Is The Texas Commission On Environmental Quality Issuing Permits For The Gas Drillers Taking Trinity River Water?

I had to get outside today, what with the return of blue sky and the surprising, unpredicted jump in temperature, ending our North Texas Fort Worth Deep Freeze. For now.

So, I went to Gateway Park. I had a secondary and a tertiary purpose in addition to my primary purpose, that being going on a walk.

I'll get to my tertiary purpose in a subsequent blogging. My secondary purpose for going to Gateway Park was I wanted to check on the current condition of the Barnett Shale Anonymous Natural Gas Driller's Trinity River water stealing damage to the Trinity River Levee and to see if any fresh water thieving was going on.

As you can see, it is still a muddy mess, but the water suckers have not returned.

I have a good reason this is fresh on my mind.

I was looking through the 2010-2011 Texas Almanac. Fascinating stuff in there. No real Texan should be without this Almanac.

In a section about the Texas water supply, there is a highlighted section under the title Water Regulation.

In the first paragraph it says, "In Texas, surface water belongs to the state and, except for limited amounts of water for household and on-farm livestock use, requires permits for use."

The third paragraph says, "The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is responsible for permitting and adjudicating surface-water rights and uses. It is the primary regulator of surface water and polices contamination and pollution of both surface and groundwater."

Okay, back to the Gas Drillers sucking water out of the Trinity River. I have asked, previously, if a permit is required. And if so, why is this permit not posted by where the water is being taken?

Apparently Texas law requires a permit if one takes Texas surface water. That water flowing down the Trinity River appears to me to be on the surface. Of course, I'm no expert on such matters.

I may be wrong, but I believe no permits are being required by the City of Fort Worth or the Texas Commission on Water Quality for Gas Drillers to lay down pipelines across public land and take water out of the Trinity.

I believe I've read, more than once, that the quality of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has been co-opted by having industry stooges on the Commission, thus creating a fox watching the hen house type scenario.

But, this morning I blogged about the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's new methodology enabling citizens to report suspected Natural Gas Pollution. Have the foxes been removed from this hen house? Or is the TCEQ's new found cooperativeness, with those who hope to clear the air, some sort of toothless ruse?

If the TCEQ is issuing permits to the Gas Drillers to take Trinity River water, in a perfectly legal and environmental appropriate manner, why has no one straightened me out on this? If I'm wrong and permits have been issued, I want to know.

If the TCEQ has issued permits for the Trinity River water to be taken, how much does the permit cost? How much water is allowed to be taken? If these permits exist, why are they not part of some easily accessed public record?

What I actually believe is happening is the Trinity River water is being stolen, illegally, as just one more aspect of the result you get when you have corrupt politicians in office, operating with Conflicts of Interest, giving carte blanche to the Gas Drillers to do whatever they want, for the most part, in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief rakes in more than $600,000 a year from his vested interests in the gas companies drilling holes in his town. Does Moncrief have a rather strong motivation, as in more than 600,000 strong, to look the other way when a little water is stolen? This type thing is why there are strong Conflict of Interest laws, in Texas, currently ignored in the lawless protective bubble known as Fort Worth and surrounding environs.

Fort Worth has a long and storied history of providing a safe haven for crooks. Why, Fort Worth even names its downtown collection of parking lots after a famous crook who used to hang out in downtown Fort Worth, he being The Sundance Kid and those parking lots named Sundance Square.

The Texas Conflict of Interest Laws Made Simple Enough For Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief To Understand

I have a slight problem, at times, confusing my dreams with reality. It is now obvious to me that I was dreaming when I said I had had a long talk with Fort Worth Mayor, Mike Moncrief, in which I was able to get him to understand why he is committing a serious crime with his Conflicts of Interest involving his Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Company holdings and he being mayor in a town that's getting drilled.

Apparently, I was also dreaming when I said that Moncrief had agreed to use his ill gotten gains to fund the Fosdic Lake Dam Vision.

See that dollar bill with Mike Moncrief on top of George Washington? Moncrief makes over 600,000 of those dollar bills, annually, from his holdings in each of the gas drillers drilling in Fort Worth.

Now, there are those in Fort Worth, like the city's attorney, who do not think the Conflict of Interest laws apply to Fort Worth or Mike Moncrief. Both the city attorney and Mike Moncrief apparently are ignorant of the fact that the State of Texas has quite strict, precise Conflict of Interest Laws.

The State of Texas even conveniently put an explanation of the Texas Conflict of Interest laws on a website, under the title 2010 Texas Conflict of Interest Laws Made Easy.

Made so easy, in fact, that I'm almost certain a simpleton, like Fort Worth's mayor and his city attorney might finally understand that Moncrief is breaking the law and needs to be removed from office, jailed and fined, now that the Conflicts of Interests have grown so dire with Moncrief in cahoots with a corrupt company like Chesapeake Energy in their abuse of eminent domain in a basically Nazi-like attack on Steve Doeung and the citizens on Carter Avenue.

