A Giant New Barnett Shale Gas Drilling Rig Hovers Over Veterans Park In Arlington

I had to go to Arlington today. Since I had to be in Arlington I thought I'd take a walk in Veterans Park.

I was a little rattled before I turned right, off Arkansas Lane, on to Spanish Trail to see a lot of police cars, fire trucks, emergency vehicles and an awful lot of flashing lights on Arkansas Lane. With a Road Closed Sign.

I took a picture but it did not do justice to the scene.

So, I was a little distracted when I turned off Spanish Trail, on to the Veterans Park parking lot. So, I did not notice what I could not help but notice a few minutes later when I was startled to suddenly see a giant gas drilling operation fill up the horizon.

The drilling rig looked as if it was coming right out of the apartment complex across Spanish Trail from Veterans Park. I felt compelled to check it out.

I walked to the back of the apartment complex, taking pictures. The drilling rig was being very noisy, much noisier than my nearby one was when it was at this stage. But, I never got this close to my nearby rig.

A tall sound barrier, well, I assume it's a sound barrier, surrounds the drilling pad.

After I got as close as I could get I was pretty much 100% certain this drilling operation was not 800 feet from the apartments. It appeared closer to 100 feet than 800.

As I walked back towards the road I overheard a nice lady in a VW Bug ask a fellow apartment dweller if he was liking all the noise.

So, I butted into the conversation. The nice lady and gentleman told me their apartments faced the drilling rig. She said she was having trouble sleeping, that her building shook from the drilling, that the constant noise went on non-stop all day and night. Both were quite unhappy with their new neighbor.

The nice lady was very perplexed as to what could be done. I told her there were a lot of people fighting against the gas drillers. The gentleman had worked in the oil industry, so he knew how that business worked. The nice lady did not like it when I told her it gets worse, that next comes the fracking, with noisy trucks bringing in chemical laden water and a lot of dust.

The gentleman then mentioned the benzene. I mentioned the town of DISH. The nice lady didn't know there was an awful lot of very upset people who's lives have been made miserable by the out of control gas drilling industry.

I asked if they knew how close the drilling operation was to their apartments. The gentleman told me it was 40 yards.

That is 120 feet. Are the distance rules different in Arlington from Fort Worth?

What I truly do not get is how is any business for any reason is allowed to disturb a neighborhood's peace and quiet 24 hours a day, non-stop? If a private citizen did such a thing they'd be made to stop.

I'm really not against the drilling into the Barnett Shale. What I'm against is the way it's being done, the unregulated nature of it, the natural gas industry's disdain for the public's pollution concerns. Drilling 120 feet from where dozens of people reside is wrong in so many ways.

And like the nice lady said to me, "How can they do this without letting you know? Without public meetings? Who do we complain too?

I had no answers, because the really sad thing is, the government in Texas, at whatever level, really does not seem to look out for its citizens like it should. It should be a scandal. But it's not. Why? I don't know. It perplexes me.

And I have no idea which of the gas drilling culprits is committing the Veterans Park Dirty Deed. The name is usually prominently featured on the rig. But this rig was Anonymous.