Independent air quality testing reveals chemicals at higher levels than state limits in the air around the new natural gas drilling operations at Rayzor Ranch.  This is not good news for kids playing in the park right across the street, the neighborhood just to the East of the site, or the hundreds of patients and medical workers who walk in and out of the adjacent hospital and medical facilities each day.  Let’s explore the issues, events, and implications of this developing saga…

Kevin Roden – 03.21.10

Denton Record Chronicle reporter Lowell Brown has been digging into this story from the beginning.  By way of review for those who have been following this story and as a means of background for those who haven’t, we will include links to these stories in what follows.

COUNCIL APPROVES DRILLING DESPITE OPPOSITION
On Tuesday, October 6, 2009, the city council approved a special use permit, along with a list of 21 conditions, allowing drilling to commence at Rayzor Ranch despite wide-spread opposition from local neighborhoods and others in the community.  Charyle Heggins, District 1 councilwomen, was the sole opposing vote.  Even Jim Engelbrecht, who represents the site of the drilling and the neighborhoods opposed to it, voted in favor saying he feared a devastating financial hit to the city had they denied the  permit.  Before their vote that evening, several of the council members expressed frustration over having been put into this situation by conflicts between owners of the mineral rights and the surface owners – there was hope that the drilling site could have been moved to another part of the property away from the park and neighborhood.  The justification given for the vote seemed to be a vote for the lesser of two evils – a denial of the permit, we were told, meant a sure and heavy lawsuit from Range Resources, the company doing the drilling.

NEED TO OVERHAUL CITY POLICIES RELATED TO DRILLING
The council also expressed concern over the city’s policies relevant to gas drilling within the city limits.  Almost immediately after the vote, there were calls from some council members to begin a review process.  That process began on December 1 and we are told that more work will be done next month on this very issue.  Although the Texas Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas (and state law is more often on the side of mineral rights owners), cities are allowed to develop their own drilling standards.  There seems to be widespread recognition that work can and should be done by Denton to prevent future drilling sites this close to neighborhoods, city parks, and hospitals.

DRILLING BEGINS – NEIGHBORHOOD PAYS FOR AIR STUDIES
After some courtroom drama between the surface and mineral owners over legal deadlines that could have halted the drilling, drilling at the site commenced the last week of November.  Within a couple of weeks, the neighborhood contracted with Wolf Eagle Environmental to conduct independent air quality tests before and during the drilling.  With no help from the city, the neighborhood, along with some support from local medical facilities, came up with funding for the studies, which were conducted in two phases.

INDEPENDENT AIR QUALITY RESULTS RELEASED
The Denton Record Chronicle is now reporting that the results of the independent tests reveal levels of chemicals that are elevated beyond state imposed limits.  As of writing this account, there is no official response from the city regarding these tests.  According to the article, Range Resources is raising doubts on the testing methodology of the studies.  Wolf Eagle Environmental, you might recall, is also involved with recent tests in Dish, Texas were reports of health problems and possible cancer clusters tied to natural gas drilling has even raised the attention of the federal government.  How will Denton respond to this latest news?

THINKDENTON.COM ANALYSIS
Regardless of one’s political philosophy, we can all agree that the most fundamental purpose of government is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens.  When it voted to allow this drilling to take place right across from a city park where our children play, right next to a growing medical complex where our sick people go to get healthy, and directly across from a dense neighborhood where many of our citizens call home, the city council claimed its hands were legally tied, but assured us they were concerned.  Then the city left these same constituents on their own to foot the bill for independent testing in order to hold the drilling company accountable to air quality standards.  Now that the results are in from those studies indicating higher than allowed levels of benzene and sulfides, its time for the city council to prove its concern and act swiftly and decisively on behalf of its citizens.  But what can they do?

For starters, how about some good old fashioned political grand-standing?  If you are representing a district where results like this are just announced, it is perhaps a sign of level-headedness and diplomacy to reserve comment before seeing the report, as Jim Engelbrecht has in an interview with the local paper.  But what your constituents need is a little assurance that someone is fighting for them.  The city can’t get sued if you come out railing against, even leveling accusations and threats of action against Range Resources.  The neighborhood is passionate and needs to see a little bit of it from its leaders in order to demonstrate their stated concern.

The recent health concerns over gas drilling  in Dish, TX should alarm us.  But the national attention that city is getting for its problems should be tapped into for the benefit of this issue.  Raising questions publicly about the safety of natural gas drilling in our area may prove beneficial both in attracting national media attention and in raising the concern of federal regulators.

The neighborhood has raised thousands of dollars to pay for this study.  The initiative and persistence displayed by these Dentonites is admirable, but the monitoring of air quality should not be the responsibility of private citizens.  The city should immediately set-up its own testing for this site and demonstrate a pro-active approach toward the health of the city.

Finally, it’s about time for some political gravitas on a local level.  From a certain vantage point, politics is about the grabbing of power.  Yet in the case of gas drilling at Rayzor Ranch, what has been communicated from our leaders regarding their inability to act for the protection of their own citizens is a series of emasculating excuses for why they can’t do something.  It’s someone else’s fault, we are told: “we are bound by state law, by mineral rights laws, by our own city statutes, by the fear of lawsuits, etc.”  The citizens of Denton aren’t looking for mere lawyers worrying about possible legal action, they are looking for leaders who are noble enough to know when fights and lawsuits are necessary in order to secure the safety of their people.

The front page of the city’s website has a link for “Going Green”.  Click on that and you will eventually find a link for the city’s “Tips for Cleaner Air” – a whole page devoted to giving us ten suggestions on how we as citizens can improve the air quality in Denton.  There, the city suggests that we in-line skate around town in order to curb emissions from our cars.  Meanwhile, outside companies are given the green light to give high doses of benzene to our kids who are swinging on the swings at McKenna Park.  It’s time for the city to act.