Thursday, March 17, 2011

On to something...

A Letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram makes our point. 

WHO is looking out for the citizens and their rights?  Your "leaders"?  The "news"?  Guess again.  It's THE PEOPLE. 

Remember that come May.

Gas drilling

The city of Fort Worth has issued permits for gas drilling without confirming legal ownership of property owners. By doing this, it allows gas companies to submit waivers with applications for drilling permits that are signed by anyone who is listed with the Tarrant Appraisal District. Finding a person's name on TAD is not the same as locating the legal property owner.

In an effort to drill on the Westridge site in West Fort Worth, a site that is 100 percent surrounded by residences, Chesapeake submitted waivers that were not legal.

Of the eight waivers required for protected uses, five were not valid at the time the application was filed on Feb. 10.

The current gas drilling ordinance is poorly written and is vague in many areas. If not for concerned residents, the city would have granted this permit. Given the ratio described above in this one application, one can only imagine how many drilling permits have been granted in Fort Worth that should not have been.

The council wants to wait until after City Council elections to amend the gas drilling ordinance. I wonder why?

-- Sheila M. Purdy, Fort Worth

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