Started on Mar 13, 2012 by Daryl Rowland
This is a conversation about TheNewsOutlet's trip to Texas to investigate the subject of fracking in the region and report back to the citizens of Northeast Ohio with multi-media journalism.
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I like this project for two reasons: First, as a former journalist and journalism student, this is great exposure for these kids. Second, I think it's great that they are going to Texas. Texas provides us an example of what this kind of drilling looks like in urban areas. Most of the fracking has occured in more rural settings. When fracking takes off here in Northeast Ohio, it will be one of the the most densely populated areas that has been fracked.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
Posted Mar 14, 2012
Check out today's dispatches from The News Outlet team in Texas. Link to the dispatches are below:
http://www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking/
TogglePosted Mar 15, 2012
Arlington City Councilwoman Lana Wolff told reporter Caitlin Cook that she has serious concerns about the safety of gas drilling in urban neighborhoods. The city is getting ready to impose a $2400 yearly tax on all operating gas wells to fund emergency response efforts for gas emergencies. For more dispatches visit thenewsoutlet.org/fracking
TogglePosted Mar 15, 2012
Lana Wolff had some strong warnings for government leaders in Ohio. Her biggest piece of advice was to plan. She said Arlington would do some things differently if given the chance.
This interview, like so many of the others that the students are doing, is important because Ohio has a chance to learn from the experiences of other communities.
I think there's a lot that we can learn from Arlington, from Ft. Worth and from other Texas communities and individuals who are experienced with gas and oil well drilling.
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Posted Mar 16, 2012
We will be in Texas until Sunday and then will begin compiling the stories that we hope will help Ohioans gain more knowledge about some of the many issues related to gas and oil well drilling.
It's been a great trip so far - interesting and educational for the students and, hopefully, meaningful for the readers and viewers in coming weeks.
Alyssa Lenhoff, co-director, TheNewsOutlet
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
City planner seeks to untangle maze of underground pipelines in Arlington
Roger Venables, assistant director of Community Development and Planning for the City of Arlington, urged city officials in Ohio to get their mineral rights together now. He said it is important to start developing pipeline plans now before drilling begins. He said Arlington has had to figure out a complicated maze of underground pipelines for various companies. For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 15, 2012
Bus stops on diesel, picks up natural gas
The T (Fort Worth, Texas’ transit authority) was among the first U.S. transit agencies to convert its fleet to compressed natural gas. It began in 1989 with 6 vehicles. Today, 194 of its 200 buses, vans, trolleys and utility vehicles are powered by natural gas. The line has driven more than 50 million miles on natural gas and is serviced by 5 compressors and 8 CNG fuel dispensers.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking
TogglePosted Mar 15, 2012
Too close for comfort? Plainview Baptist Church in Krum, Texas, has a well site just feet from its property, which also has a cemetery in the back yard. Back in the Mahoning Valley, some cemeteries have discussed leasing land for horizontal natural resource extraction.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
Posted Mar 15, 2012
Ken Morgan, director of the Energy Institute at Texas Christian University, shows off his compressed-natural gas powered Honda Civic after a natural gas consortium Thursday afternoon. Representatives from major energy players like Chesapeake Energy Corp. attended the meeting. Smaller, local businesses, like Natural Gas Vehicles Texas, Inc., which retrofits vehicles with CNG tanks, also attended. NGV Texas on Thursday retrofitted the first Environmental Protection Agency-approved CNG Dodge Caravan.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
Posted Mar 15, 2012
Energy on Display
Will Becker looks at The Five Steps to Natural Production diorama sponsored by Chesapeake Energy, LLC. The Energy Blast exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History showcases the history of energy in north Texas, including the development of fracking to extract oil from the Barnett Shale. The newly-erected museum was built, in part, through donations from energy companies like Devon Energy Corporation, XTO Energy Inc. and Exxon Mobil.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 15, 2012
The growing pains of regulating drilling
Local governments across the Barnett Shale have contended with a wave of drilling spilling into city limits. Fort Worth City Attorney Sarah Fullenwider drafted the first drilling ordinance in the country to mitigate many issues associated with drilling in a highly populated area. The ordinance has since been adopted by neighboring municipalities to alleviate public concerns. Often preempted by the state, Fullenwider admittedly doesn't have all the answers, but she shares a decade of wisdom.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 15, 2012
Chesapeake drills in the neighborhood
Representatives of Chesapeake Energy Corp. walk a group of News Outlet reporters through a drill site in Arlington, Texas. The site is surrounded by 32-ft high fire proof sound barrier, but the peak of the 175-ft drilling rig rivals the Dallas Cowboy's stadium less than a mile away. Chesapeake discussed load production of natural gas in the Barnett Shale as well as urban drilling issues.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
Texas agricultural official says oil and gas drilling has been good for farmers
Steven E. Ray, district conservationist for the United States Department of Agriculture, says Ohio farmers should first and foremost "hire a good oil and gas attorney," before putting wells on farmland. Ray says that despite some environmental concerns over water run-off and usage, that the economic boon to farmers leasing their property for gas exploration outweighs the challenges. Ray also said that crop production in the Barnett Shale region is down since the gas boom began and that farmers should be mindful of water, noise, aesthetics and dust control as well as the simple challenges of farming around the big oil well pads. Like Texas, agriculture is Ohio's top industry.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
One interesting challenge is that in our area (Southern Summit County) in many cases the oil and gas rights were sold off years ago. For example, the rights associated with our property were sold more than 50 years ago. I have not pulled the lease to see if fracking is permitted - but I expect it is, at least implicitly. In that event, hiring a good oil and gas attorney is a few decades too late.
