Trinity River Water Being Taken For Gas Wells

Watch a story by Channel 11 on the last night's news.

Trinity River Water Being Taken For Gas Wells

Severe Drought ... and Joe Pool Lake

So far, we've had 58 consecutive days of 100+ temperatures and lakes that supply Dallas water are becoming depleted.  It's gotten so bad, the neighboring town of Kemp in Kaufman County lost running water, because of the extreme heat and drought conditions, and couldn't fight fires.

The City of Dallas has proposed a 5.9%  water rate increase in the 2011-2012 Dallas City Budget.  A pipeline is being built to Palestine, TX at a cost of $850 million.  New reservoirs or connections to sources in Oklahoma are being considered.

And closer to home .... there are two proposed/pending gas drilling sites in the Mountain Creek area waiting for recommendations from the Dallas City Gas Drilling Task Force to the Dallas City Council.  Each well frack uses an average of 5 million gallons per frack.  Wells are usually fracked multiple times and there are usually multiple wells on a gas pad site.

After the water is used for fracking, it is toxic and has to be buried into other wells. It is cost prohibitive to recycle.  The water is taken out of the hydrologic cycle.

Residents are asking questions:

• Has the City of Dallas projected the gas industries heavy need for water into their Plans?

• What is the average rate per gallon for residents?

• What is the average commercial rate per gallon?

• What is the rate per gallon of untreated water for the gas industry, considering the water used is taken out of the hydrologic cycle?

Or maybe we need water for living  .... not burying. 

Councilman Scott Griggs says ......

“I want to hear from you at the District 3 Town Hall Meetings.”

Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm is preparing the proposed budget for the City of Dallas for the next fiscal year, October 2011 – September 2012. This budget will determine how our tax dollars are spent on police, fire, code enforcement, streets, parks, recreation centers, libraries, as well as the arts and other important city services. 

Please save the following date for your neighborhood:

Thursday, August 25 at 7:00 p.m.

Park in the Woods Recreation Center

6801 Mountain Creek Parkway at Wheatland Road

Tel 214.671.0218

Here is a quick look at the 2011-2012 budget:

• No tax rate increase
• No sanitation rate increase

• Water rate increase of 5.9%

• Add 200 police officers
• Add 200 firefighters

• Street maintenance will remain the same as this year (2010 – 2011)

• Maintain 14 community prosecutors

• Nearly all pools and recreation centers will be open
• There will be some library staff cuts, but materials will increase

• Reduce cultural arts service programming funding by 10%

• Increase AT&T Performing Arts Center funding to $1.5M

• Historic and conservation districts will only be partially funded by general fund

• Add 17 employees in building inspection and planning

• More than $500K for modernizing building inspection and planning

Please pass along this information to your friends and neighbors. We need to get the word out! I hope to see you at the Town Hall meetings.   By Scott Griggs

Councilman Scott Griggs Meets with Friends of Library

Friends of the Library of the Mountain Creek Branch met with Councilman Griggs on August 5th about Dallas City Budget.  Friends expressed concern about another round of budget cuts.  Griggs recommends attending the Town Hall Meeting at the Park in the Woods Recreation Center at 7pm on August 25th to voice concerns.  He advised "the greater the turnout of residents, the greater chance of making changes in the proposed budget". 

Friends want to extend Library hours from 8pm to 9pm during the week to accommodate the many Homeowners Associations and other groups that have been meeting at the Library before the hours were changed.  Post your comments below.

100+ Turn Out for Gas Drilling Public Hearing in 100+ Temps

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/08/drilling_task_force_gets_a_pub.php

 

City's Gas Drilling Task Force Received a Public Education at Last Night's Hearing

By Leslie Minora Wed., Aug. 3 2011 at 1:49 PM

In the end, council members Delia Jasso, Dwaine Caraway and Scott Griggs skipped Mayor Mike's shindig to sit amongst the public at last night's hearing in front of the city's gas drilling task force. And they were surrounded: The council members were joined by about 100 people who addressed many of the issues topping the list of the task force's concerns -- air and water pollution, truck traffic, proximity to neighborhoods, you name it. In short, they wanted to make sure Dallas doesn't get fracked when the task force makes its recommendations to the council, which will rewrite its drilling ordinance in the fall.
"I need as much information as possible," said task force member Cherelle Blazer. Far as she was concerned, the citizenry's input would serve as a "good barometer" of public concern.
"This task force is an opportunity," said Jeffrey Jacoby of Texas Campaign for the Environment when he took the podium. "You are an opportunity, and, of course, you have an opportunity." He theatrically expanded on his point, saying that the task force has the ability to give energy companies a chance to make "boatloads" of money and that it also has the chance to protect the citizens of Dallas.
"I see you as the group that's going to define the word 'safety' for the city."
"I believe fracking is a license to kill," Dallas resident Donna Turman said. She noted that it felt "surreal" to ask the task force, "Please don't kill us."
Raymond Crawford, often hailed by his fellow activists as the man who got City Hall to pay attention to drilling diligence, asked the task force to pay close attention to drilling impact studies that detail the effects of drilling on water, road conditions, the environment and business. "Very little science was known or was used" when the current ordinance was created in '08, he said.
"No matter what anybody says, there is not a stainless steel plate under the earth," environmental activist Marc McCord said when it was his turn to speak. "We're in a critical shortage of water ... and this is nothing new. There is no new water coming from outer space."
Mountain Creek's Ed and Claudia Meyer took back-to-back turns at the mic, and both ended their three minutes with that quote Mayor Rawlings uttered before the screening of Gasland at the Texas Theatre several weeks ago: "I will never vote to put any neighborhood at risk because of money."
Dallas resident Robert Unger was one of only two people to speak in favor of fracking: "It has proven to be a safe technology," he said. "It is an industry that is respectful of the communities in which we operate and in which we live." He characterized the practice as a "compromise" wherein the positive outcomes outweigh the negatives.
At the end of the hearing, task force chair Lois Finkelman told Unfair Park, "We can hear from dozens of professionals and experts in all the various fields ... but the bottom line is what is the effect on citizens and neighbors and what are their concerns." Public hearings, she said, are another way of "broadening the education" of the task force.
Finkelman hinted that the task force may need to extend its flexible October deadline for its recommendations to council. "Whether or not [the October deadline] is realistic remains to be seen," she said at the hearing's outset, adding that she has her sights set on early November. After that, she said there would be additional opportunities for public input as their recommendations make their way to the city council.

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