Where are the Barnett Shale lawsuits?

by Don Young of FWCanDo

Every night before going to bed I always say my prayers. For the past two years, I have repeatedly petitioned the Lord to, "Please, Lord, let somebody in the Barnett Shale sue somebody. Why has it taken so long?", I implore. "Why wait for the BIG accident to happen? Besides, you know what they say about death by a thousand tiny cuts?"

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief and others with impure motives claim that we have no choice. That we must allow the gas drillers into our neighborhoods. We must let people access their minerals, and right now, or they will sue us to Kingdom Come. Texas law protects the drillers, blah, blah, blah... You are getting sleepy... Texas law protects mineral owners... Are you numb yet...? Are you dumb yet?

Awhile back, the city of Bedford, Texas, passed a gas drilling ordinance with a 600' setback, similar to Fort Worth. But, Bedford is almost totally "built out." There is simply no room for a gas rig with a 600' setback. Drilling fanatics claimed that Chesapeake, or whomever, would sue.

Where's the lawsuit?

At least two Fort Worth neighborhoods have stopped the drilling (with a biggie pending in TCU). Still, no lawsuits. Are gas driller threats just that? Intimidation techniques designed to scare people? Do they fear that old mineral rights law not intended for heavily populated urban centers might face a serious challenge if anyone dared sue?

We need to find out.

According to my dear old friend, Leopold Dilg, "What is the law? It's a gun pointed at somebody's head. All depends upon which end of the gun you stand, whether the law is just or not."

Amen! Praise the Lord. Now I see the light!

Read more about the Bedford case in the current issue of the Fort Worth Business Press.