Thursday, January 7, 2010

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Or One Of His Lackeys Thinks I'm A Clueless Reactionary

Yesterday I blogged about finding the 6 water pumps you see in the picture at the Trinity River's edge by Gateway Park and Beach Street.

It is my contention that the corruption in Fort Worth, in the Tarrant Regional Water District and in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, has created a situation where the gas driller companies have been given carte blanche to steal as much water as they need, without following the criteria spelled out in excruciating detail in "The Rights to Surface Water in Texas" document put out by the TCEQ.

In the TCEQ document you will find no mention of the conditions under which Texas surface water can be taken by gas drillers. There is one mention made of exceptions from the usual use rules made at times for oil drilling operations.

In the TCEQ document there is plenty of information that reinforces my belief that what is being done with the Trinity River water is not true to the laws of this state that govern water use.

A watermaster is supposed to oversee every aspect of unusual water uses. What the gas drillers are doing to the Trinity requires permits, it requires inspections, it requires metering, it requires determining the amount of water to be taken, it requires monitoring the water levels downstream, it requires all sorts of things that I do not believe are being done in Tarrant County due to the collusion between the industry being regulated and those who's job it is to do the regulating.

Ironically, I came to read the TCEQ document due to a link to it being included in one of my favorite blogging comments I've received in some time, it being from the ubiquitous Anonymous, commenting to yesterday's blogging about the 6 pumps getting ready to, I believe, take Trinity River water illegally.

I will copy the Anonymous comment below. My responses to the various, uh, "points," will be in bold.

You honestly have no clue. Yes it can be upsetting to see pipes coming out of the Trinity for gas drilling, but where else are they going to get it? I'd rather the gas companies take water from an untreated source than a treated source.

I honestly admit I have no clue, due to the fact that the gas drilling operations, as regards water pumping, are not done in a transparent manner. Where is the public notice that such is taking place at Beach Street/Gateway Park? Where is the posted permit? The majority of the public is clueless due to the fact that their local government operates way too much in secrecy.

To say that the drillers are getting a steep discount is just plain disingenuous.

Really? Yes, I can see where I am the one being disingenuous here. Mayor Mike, is this you? One of your lackeys? Can you tell me where the information is posted as to how much the gas drillers are paying for the amount of water they estimate they need to suck out of the Trinity River at the Beach Street/Gateway Park location? How much have the gas drillers paid so far for all the water they have sucked from the Trinity to date? Where is that information posted?

The TRWD owns the permit and has the right to sell to others - and they keep track of where it all goes.

Yes, as I understand it is the TCEQ which grants watermaster rights to various entities. Then the TCEQ is supposed to oversee those watermasters to make sure they are conforming to the guidelines as set by the State of Texas.

So, where are the public records of the water rights that the TRWD has sold to the gas drillers, that they keep such diligent track of? I mean, the TRWD operates in the same area where millions of dollars have been lost track of by other keepers of the public trust, like the City of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth School Districts.

But, unlike those other keepers of the local public trust, I'm sure the TRWD keeps immaculate records and knows precisely how much water they've sold to gas drillers and how much money had been paid for that water. Can I have that information please?


Rather than be reactionary, why don't you educate your self a little more? You are doing nothing but getting people worked up - and to what use?

To what use? I don't know. Maybe to cause a light beam to shine on this place that causes the local corrupt cockroaches to scurry for cover. Yes, I can see how if I educated myself a little more I would be less reactionary. No, wait a second, the way it actually works, is the more I know about how corrupt so much of what goes on in this zone is, the more strident and more reactionary and more disgusted I get.

I must say it pleases me to hear I am getting people worked up. And here I've been thinking I've been shouting into an empty cave..


The city issues the drilling permits and inspects the site during drilling. If there are problems with site conditions, bring it up to them. I'm sure they'll make sure it gets remedied.

The subject of the blogging, to which you commented, was water thieving from the Trinity River, not problems with gas drilling sites or this city issuing those permits. But, nice obfuscation there. Since I see you really haven't been able to answer any of my questions about the water thieving, not in a show me the proof, as in facts, permits and numbers sort of way.

Furthermore, the revenues generated go directly back in to managing the Trinity - do you think all that mowing, dredging, or cleaning is free?

Now, let me see if I understand this point correctly. Until water started being stolen, and allegedly paid for by gas drillers, the Trinity River levees were unmowed, undredged and unclean?

Well, let me just say this, if the level of cleanliness in that litter strewn river is due to the gas driller's water payments, the fee really needs to go way up, because there is not enough money being spent removing the tons of litter.

