Christmas Week Off to a Rumbling Start in North Texas

Two more earthquakes struck near the town of Azle outside of Fort Worth over the weekend, both measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale. One struck late Sunday morning, the other Monday morning. The area, in Parker and Tarrant counties, has seen a swarm of over twenty quakes since the beginning of November, troubling residents and causing minor damage to some homes.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is not known as a seismically active area. Before 2007, there was no recorded earthquakes in the area. Since that time, there have been hundreds.

The quakes are thought to be linked to the disposal of wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling. Peer-reviewed scientific studies of other swarms of quakes to the south in Johnson County and around the Dallas-Fort Worth airport have pointed the finger directly at disposal wells, where that wastewater is sent deep underground. Quakes in other states like Oklahoma, Ohio and Arkansas also have been scientifically linked to oil and gas wastewater disposal wells. The science behind the phenomenon has been known since the 1960s.

Now, the manmade quakes finally appear to have gotten the attention of Texas’ oil and gas regulator, the Railroad Commission of Texas.

While the commission has consistently responded to quakes in North Texas and other parts of the state by saying links to oil and gas wastewater disposal are hypothetical, next week a Railroad Commissioner will host a town hall meeting in Azle to talk about the most recent swarm.

A release from RRC commissioner David Porter’s office says at the meeting “he will listen to residents’ concerns and outline what he plans to do as Texas Railroad Commissioner” at a town hall meeting at Azle High School on January 2. Other regional officials are expected to participate as well. This is the first time that we know of where an official from the commission has acknowledged that the agency can do something to respond to the quakes.

The city of Azle is working to coordinate a response as well. From their website:

“City Staff have been in contact with geologists and state and federal officials to see if a determination can be made as to why this sudden appearance of earthquakes in the Azle area. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) officials are working with researchers at Southern Methodist University to position digital seismographs in the Azle area to help pinpoint more accurate locations for the epicenters of the quakes since the closest monitoring instrument is about 60 miles away.”

In a few other cases in Texas where disposal wells have been linked to manmade quakes, operators have voluntarily ceased or reduced disposal in response. In the map above, you can see where the quakes have struck during the latest swarm, as well as the location of disposal wells in the area.

The town hall meeting will be held Tuesday, January 2:
Date: Thursday, January 2, 2014
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Azle High School Auditorium, 1200 Boyd Rd, Azle, TX 76020

Welcome to Texas

Government land heist for private developer.

Surprisingly, they aren't talking about Tarrant County. This one is in the Hill Country.

Starting to smell like Tarrant County though.

What about when government steals private property for its own gain, outside any perceptible public use? Apparently, there is no such protection for Texans.

All of this sewage will be flowing downhill a few hundred feet from an elementary school.

Read all about it in Government land heist for private developers in Texas Hill Country.

And the largest water boondoggle in the U.S. is...

What else? The Trinity River Vision.

We didn't read the article (you can here on the FW Biz Press) we read Clyde's take on it and the title.

That's all we needed to know.

Jack Z Smith got it part right. The IPL project is BIG, EXPENSIVE, and pumps a lot of water to Dallas and Tarrant counties in the distant future - or does it? Maybe Mr. Smith should go to Washington (DC) as he seems to like big everything and a lot of spending, your money of course. Apparently Mr Smith hasn't read TRWD's own documents. A couple of salient quotes therefrom would seem to say that Dallas would indeed get a lot of water at our expense but that the $2.3B pipeline would only provide water to Fort Worth in emergencies, and then only if Dallas didn't need the water. From the TRWD IPL study:" Therefore, the study recommended that TRWD tap into Lake Palestine only for maintenance activities when part of TWRD’s (sic) supply is off line or under emergency conditions (such as a pump station failure), when Dallas does not have a need for that water." Somehow that doesn't sound like water flowing from Fort Worth taps.

