Tuesday, October 15, 2013

David vs. the Gas Giant

Tonight at the Arlington City Council meeting, it was David vs. the Gas Giant:XTO.  XTO, who has never been denied any request they have made of Arlington, as far as we can tell.  Well tonight, for perhaps the first time ever, they were.  People in Mansfield do it too!  So you should totally give it a try!" 
David won!  The people won.  What did we win?  Less opportunity for us to be physically harmed by XTO, our next door industrial processing plant.  Some people ask me, "What's it like living next door to an Heavy Industry plant?"  Well, they don't really, yet.  But they will.  And I will say, "Oh, everyone's doing it, its the coolest. 

You may remember in my last gas related post about the Zoning Board meeting, I mentioned that we lost the battle, but we would win the war.  The Zoning Board meeting was a setup, but God, to see if I would call on Him to fight for me tonight.  And for once, I did.  Now I want everyone to know up front, I'm not bragging about me on this.  I'm not the best Christian role model.  yeah, I prayed all the way to work today, but I don't do that very often.  And I didn't pray much on the way to the meeting, although it WAS short and sweet.  Let me back up a bit and explain why.

Last night I wrote out my two minute speech to deliver in front of the Arlington City Council tonight, where they were to vote on the recommendation that the Zoning board made to them, which was to allow XTO the freedom to construct and deconstruct ad nauseum a frac pool near my house.  Here is what I wrote:


Good evening. Paul Ulrich of 6803 Country Creek Dr.  In the two minutes I have before you tonight, I'm asking you to do whatever you can to block XTO from having the unfettered ability to repeatedly construct and deconstruct a 2 million gallon pool less than 400 feet from my residence.  Which might be nice, if I could swim in it!  Only West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes will be able to.  Unlike most people involved in this matter, I have no monetary motivation to be here.  I'm here to prevent you from mistakenly turning Arlington into a Cesspool.  This Pool, is a Cesspool!  And if you don't vote it down, the legacy you are leaving behind is that of allowing XTO the ability run roughshod all over the residents of Arlington unchecked; you are turning Arlington into a cesspool!
The zoning board vote would have been against this change if my petition had been accepted, alas, I live200 feet farther than was necessary for this.
At the zoning board meeting, I mentioned that the operator of this well has been a bad actor in this community.  I have with me here proof; pictures of drill mud spurting up through my yard, indeed, up through every crevice in my block.  Why is there no record of this?
If this large scale contamination event can go unrecorded, worse will surely follow.  Your legislation has not protected me and my family. Please start protecting us!  My children used to play in the yard, now I dare not let them delve  into the unknown brew of chemicals which permeate the land still.  In 2006, before the drilling began, neighborhood children frolicked in the streets.  Today, the smart people have moved away to cities which have not allowed drilling in their backyards, such as Cedar Hill and Southlake.  Now, I know Arlington will never be on the level of these fine cities, but do you have to turn it into a cesspool?  Remember, This Pool is a CESS POOL!
Thank you for your time, if you would like a copy of these pictures, please raise your hand and I'll bring them to you.  Are there any questions?

While that speech was certain to be stirring, it wasn't written by God.  I forgot to ask Him to write it!  So I gave it my best shot.  I needed something, and quick.  Then today about 4 I get a call from the Fish Creek Monitor people who said that tonight's meeting was going to be a lost cause because they had seen the afternoon meeting of the council on TV, and they were all positing the merits of above ground frac pools, laughing and joking all the way.  The forecast was not good.  So I rewrote my little speech a bit to hone in on some things that I thought would make a better impact on the decision, and that is when I got the idea to use my engineering expertise and try to poke as many holes in the amendment as I could from a rational standpoint.  After all, the city council likes to make rational decisions based on logic and reasoning, not purely emotion.  So I whipped out my pencil and came up with this:

Good evening. Paul Ulrich of 6803 Country Creek Dr.  In the two minutes I have before you tonight, I'm asking you to do whatever you can to block XTO from having the unfettered ability to repeatedly construct and deconstruct a 2 million gallon pool less than 400 feet from my residence. 

