Brentwood/Oak Hills relieved over drilling site

The residents in th Brentwood-Oak Hills neighborhood may have won an important victory over a high-impact drilling site.

Back in the fall, Paloma Resources and its leasing company, Holland Acquisitions, was trying to get waivers for a high impact drilling permit from residents who live near the New Beginnings Church on East Loop 820. The waivers would allowed the company to begin drilling the site without holding a hearing in front of the City Council. Fort Worth's drilling ordinance doesn't allow gas wells within 600 feet of homes without a hearing or waivers from all the affected land owners.

Paloma sold its leases to Chesapeake Energy though, and neighborhood association president Rita Vinson said Chesapeake probably won't use the site because it is "unpermittable."

Vinson also said in an e-mail that Holland Resources, which was leasing mineral rights for Paloma, has backed off of some of its aggressive tactics. Landmen from the company was telling residents as late as last week that their bonus payments would drop if they didn't sign by March 1. Holland officials told Vinson that the two landmen who had been making those statements have been fired.

Holland officials touched off a firestorm in October when they called the police on a group of Brentwood residents who were picketing one of the company's leasing meetings. Some of the residents were given warning tickets for criminal trespass outside a church. Vinson said the police later apologized.

-- Mike Lee

Comments

[Archie]

Way to go east Fort Worth! Wonderful news and certainly demonstrates what can be accomplished when neighborhoods and the larger community work together. We can capture the benefits of gas drilling in Fort Worth and still keep it safely away from our homes, churches, schools and parks!

[linda]

Everyone in Fort Worth should continue to hold the drilling companies and gov'ment officials feet to the fire. Until landmen are required to be licensed and supervised by the elected "suits", homeowners and property owners will be at the mercy of gas and oil business. Sometimes gov'ment regulations are a good thing.