Okay, I'm out of bold mode now. What I am wondering now is why someone would go to the bother of pointing me to that TCEQ document that only reinforced my belief that something is very awry with how water issues are being dealt with here?

If I am wrong about what I assert, why not point me to one fact, one permit, one item that let's me know that what I characterize as the theft of water from the Trinity River, by gas drillers, due to the sweetheart deal between that industry and their installed lackeys in Fort Worth's City Government and the other regulating bodies like the TCEQ and the TRWD, is wrong?

I don't mind being shown I'm wrong about something.

So, show me the facts, the numbers, the permits and the records kept, regarding the water taken and how much has been paid for it. Shut me up with some real information, not dumb stuff like telling me I have no clue, am reactionary and need to educate myself a little more.

Methinks my supposed lack of education is not where the problem lies in this particular scenario.

9 comments:

Cheap Tricks and Costly Truths said...

Show me the PERMIT! I'm with you, I want to see proof. Talk is cheap, I should know, it's all I can afford.

Do you think then, since these drillers, stealers of Trinity water, don't have to have a permit, then I could take some water from the Trinity as well? I'm trying to grow a vegetable garden and am in desperate need of water.

Oh, and I concur, doesn't seem that the extra revenue supposedly being paid for stealing the Trinity water by the drillers has done much to alleviate the litter problem. When we were there on Saturday, tres dirty.

And now I'm ALL WORKED UP...thanks, darlin'

Jovan Gonzales said...

Hey, you should call Rick Carroll, the senior land agent for TRWD at (817) 335-2491 ext.224 He seems to be the guy in charge of issuing all the permits for water usage within the TRWD lands, and I'm sure you could coax him into getting you details of the water stealing! If he doesn't then that's when I'd really be concerned about the water leaching. Do we know what company is responsible for the pipes and such? Do you think a worker would be willing to tell you which company it's for? If nothing else, maybe someone can so some forensic accounting and such to find out who listed has recently listed the TRWD as an insurance addition for the duration of the water stealage. Water permits for commercial use require that TRWD be listed as an insurance inclusion. According to what the TRWD has posted, only .75% of the water that they sell goes to gas ... that's still more than I want going to them, haha. Get on it Dango: Investigative Specialist. I'm not all about phone calls, or I would do it. Also, the damage done to the levees HAS to be repaired by either the City or the Company. If they don't, then the City risks losing certification of the levees and everyone within a newly drawn 100-year flood zone would have to pay drastically higher insurance premiums...bad news for places within the flood zone. Take more pictures next time, because if the damage is extensive enough, you could send those pictures in to the Army Corps and have them get involved. If they can stall a multi-million dollar bridge, they can stall a multi-billion dollar company from ruining the levee any further. Egh, that was a lot of writing, ha!

Steve A said...

Your Washington roots are showing. Were the Alamo defenders from Washington?

Anonymous said...

Keep swinging the hammer of truth, Durango.

I feel foolish for believing what the gas drillers were saying when all this gas production was beginning in Fort Worth. Dirty old town indeed.

Philip Hennen said...

Good work, Durango. Thanks for your diligence. Maybe we'll eventually get some answers (although we might not like the answers).

Don Young said...

While you're at it, ask to see the meter that measures how much water they are taking. Are they on the honor system or what? Also, what effect does this have on wildlife including turtles, fish, etc. who live in the river? When they did this the first time back in 2007, I saw and photographed a beautiful but dead soft-shell turtle that had been sucked into their water sucking machine and was spit back onto the ground like a piece of trash. I hope those responsible suffer equally for their crimes, starting with Moncrief.

Durango said...

CT2----
Sorry I got you all worked up again.

Jovo---
Thank you for your info. It pointed me to some interesting blogging fodder.

Steve A---
I've got Crockett blood in me. Great-great-great-great Grandaddy was Davy Crockett.

Philip---
I hope you are right. Answers are always a good thing.

Anonymous---
I've always been good with a hammer. Used to be in construction.

DY---
If I get the chance I'll ask the questions you want answered.

LoveCanal2020 said...

Go Get em Durango! Nice work!

Another loophole you might want to investigate that they do up my way, is when a certain factory or other entity SELLS their permit to the gas drilling companies. The water that the gas industry removes is then not "charged" to the gas company, but to the "other industry". Then the drillers can later claim that their industry used less water then they REALLY did. The drillers might even get a loophole on the disposal of the water too, depending how the records are kept.

Cheap Tricks and Costly Truths said...

Out in my part of Texas, that loop hole for water disposal is dumping tanker contents on back county roads in the cover of darkness. Saves lots of time and money!!!