I think I'll send a letter to the FBI today. Surely it's time the feds intervene in Fort Worth now that the political racketeering has reached its current level of corruption.

Below is a short excerpt from 2010 Texas Conflict of Interest Laws Made Easy. Read it and ask yourself how in the world the Mayor of Fort Worth and his idiot attorney can claim he has no Conflict of Interest when he owns a piece of the drilling companies and looks the other way while they steal Trinity River water, abuse eminent domain and pollute the air?

What conflict of interest laws apply to local public officials in Texas?

The general conflict of interest law for Texas city and county officials, as well as officials of other Texas political subdivisions, is found in chapter 171 of the Texas Local Government Code. Chapter 171 establishes the standard for determining when a local official has a conflict of interest that would affect the ability to discuss, decide or vote on a particular item. Chapter 171 conflict of interest provisions apply to all local public officials. Within a governmental unit, “local public officials” are defined to include:

1) elected officials such as the members of the city council or county commissioners (whether paid or unpaid); and

2) appointed officials (paid or unpaid) who exercise responsibilities that are more than advisory in nature.

It should be noted that other state and federal laws, as well as local provisions in the case of cities, may be applicable to officials in a particular situation. Whether a law is applicable depends on the activity that the official is undertaking. Officials should work with local legal counsel to determine whether their activities are subject to any such provisions. However, the general conflict of interest provision for officials remains chapter 171 of the Local Government Code.

What types of issues are covered by Texas conflict of interest laws?

Texas conflict of interest statutes do not address every conceivable conflict that may arise for a local official. In fact, chapter 171 conflict laws are generally financial in nature and only cover two types of conflicts of interest:

1) Business Entity conflicts: Conflicts due to a local official's substantial financial interest in a business entity and that has an issue before his or her governmental unit;

or

2) Real Property conflicts: Conflicts due to a local official's substantial financial interest in a real property and that would be affected by his or her governmental unit's action.

What is considered a “substantial interest” in a business entity (such that it would amount to a potential conflict of interest)?

There are four ways that a person could be deemed to have a “substantial interest” in a business entity that would raise a potential conflict of interest. A person has a substantial interest in a business entity if the person has a(n):

1) Stock interest: If the official owns 10 percent or more of the total voting stock or shares of the business entity;

2) Other ownership interest: If the official owns either 10 percent or more, or $15,000 or more, of the fair market value of the business entity;

3) Income interest: If the official received more than 10 percent of his or her gross income for the previous year from the business entity;

4) Close family member with any of the above interests: If a close relative of the local official has any of the above types of interest in a business entity. A local official is considered to have the same interest in a business entity that his or her close relatives have in that business entity. In this context, close relatives of an official would include persons who are related to the official within the first degree by consanguinity (blood) or affinity (marriage). Such relatives would include an official father, father-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, son, son-in-law and the spouse of the official.

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Agrees To Use His Ill Gotten Conflict Of Interest Gains To Fund The Fosdic Lake Dam Vision

I had a long talk with Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief this morning. That's why I've been absent from blogging world. Thank you for the concerned messages inquiring about my well being due to my absence.

It took a couple hours of going through it, step by step, but as we neared hour 3 the good mayor finally began to understand what a Conflict of Interest is and why not having Conflicts of Interest by government officials is a key part of good, honest government.

I do not understand why no one explained what a Conflict of Interest is to the good mayor, til now. Mike told me the Fort Worth City Attorney had told him he had no Conflicts of Interest. I asked the mayor why he asked the City Attorney if he had Conflicts of Interest if he did not know what a Conflict of Interest was.

The mayor said he got tired of people telling him he had a bad ethics problem due to violating Conflict of Interest laws, hence the question to the City Attorney.

After Mayor Moncrief understood why it was wrong for him to be taking over $600,000 a year from the Natural Gas Companies drilling in the Barnett Shale in Fort Worth he asked me how he could possibly make it up to the people of Fort Worth.

I told the mayor I'd estimated he'd made approximately $4 million from the Natural Gas Drillers since he became mayor.

I then told Mayor Moncrief about my Fosdic Lake Dam Vision and that I estimated the Fosdic Lake Dam Vision could be a reality for between $3 & $4 million. I suggested he bank roll the vision as a gift to the citizens of Fort Worth.

Mayor Moncrief was instantly sold on the idea of using the money he'd gotten due to his Conflicts of Interest to clean up Fosdic Lake and turn it into a swimmable, fishable, boatable lake for the people of Fort Worth.

I need to get ahold of Kay Granger and get her on board with the Fosdic Lake Dam Vision. Anyone know if she has any more unemployed kids? The Fosdic Lake Dam Vision is going to need someone to run the project.

That is a picture of one of the proposed Fosdic Lake aerators at the top.