Another interesting challenge is that these leases were not consistently recorded against the property. Our home and extra lot were part of an old farmstead - the owner of which sold the oil and gas rights. Free natural gas went with the homestead parcel when the property was divided for development ~1960. We are paid $500 a year for our additional lot (which has the lease recorded against it) - and once in 20+ years a small royalty for removal of oil or gas. We receive nothing for the house lot (which does not have the lease recorded against it).
At least as to routine activity associated with retrieving the oil and gas - my recollection of the lease from the last time I looked at it is that we have virtually no rights.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
Doctoral student calls for accountability in drilling
Mishelle Rodriguez, 32, who is working on her doctorate degree at University of North Texas in Denton , said she recognizes the need for oil and gas drilling but she worries that it is not always done responsibly. Rodriguez said she has been involved in her school work and has not been paying much attention to the fact that Denton city officials have passed a temporary moratorium on drilling. She said she wants energy solutions that focus on sustainability and company transparency and accountability.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
Doctoral student calls for accountability in drilling
Mishelle Rodriguez, 32, who is working on her doctorate degree at University of North Texas in Denton , said she recognizes the need for oil and gas drilling but she worries that it is not always done responsibly. Rodriguez said she has been involved in her school work and has not been paying much attention to the fact that Denton city officials have passed a temporary moratorium on drilling. She said she wants energy solutions that focus on sustainability and company transparency and accountability.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
Drilling in Texan’s backyard shatters dream
Debbie Hodge bought her home 10 years ago with the dream of living a quiet life in the Texas countryside. Last year Devon Energy began construction of a fracking site and an injection well a few hundred feet away. Noise from the activity keeps her up at night. Her land has been devalued. And the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has now told her that the air contains elevated levels of benzene, a chemical listed in numerous Barnett Shale air quality reports as a known carcinogen. "My dream is gone," she said.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
TogglePosted Mar 16, 2012
Flower Mound: The hardest town to drill
Tammi Vajda is proud of the places in her neighborhood where gas wells could have been. Across the street from her housing development in Flower Mound, Texas, two wells and a compressor station stand between her and a local middle school where her daughter attended during srilling. Her city has imposed the most stringent regulations on urban drilling in the Barnett Shale region, pushing gas production 1,025 to 1,500 feet away. But her fight to force gas wells from cropping up next to homes, schools and hospitals has divided the street she lives on, where 2008 local campaign endorsement signs read “Just say no to urban drilling” and “Naturally gas is good.”
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
Posted Mar 17, 2012
Farmer sold land to Ross Perot, kept mineral rights
Lewayne Peterson and his wife, Rosemarie, own the mineral rights to thousands of acres of land around Justin, Texas. Lewayne Peterson, who has collected millions of dollars in royalty payments, said it is critical to lease mineral rights to companies who will build and maintain a well site properly. He sold some of his family’s land to former Presidential Candidate Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire.
For more dispatches from Texas visit www.thenewsoutlet.org/fracking.
Posted Mar 17, 2012
The News Outlet - "Farmer sold land to Ross Perot, kept mineral rights Lewayne Peterson and his wife, Rosemarie,..."
The News Outlet - "Flower Mound: The hardest town to drill Tammi Vajda is proud of the places in her neighborhood..."
The News Outlet - "Drilling in Texan’s backyard shatters dream Debbie Hodge bought her home 10 years ago with the..."
Nancy Reeves - "One interesting challenge is that in our area (Southern Summit County) in many cases the oil and..."
The News Outlet - "Doctoral student calls for accountability in drilling Mishelle Rodriguez, 32, who is working on..."
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This is a space for the journalists from TheNewsOutlet to post dispatches and observations from their trip to investigate fracking in Texas and what Northeast Ohioans can learn from what's happening there.
We also invite the Civic Commons communtity to comment on or ask questions about the journey.
TogglePosted Mar 13, 2012