Monday, January 28, 2013

Chesapeake Energy Is Warning Me To Call Before I Dig

In the picture you are looking over the fence of the industrial complex that was added to my zoned residential/commercial zone about a year ago.

A Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Pad Site.

You are sort of looking southwest, in the picture. The building in the background is an Alberstsons, plus some strip mall type businesses.

My neighborhood gas pad was fracked recently. I don't know if this is what caused my bout of respiratory woes, or not. What I do know is the fracking is now completed and my respiratory woes have abated.

Years ago I got myself being all cranky over Chesapeake Energy's bullying tactics regarding pumping non-odorized natural gas under homes on Fort Worth's Carter Avenue. I found myself making an anti-Chesapeake blog and joining a protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse, supporting Steve Doeung's courageous court fight against the Chesapeake Energy bully.

Steve Doeung won that fight. No non-odorized natural gas flows under Carter Avenue.

I can not say the same for the two roads closest to my abode, those being Boca Raton Boulevard and Bridgewood Drive.

In the picture on the left  you are looking at a Chesapeake Energy WARNING, letting you know you are standing above a gas pipeline. No mention is made regarding the non-odorized nature of the natural gas flowing in that pipeline.

There are multiples of these warnings, due to the newly fracked well producing non-odorized natural gas that is being pumped somewhere unknown to me.

Today, for my daily walk, I took a tour of my neighborhood, which is when I made note of the new WARNINGS.

Walking across Miss Puerto Rico's parking lot I saw little round warnings embedded into the asphalt. The pipeline runs under Miss Puerto Rico's parking lot.

In the picture on the left that little yellow round dot in the center foreground is one of the "CALL BEFORE YOU DIG" warnings.

That is the back of the aforementioned Albertsons in the upper right of the picture.

When this pipeline was placed underground at this location the racket the process made was incredibly loud. It vibrated my location quite a distance away, to the point where I felt compelled to exit my abode to find out what was making the racket.

I asked Miss Puerto Rico if the people who park above this non-odorized natural gas pipeline were given any sort of notice as to what was being installed almost in their living quarters.

No notice was given.

I doubt many of the people who live here are aware of what is being pumped beneath them.

Texas has a long history of natural gas explosions, with the most famous explosion being the big bang at the New London School which brought about adding a telltale odor to odorless natural gas.

I have blogged about the exploding natural gas issue a few times...

Stairtown Latest Texas Natural Gas Explosion and Texas Natural Gas Explosion and Carter Avenue & The New London School Explosion.

I guess that whatever it was about non-odorized natural gas that caused disastrous deadly explosions in the past has now been fixed, which would explain why it is safe for non-odorized natural gas to be flowing underground at my location....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recall hearing Steve D saying during his battle with Chesapeake, and their underlings in the city gvt., that one of the reasons he was so determined to fight against the pipeline was that if allowed on Carter St. it would make putting such pipelines in other parts of town so much easier and more common. The idea and propaganda being "it's perfectly normal, and safe, because those people on Carter St. sure didn't mind having them just a few yards from where they sleep and live".

Obviously many people did not learn from that fight. As Steve also pointed out renters are now practically third class citizens with no rights to even given notice about such dangerous activities and instrumentations, much less given any legal right to protest.

FW has turned into the proverbial frog in the slow heating pot of water, having allowed itself and its people to be run over (or run out) by Chesapeake. In contrast, folks in the northeast have stood up to Aubrey McClendon consistently and have ultimately resulted in public exposures that finally ended with Aubrey's retirement announcement on Tuesday.

Durango said...

Anonymous, I surely hope the miles upon miles of pipeline carrying non-odorized natural gas under Fort Worth never ever goes boom. But it is worrisome. As is the well-conditioned sheep-like nature of the locals, as opposed to those more feisty New York types.

Aubrey said...

I hate those dang Yankees. I luv and miss the Fort Worth Way and its sheeple. Sure hope DA Joe Shannon decides to "retire" soon so he and I, and Jim McDermott, and Mike Moncrief can have some drinks together and relive old memories of getting our way in Tarrant county.