And then there's this quote from the IPL study: "It was not deemed practical for TRWD to use Lake Palestine except for in extreme emergencies or to compensate for the unavailability of water due to infrastructure failure or maintenance. Lake Palestine is further away than Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers and is more expensive to pump. Under severe drought conditions which would warrant TRWD needing that water, it is almost certain that Dallas would need it too, and likely at full capacity (this was confirmed with modeling). Hence, TRWD utilizing the water would increase the risk of shortages for Dallas. Therefore, it is recommended that TRWD not plan to use Lake Palestine unless one of its own sources is cut off or restricted."

Golly, Mr Smith, that almost sounds like we'll help foot a billion plus dollar pipeline and get nary a drop of water for our very, very, big financial investment. Not to worry though, for every cloud there's a silver lining. Maybe ours is that at least while we finance water for Dallas we'll get the Trinity River Vision for about the same price! Can you say Restaurant, Ice Rink, Drive in movie, Wake-board park, and Kay and JD Granger's pipe dream?

Write this on your bathroom wall: When it's yellow, let it mellow; when it's brown, flush it down.

WHO is taking the water? And WHAT are they doing with it?

Despite the devastating drought, the river authority is pursuing an application to allow it to take even more water out of the Brazos –– in fact two-thirds again as much as it currently takes. The application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality doesn’t explain to whom the water would be sold.

Concerned residents from Possum Kingdom to Lake Granbury have banded together to contest the application, which many people fear would result in further shrinkage of those lakes. The authority also sells water (from Lake Granbury) to Luminant for Squaw Creek Reservoir near Glen Rose, which provides cooling water for the Comanche Peak plant. Water levels at Squaw Creek cannot be reduced because of the need to provide consistent cooling to the plant.

Water wars in Texas are only going to get worse, as the combination of population growth and climate change puts more and more pressure on resources that are fast running out. River authorities are fighting with one another. Small towns are losing both surface water and groundwater to cities, and in some parts of the state, oil and gas drilling is taking significant amounts of water permanently out of the water cycle.
Across the state, activists, officials, industries, waterside residents, and other stakeholders are watching the Brazos case closely. Its outcome could set a precedent for whether other river authorities can claim and sell even more water from their respective rivers.

Read "Drying Up" in Fort Worth Weekly.

Tired of paying for Hike and Bike Trails where streets used to be?

YOU aren't alone.

Ask YOUR Congressman WHY YOU are being double taxed.

Hike & bike trails
Blumenauer chairs the Congressional Bicycle Caucus and is a huge advocate of Agenda 21-style ‘complete streets’ policies designed to restrict auto mobility and elevate other more politically correct modes of travel -- biking and walking. Many Americans have had their streets ripped up and reconfigured to make way for dedicated bike lanes with five foot buffers, shrinking auto capacity and using scarce road dollars for exclusive bike lanes that are seldom used. Other methods include taking out already limited street parking to make way for bicycle lanes and/or expanding sidewalks. Blumenauer's tax hike will most assuredly, at least in part, be siphoned off for bike lanes and transit.

One of the chief tenants of Agenda 21 is to restrict mobility. Complete streets policy are a big step in restricting mobility and so are toll roads. Not only do toll taxes limit the number of travelers who can use toll roads thereby restricting mobility, but in some cases, like in Texas, gas taxes are used to actually build, subsidize, or provide loan guarantees for toll projects. This misuse of gas tax double taxes motorists and makes all taxpayers foot the bill for roads they may never use or afford to drive. It’s also not truth in taxation. When people take a toll road, they think that toll pays for the road they’re driving on. That’s no longer the case.

Need legal help to get your Chesapeake royalities?

To All,

In  case you missed it The McDonald Law Firm might just be the first to come out seeking clients who feel that Chesapeake Energy has underpaid  them on their gas royalty interests. An Ad on page 5B of Sundays Fort Worth  Section advertise  a Free Analysis and Consultation ( If no recovery there is no fee )

Contact us Today 817-717-5081 http://www.dwmlawfirm.com/
address: 3100 West 7th St. Suite 230 Fort Worth, Texas76107.

