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Residents afraid drilling getting too close to home
By Chris Roark, Staff Writer
Flower Mound Fire Marshal Mike Smith had to give rare entrance and exit instructions when more than 100 residents showed up at Wednesday’s Oil and Gas Board of Appeals meeting.
The crowd spilled outside of the chamber during a routine meeting which board chair Tina Murphy said usually attracts about 10 residents.
As the talk of drilling inside highly-populated areas in Flower Mound grows, residents have become more passionate about the issue.
Such variances requested and approved were: allowing the gas wells to be situated 400 feet from a home with mineral rights and to be located 300 feet from a building used for human occupancy.
The Armstrong-Huggins site doesn’t cross the highly-populated line. But, residents want to make their opinions heard before other sites do.
“You can put a price tag on a lease,” said Enya He, who lives in Lakeview Estates. “But, you can’t put a price tag on the quality of life in Flower Mound.”
While the majority of the speakers were vocal against the Armstrong-Huggins site permit, Harold Garner spoke on behalf of 10-15 residents who are part of the lease and who said they were in favor of it.
But, many who spoke against the permit insisted it’s drilling close to homes that has them worried.
“We’re not against gas drilling,” said Becky Belcher, president of Flower Mound Citizens Against Urban Drilling. “We would be hypocritical if we were. We just don’t want it done in a high density area.”
Health issues were a major concern, as He explained after the meeting. He said that after doing research on gas drilling, a big worry is radioactive material that sometimes reaches the surface and/or gets into surface water.
He added that the potentially contaminated water would be carried away in trucks but was worried about a truck spill within the town.
“Even if the drilling isn’t under my house, I do drive to work everyday,” He said. “The trucks will be traveling on the road. Any spillover, and that’s still in the town.”
Also, residents expressed concern for potential tragedies, such as a gas explosion.
“With 40 mph winds,” said Eddie Outcalt, a Woodlake Estates resident, “how can the fire get put out in the dry summer before it spreads across the highway?”
Others at the meeting also raised the question of what happens should a fire occur. Such questions were referred to Smith.
“If I’m relying on a fire specialist, and he says that he’s confident in covering any fire situation, then I’m confident,” said vice chair Alisa Rich.
There was also a point made about traffic congestion along FM 1171 during the Armstrong-Huggins drilling. Bobby Dollak of G&A Consultants said the trucks involved in the project would enter and exit drilling sites in stages, with no more than two at a time.
Outcalt said he also fears that urban drilling and the variances that allow it will soon be all too common.
“We have restrictions in place for a reason,” Outcalt said. “If we bend the rules, Flower Mound will turn into an oil town.”
But, board members stressed that approving one permit has no bearing on future sites.
The board was also scheduled to hear a request from Red Oak Gas Operating LP for a variance on a series of setback requirements for one natural gas permit within the projected area of the River Walk at Central Park project. Because of the late hour, the board voted to table the discussion until the next regularly-scheduled meeting, which is set for April 9.
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