd. site.

This past week the steering committee of the Argyle - Bartonville Communities Alliance has sent a letter to the Tony Walker. (Director, Region 4, Texas Commisssion on Environmental Quality) The letter request a full review of the equipment planned for Jeter Rd. We are requesting that Williams go through the standard, public permit process for protection of air, soil and water as needed of any industrial plant. You can read the full letter at
http://www.runnersusan.com/2010/04/21/dear-tony-walker-director-region-4-texas-commission-on-environmental-quality/

 

What is happening on Jeter Rd.?

Now that the Injection well is gone, the Jeter Rd. site will have 4 compressors and a minimum of 27 condensate tanks along with dehydrators and various other equipment needed to separate and boost the natural gas through the transmission line.

The problem with this is... It is in a residential area as close as 100 feet to homes! 

Brief History:
The Jeter Rd. site came to be because of the deal that the Blessing well mineral / landowner and the Wright well mineral / landowner made with Williams Production. This deal was for the two well owners to get paid for the surface damage and minerals captured on their property but not have the long term visual and environmental effects of gas drilling that would substantially decrease their property values. Through this agreement Williams agreed to purchase a piece of property just outside the town limits to locate the compressors and storage tanks needed to support these wells. By the way there are 23 wells between the two sites. That is 23 times the waste that will have to be stored and trucked away daily. The piece of property Williams bought is 7 acre's near the corner of Jeter and Frenchtown Rd in a residential area as close as 100 feet to homes. Since this sits outside of the town limits neighbors were not given a choice or even told about the industrial site going in next door that originally included an injection well. 


Community Concerns:
The surrounding landowners have been violated and striped of their American dream. Our homes values will be greatly reduced and we are left wondering if the industrial site proposed next door will poison our children. 


One solution:
Put the compressors and storage tanks back at the well site. The two well site landowners made the decision along with Williams to allow gas drilling on their property and are receiving compensation for it so they should be the ones to have to deal with the long term visual and environmental effects. Plus it would disperse the air emissions released from these facilities into two sites therefore possibly lowering the concentration of toxic chemicals. It would of been cheaper for Williams if they would of done this in the beginning. Williams has spent time and money to purchase the Jeter Rd site, remove the trees, install pipeline, attend town hall meetings, hire a new community relations guy to handle this issue, and that is just the beginning. Why do you think Williams has gone to all this trouble to please a couple of people?


ABCA's hope is that transparent and factual information through this blog will begin to shed light on the issues around the gas exploration in your neighborhood.  If you have a question, concern or praise please post it under comments. More about the Jeter Rd. site to follow.....  

Flooding -- Jeter Rd.

Williams Production plans to put a Compressor Station and Centralized Collection Facility partially in a flood plain at the Jeter Rd. location. This is a picture of flooding of the creek that runs through the Jeter Rd. site. This is several feet deep.     

Welcome to ABCA blog

Welcome

     ABCA hopes to bring valuable information to the Argyle and Bartonville communities in regards to the gas exploration in this area. We are for responsible drilling and understand the desires of mineral owners to receive compensation for their minerals. However, ABCA does not support gas exploration when the surface owners health or safety is compromised. I hope you will be called to action and join our rapidly growing team of informed and concerned citizens.