After Chesapeake had the extreme nerve to attempt to underpay not only the most prominent  family in Fort Worth, the city of Arlington, and recently even the City of Fort Worth has contemplated or actually also filed a lawsuit.

Years ago even in best of times, on my speaking engagements I warned citizens that by themselves they would never know without much research and knowledge be able to tell if they were ever paid correctly for their royalty. Operators have the ability in many ways to unfairly pay royalties.

I predicted when  first reports came to light with the DFW  airport lawsuit that one day would come when law firms would be  willing to take on these cases for the masses most probably as a class action lawsuit. I believe this is  what is about to occur. My concern is 1) How much after settlement an individual residential property owner might be able to recover ( after legal fees and the attorney / law firm fees are taken from the settlement.) I was actually approached as lead of NCTCA  to do leg  work for one  law firm out of Dallas. I recommended then that they take out ads in newspapers to seek clients as I did not have the personal time to commit to their profit.

However having  said that the PLUS  is taking the likes of Chesapeake publicly to task for cheating citizens  what is rightfully owed to them.

Therefore in that spirit I am sending this information out to all I know  and ask them to make that decision for themselves if they choose to look into this offer.

Gary Hogan

How many earthquakes does it take to wake North Texas up?

20 and counting...

Since November 1....

Area earthquakes

Earthquakes (and aftershocks) that have recently been felt in North Texas:

Dec. 10 — 2.7 magnitude, east of Azle

Dec. 9 — 3.7 magnitude, north-northeast of Mineral Wells

Dec. 8 — 3.6 magnitude, north of Azle

Dec. 3 — 2.7 magnitude, north of Azle

Nov. 29 — 3.1 magnitude, near Reno

Nov. 28 — 3.6 magnitude, north of Mineral Wells

Nov. 28 — 2.8 magnitude, southwest of Jacksboro

Nov. 26 — 3.0 magnitude, Azle

Nov. 25 — 3.3 magnitude, near Azle

Nov. 23 — 2.9 magnitude, southwest of Reno

Nov. 19 — 3.6 magnitude, northwest of Azle

Nov. 19 — 2.5 magnitude, south-southwest of Reno

Nov. 19 — 2.8 magnitude, west of Azle

Nov. 13 — 2.6 magnitude, near Eagle Mountain Lake

Nov. 11 — 2.8 magnitude, near Briar

Nov. 9 — 3.0 magnitude, near Springtown

Nov. 8 — 2.4 magnitude, northwest of Azle

Nov. 7 — 2.9 magnitude, southwest of Springtown

Nov. 6 — 2.7 magnitude, south-southwest of Springtown

Nov. 5 — 2.6 magnitude, east of Reno; aftershock about 10 p.m.

Nov. 1 — 2.1 magnitude, near Richland Hills

Source: United States Geological Survey

Living in Well Hell?

Check with this guy on Facebook.

Tex Wells

Tex Wells updated his status: "I will be out sampling this Thursday-Sunday in Weatherford, Aledo, and Granbury if anyone would like to get their well tested for free. In addition to basic water quality analyses, we also collect samples for measurements of chemical used in unconventional drilling, minerals and metals, and total carbon and nitrogen analysis. Please message me if you are interested."

How many times do we have to tell you?

Don't mess with Texas Women.

Read more here...

"Oh well"

That's literally what he says as crap is sprayed into the air.

Be sure and read the comments about the meeting on the well blowout in Denton.  Sounds like a Fort Worth meeting...

New video surfaces of EagleRidge blowout in Denton, Texas.

Imagine that...

A pipeline safety expert says he wouldn't live near one---

"Just the Reality:" Pipeline Safety Official Admits He’d Avoid Buying A Home Near Pipelines Like Keystone XL

Was there a bid for that?

Tim Love made the news for not having to bid on The Woodshed restaurant.  Now that he has secured the TCU stadium gig AND the Colonial Golf Tournament, one has to ask - were those jobs posted for others to bid on?

And does Fort Worth not have a Restaurant Association?  Or a conscience?

Welcome to Texas

Where Azle schools have earthquake drills...

After the 20th earthquake.