Posted on 10/04/2009 6:45:32 AM PDT by Dysart
WESTWORTH VILLAGE -- On 20 acres all but hidden between the flows of both Texas 183 and Farmers Branch Creek, Deborah Rogers runs a farm, complete with dozens of goats, a few chickens, dogs, even peacocks, all of whom live peaceably in the shade of giant oak stands.
It has been an idyllic existence for her.
Until this year.
The change came in the form of two laboratory reports she commissioned this spring and summer showing toxic and irritant pollutants on her property.
Carbon disulfide. Dimethyl disulfide. Methyl ethyl disulfide. Methyl propyl disulfide.
In a lengthy lab report that also detailed the presence of toxins such as benzene, chloroform and toluene, nine specific disulfides stood out because they far exceeded the state’s levels for investigating adverse effects, both for short-term and long-term exposure.
"This didn’t mean anything to me in the beginning," Rogers said. "I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at."
Rogers, along with some air-quality experts, now question whether those disulfide compounds are a byproduct of nearby natural gas drilling operations, such as when gas is released into the air through processes known as flaring or venting.
Coincidentally, one of her air-quality tests was conducted May 25, the same day a Chesapeake Energy well was flaring, or burning off natural gas, about three-quarters of a mile away from her house off Texas 183.
Disulfide compounds turned up again, in greater concentrations, less than two weeks ago in a study done by the same firm in the city of Dish in Denton County, site of numerous natural gas compressor stations. That air sampling study showed elevated levels of pollutants and toxics, such as benzene, xylene, carbon disulfide and dimethyl disulfide.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
So technically how do we clean up the gas for production after the water makes a mess of it? Gas to Oil Anyone (GTL) ?
So we're to believe this lady spend her money to commission a study that she had no idea as to what it might prove or disprove? C’mon, no one orders and pays for a study unless they have some idea as to what they expect to find. Sounds to me like someone went to her and agreed to pay for the study if she would do it in her name.
Betcha good money it was one of the environmental groups that delight in finding ways to discredit any and all steps that might provide some degree of energy independence for America.
bttt
It has been an idyllic... Until this year.
toxic and irritant pollutants...
Perhaps it is the Carbon disulfide. Dimethyl disulfide. Methyl ethyl disulfide. Methyl propyl disulfide.
or, perhaps its just being inundated by the stench of acorns, in this very acornish year.
0.833 parts per billion benzene is 0.000833 parts per million. It’s great to have all this modern technology that allows us to analyze down to the nat’s ass so we can strain at nats.
it would seem that (minus the water and sand) these same combustion byproducts of NG are coming out of the chimneys and exhaust pipes of every end-use of NG, albeit in lesser per-source amounts
Even worse I’ll bet one of the byproducts is Dihydrogen Monoxide. That stuff will kill you.
About 650 feet from Deborah Rogers’ home, a gas drilling site is being prepared. That led her to have environmental tests conducted. S-T/RODGER MALLISON
It looks like when you smell something in the air, sensitive lab tests are going to detect it too.
Mix it with Scotch and you will be fine.
Probably true no matter who paid for it.
Look out T. Boone, the enviros are coming after you! Yes, even you, despite your wind farms which generate electricity that goes nowhere because of no transmission lines. Yes, you, despite all those attempts to convert government cars and trucks to NatGas to clean up the environment.
You are learning all that concern by the enviros has nothing to do with the environment or You. It has to do with stopping American progress. They promote technologies that are likely to be a waste of time and money such as ethanol, which uses more petrol than it replaces, wind, wave energy, hydrogen, and solar. If any proved a success, which is unlikely, they would find a way to shut it down.
If they are not careful, however, some American entrepreneur will drop something new on them that will work before they can stop it.
>> Betcha good money it was one of the environmental groups that delight in finding ways to discredit any and all steps that might provide some degree of energy independence for America.
Or a trial lawyer. Sounds to me like someone who isn’t doing too well in the ranching bidness, is pissed that she isn’t getting mineral rights, and wants some easy dough.
Bingo.
Ma’am, flaring is only allowed for 10 days.It is necessary to test the gas for content (is it sellable or does it require treatment and processing) and pressure characteristics so the people or companies that have RISKED millions of dollars and employed scores of people (yes, real jobs) can determine if it is economically feasible to construct additional facilities and lay a pipeline to bring gas to heat your homes and cook your food and create your power to turn on your lights and AC.
Those horrible greedy oil and gas companies.
Oh,yes, the wind blows and it goes away.
Sorry, haven’t read the article - yet. Just some of the comments. But I have to say that, her in Western pa, in my area, we have hundreds of gas wells sunk in the 1980’s and we’ve never ever had a problem.
