The city's Ethics Review Commission ruled last week that the gas company representatives have a conflict of interest because they would be voting on matters that could benefit their employers.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality knew as early as 2007 about emissions coming from gas sites in the Barnett Shale. A helicopter equipped with an infrared camera spotted plumes of hydrocarbons during a flyover in North Texas.
The state environmental agency didn't conduct follow-up tests until 2009 and didn't test inside Fort Worth until December. Agency officials initially told city officials that the December tests showed no problems at sites in the city.
Since then, the agency has said it retested the same samples and found toxic chemicals at two sites in Fort Worth. One site had a level of p-diethylbenzene high enough to cause nausea and headaches, and two sites had levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, that were above the state's long-term screening level. Another round of tests in April found benzene near two of the same sites.
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