Thirty percent of Tarrant County gas wells weren’t inspected

by Steve Smith of of West and Clear

So, I found out in my Star-Telegram this morning that I had more inspections when I remodeled my house than many gas drillers have on their gas wells. In fact, 30 percent of the gas wells operating in Tarrant County in the past five years were never inspected.

If you haven’t read this story yet, I encourage you to do so. You can see for yourself that the vast majority of gas drilling in Tarrant County through October of 2007 has occurred outside of Loop 820. Increasingly, this drilling is going to move inside the Loop and into the urban core of Fort Worth where the consequences of an accident could be much higher. Are we to expect that only 70 percent of wells inside the Loop will be inspected? Maybe I’m being unrealistic here, but I expect the percentage to be a little higher. Like, say, 100 percent.

And even inspections aren’t foolproof — of the three well blowouts in the past five years in Tarrant County, all had been inspected.

So what are we to do? For starters, demand accountability now.

One aspect of the S-T story that I believe was underplayed was the amount of money that members of the Texas Railroad Commission have taken from the industry they are supposed to regulate. How is it that commissioners can take hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industries they are supposed to regulate and it is not front page news? Of course, our own Mayor is swimming in money earned from the oil and gas industry, but this is sidebar material, too? So the two entities that have the most sway over gas drilling decisions in Fort Worth are free to take money from gas drillers and still regulate their activities? And don’t forget that the S-T reported last year that state inspectors are free to take gifts and lunches from gas drilling companies, so it seems everyone gets a place at the trough.

Fort Worth, it is up to you to demand accountability from your elected officials. Please sign the petition demanding an immediate moratorium on high-impact gas drilling in the city of Fort Worth and the creation permanent citizens committee for gas drilling issues.

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