Amen to that! That's first thing I began looking for, a link to some wacky tree huggin org.
Still looking for clues to the origins.
One of our Republican State Reps is looking to drill for our natural gas resources to bring in jobs and get our state out of debt.
http://www.repdavereed.net/ (read below the pics)
Will the dem governor, “Fast Eddie” Rendell, go for it? Probably not.
Incidentally, the lady in the article is a whining, complaining boob. We gave several gas wells close by, and they are not a problem.
More banana bull stuffing.
Stone age, here we come.
She is almost certainly getting RICH from the lease bonus and royalty payments, so why shold she complain?
Hey, I have a natural gas well in the woods on the other side of the hill on which I live. I hike past it on a regular basis. It smells. So? There are gas wells all over my county. We’re smack dab in the middle of the Marcellus shale formation and more wells will certainly be drilled. The local economy is counting on it. Watch the environmentalists shut it all down.
Her concerns may well prove to be unfounded but it is amusing to me that folks who don’t have gas well operations in their own backyard are so quick to dismiss any potential hazard out of hand and seemingly elevate corporate interests over personal liberty. I find no fault with this lady’s concerns. BTW, I’ve had a well site near my property (a speedy operation at that) and collected royalties. Nobody has dropped dead around here nor have I seen lizards with 6 heads crop up but a little vigilance isn’t necessarily a bad thing— esp when billions are at stake.
Or , rather, the lack thereof.
Having done real estate-related work for years, that was the first thing that I thought of.
That stuff is lame. Try hydrogen hydroxide on for a wild ride.
They are already prosperous. She runs a small semi-secluded farming operation on family property and did not choose this concern strictly for the money. Obviously.
Key paragraph from this story:
“Chesapeake officials said the presence of benzene, toluene and xylene could have come from multiple sources, identifying Lockheed Martin, Naval Air Station Fort Worth and vehicle traffic as likelier sources, and they reject that disulfide compounds are part of the Barnett Shale.”
Chesapeake has a very valid point here...I know..I live just a few miles away and know where Westworth Village is..which is right by the Air Force Base and Lockheed..where jets are taking off almost every single day and the test firing of engines goes on almost every other week. You can hear the roar for miles. This woman likely smells money..plain and simple.She knows she can’t get money out of Lockheed or the naval station because of grandfather clauses protecting them, so she is going after Chesapeake. If the air samples were taken on a day where any of these things happened at Lockheed or the joint reserve...the test results are skewed. The Barnett Shale has been a godsend to Fort Worth and I might add, so has Lockheed and the Naval Air Station. People like this woman make me sick frankly. If she doesn’t like it..she should move.
I concur about the dangers of DHMO. It is a killer!
The threat of DHMO is well-covered here:
I’ll be the first to say it: Not guilty!
I used to live right near the base too and would watch the Thunderbird show each year by the pool & sipping wine coolers. :) Worked at GD before it became Lockheed.
Barnett Shale is a big deal all over the Metroplex. My maiden name was Barnett. . . wonder IF I could trace it back to my dear OLD Uncle Sam who was a lease hound just a little west of Fort Worth for DECADES. LOL I can only dream & wish it were true. :)
Perhaps you might wish to provide us with a teensy-weensy hint as to where this is.
OK, my bad. It is in the first sentence (I tend to skim too much). Nevertheless, one should put it up front in the headline.
Honestly..you should do some research at the courthouse in FW. If you now live somewhere else(and have no family here anymore) and they could not find you when they were writing up leases, you may have some money coming to you. If you need help, freepmail me. I have a family member who works for Chesapeake’s competitor as a landman and can easily look up any info you may need.
Poison in the air in TX? Guess that’s why so many people from other states are moving here. We are being invaded down here. Someone needs to tell Mexico so these illegals quit coming across our borders too.
WESTWORTH VILLAGE — On 20 acres all but hidden between the flows of both Texas 183 and Farmers Branch Creek
Hmmm ... quantities measured in the PPB (parts per billion) range?
How _low_ can you go with a well next door! I would have to say right off hand those numbers are low for an operation only hundreds of feet away ...
My bedroom was full of methane this morning.
Smashing. You should set up a lease rights to yourself. Or offer royalties to a friend if you can coax one in there...make it all worthwhile you know.
I would guess taht she also has sold her mineral rights to the company that is drilling close to her home and that is how she paid for the study.
Thanks, I might take you up on that. I have my Father (age 73) still in Arlington, my Mom passed away 3 years ago. A brother in Aledo and a sister on the Arlington/Grand Prairie line. My Uncle Sam did lots of leasing and working with landmen for years and years, 60’s - late 80’s, I think he passed away in early 1998.
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