 Unlike most people involved in this matter, I have no monetary motivation to be here.  I'm here to prevent you from mistakenly turning Arlington into a Cesspool.  This Pool, is a Cesspool!  And if you don't vote it down, the legacy you are leaving behind is that of turning Arlington into a cesspool! 

The zoning board vote would have been against this change if my petition had been accepted, alas, I live 200 feet farther than was necessary for this.

At the meeting, I mentioned that the operator of this well has been a bad actor in this community.  I have with me here proof; pictures of drill mud spurting up through every crevice in my block.  The same inept people who allowed this accident to happen are going to be in charge of making sure this frack pond is installed properly?! 

  To recap, you are considering letting a company which has:
- increased ground subsience in the area, damaging roads, sidewalks, and foundations
- increased air pollution in the area, allegedly killing at least 5 people
- contaminated millions of tons of soil with undisclosed chemicals
- instigated the formation of sinkholes under roads and sidewalks
To Install a 2 million gallon above ground pool in my backyard as many times as they wish. At the least, please consider amending to only allow this to occur once, and for the pool to remain up for a short time period.  There are too many problems in this deal. 
Every time this thing is reassembled, there is yet another chance for them to assemble it improperly. (they have already demonstrated incompetence)
Have you even considered what would happen if a car hits the pool? Or the fact that Ice/Freezing can easily crack the structure? What if the now common Sinkholes open under one of the walls?

When it does fail, it will release 16,680,000 pounds of water at 804 psi of hydrodynamic force, knocking down my neighbors fences and flooding their homes. 
So far, your legislation has not protected me and my family. Please start protecting us from this clear and present danger! 

In 2006, before the drilling began, neighborhood children frolicked in the streets.  Today, the smart people have moved away to cities which have not allowed drilling in their backyards, such as Cedar Hill and Southlake.  Now, I know Arlington will never be on the level of these fine cities, but do you have to turn it into a cesspool?  Remember, This Pool is a CESS POOL!

Thank you for your time, if you would like a copy of these pictures, please raise your hand and I'll bring them to you.  Are there any questions?


