8/2/2019 Trintiy East Gas Drilling Press Release 5-8-12
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For Immediate Release For More Information:
Tuesday, May 8th Zac Trahan (214) 599-7840
Claudia Meyer (972) 816-1005
City-produced map shows huge areas of Trinity River
parks have been leased for gas drilling
(Dallas)--- A new map produced by City of Dallas staff members
shows that huge swaths ofTrinity River park lands, following the
waterway from the northwest border of Dallas almost
all the way into downtown, has been leased to a company which
uses hydraulic fracturing (or
fracking) to drill for natural gas. Ironically, the gas company
is known as Trinity East.
Just as tensions have flared up over a proposed parking lot on
park land at Winfrey Point, theCity Council will soon vote on a new
ordinance to govern gas drilling operations within Dallas.
Some of the most controversial items Mayor Rawlings and the City
Council will vote on will be
whether to allow fracking on vast amounts of park lands along
the Trinity River and whether
to reverse the citys current prohibition against drilling inside
flood plains. Both measureswould be necessary to allow gas company
Trinity East to move forward with plans to drill on
thousands of acres that it has leased along the river
corridor.
Now we can see that Trinity East wants to turn the Trinity River
into the Trinity Gas Field,said Claudia Meyer of Mountain Creek
Neighborhood Alliance. Dallas has a choice: We cancreate a
world-class park system for future generations to enjoy, or we can
create a river of
gas wells instead.
In addition, two park lands in northwest Dallas have been leased
to the gas company: Crown
Park, home to baseball and soccer fields, and the area of the
proposed Elm Fork Soccer
Complex. The map released today shows for the first time exactly
which areas have been
leased to Trinity East. Environmental and neighborhood groups
demanded that city staff
members produce similar maps covering all proposed drilling
areas in Dallas.
This map only represents the public leases given to one gas
drilling company in one part ofDallas, said Zac Trahan of Texas
Campaign for the Environment. Before the City Councilvotes on the
new ordinance, every Dallas resident should have a right to know
where else gas
companies plan to start drilling.
After recommending for months to place strict limits on drilling
in flood plains and to keep
drilling operations at least 1,000 feet away from any park land,
the Dallas Gas Drilling Task
Force reversed course on both issues in the closing hours of its
very last meeting. At the time,
drilling proponents pointed to one proposed drilling site near
the L.B. Houston golf course as
an examplebut the new map shows that many more areas are at
stake. Gas companieslobbied forcefully for these last-minute
changes to the Task Force recommendations.
We were heavily pressured by gas drilling industry
representatives, and the votes to removepublic health and
environmental protections on our last day were a direct result. It
was truly
unfortunate, said Cherelle Blazer, Task Force member and founder
of You Cant Live in theWoods.
Mountain Creek Alliance is hosting a community meeting tonight
at 7:00 p.m. at Harmony
School in southwest Dallas. City Council members will receive a
briefing from the Gas Drilling
Task Force on its final recommendations on May 16 th at 9:00
a.m. in room 6ES at City Hall.
They are expected to vote on a new city ordinance before their
summer break.
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