Certainly better, but not quite written by the Hand of God.  But it was the best I could do at the time, so I printed that out and directions and got ready to leave.  I wanted to make sure I wouldn't forget my speech, so I saved a back up copy on my flash drive, just in case (although I'd have no way to read the file).  Then I headed out, papers in hand, to drive to the meeting.  On the way out, I prayed, and I thought to myself that this is like David going up against Goliath.  And it was.  But I prayed for Gods will to be done either way.  I'd fight, and if He wanted to stop the drilling, He'd do it (although it was a long shot!). 
Funny thing happened as I pulled out onto the street - I noticed the papers were no where in sight.  What happened to them?  They were in my hand when I left the building.  I looked for them a few times in the car, but sure enough, they weren't there.  But I didn't panic like I usually would have.  I just continued on my way, and prayed all the more for God to speak through me, and give me words to say.  I had a peace now that I didn't have before.  I actually didn't care that I was going to go up there without a speech ready.  I'd wing it if I had to.  But when I got there and got it, I thanked God that he had at least allowed me to put those pictures in my bag, because they came in handy later.  I handed them to the secretaries, then sat down and after the pledge and the mayor handing out his proclamations, I started to write down what God wanted me to say, and here is how it came out.  I give these to you so you can see the progression.  I think it helps believers to see other believers working out their faith, struggling within themselves to be the kind of Christians we have been called to be:
Paul Ulrich, 6803 Country Creek Dr.
I'm asking you to vote against SUP-08-32R2 for too many reasons to list here today.  Please note that if my petition opposing theis SUP amendment had been accepted by your staff, we would not be here tonight discussing this issue, because it wouldn't have recieved enough votes.  Alas, my property is slightly outside the 200' radius  your staff allowed.  
IF you would, please refer to the picturs I submitted earlier, which depicts drill mud spurting up through every crack on my block.  If you vote for SUP-08-32R2, you are allowing the same company which caused this large scale contamination event to repeatedly construct/deconstruct a 2 million gallon above ground pool in my back yard.  Every time they do this, there is another opportunity for a mistake to be made.  Ever since gas drilling started in my neighborhood, sink holes have become commonplace.  I personally witnessed a 9 foot deep sinkhole develop less than 1500 feet from the proposed frac pool.  If a sink hole twelve feet deep were to develop under the wall of this pool, the liner would fall into the hole and water would gush out, 16,800,000 pounds of water at 806 pounds per square inch of hydrostatic force.  An earthquake would have the same effect.  Also, if the water were to freeze, it would expand, cracking the walls.  This Amendment would allow the pool to be constructed and deconstructed as many times as they wish.  At the very least, this should be allowed only as a one time construction.  I see too many issues with the design and management and oversight of this pool, in my backyard.   
I was then asked to point out on that map where my property was, and luckily enough, it was on the map on the screen, in the upper left corner.  Now that speech wasn't as toasty as my last one, wasn't as fluid, or oratorical.  I didn't use the captivating intonations, and I frequently lost my spot on the page.  I pretty much just read from the paper, looking up only a few times.  I forgot to ask if they had any questions, and on my way back to my seat, I dropped a few papers.  I wasn't as well dressed or sassy as at the Zoning board meeting.  I didn't provoke my fellow neighbors to obnoxious clapping, or make noises such as "Yes!" and "Sho nuf!" or whatever I said last time.  Nobody did.  It was a different tone.  A tone of peace filled the air.  I guess it was the shalom of the creator. 
After all ten of us were done speaking, they asked Walter Duease if he had a rebuttal, and of course he did.  He'd have been smarter to just say no ad let a vote, but such a man is when he's not led by the spirit.  So he tried his best to address our comments, and I noticed that whenever it came to the talk about the hazardous chemicals, he got a little edgy.  I think it is because he knows we have him there, and these chemicals are doing immense damage to every thing.  Everyone it seems I talk to about this is saying how they don't like the smells around the well.  People in Arlington and Mansfield are complaining about the obnoxious odors and smells coming from the plant.  Clouds of thick sweet smelling gas drift through the neighborhood.  In Dallas they are considering not allowing any drilling within 1500 feet of any residence.  But I wonder, is that far enough?  I mean, just because you have increased the likelihood of noxious gas to be more dispersed before it is smelled, why not just stop it from coming out in the first place?  do we really want to increase the amount of cancerous agents in the air?  By the way, the industrial site in my backyard uses all kinds of fun stuff such as diesel fuel and benzene. 
But I digress, back to the meeting.  The board  began a series of probing questions about this, which means they are actually considering it.  I think the fact that there were 13 people there about this issue, all opposing it, when there are usually 0, had a positive impact on them.  And when they started to think about it and pick it apart, they saw no good reason to grant this superfluous request. It boiled down to, even though the board likes the above ground pools as opposed to the in ground ones (I do too, by the way, if they are done properly), the only reason for XTO to have the pool and a pond on the site was so they could decrease the time it takes for them to drill a stage of a well from 2 days to 1.  It would lessen the impact of the fracking, they said. 
       Well I say, although above ground pools are less likely to cause contamination, no pools would be even better.  And drilling a stage for 0 seconds would be preferable to a day, any way you slice it.  So why not stop the insanity?
      So councilwoman Capehart put forth a motion to cancel the SUP amendment, and it was seconded, and then voted on.  And you know how when God shows up, He shows up Big?  Well, it was unanimous.  AGAINST the amendment.  A first in the history of the council.  But you know what, it was weird, because I kind of expected it.  Whole thing was weird, it was like when I was talking, I couldn't interject my own thoughts into it, all I could do was read what was written.  I couldn't stray from it to the right or the left.  Of course, if you're a believer, you know why! 
 To summarize:  God showed up and Big Oil left sad, complaining that we never come to their community meetings to discuss this stuff ahead of time. 
Well why should we, so you can lie to us more than you already have?  It would be like talking to a brick wall.  I know you make too much money from this to listen to my concerns, and I have too much common sense to listen to your lies. 

2 comments:

MYtoeSPACEpillow said...

Thank you Paul-I’ve been hacking at council for a good three years now-tonight I almost missed the meeting and would have deeply regretted missing that Shalom moment we all felt!

Paul Ulrich said...

Thank you for your comment. Shalom my friend.

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