Barnett Shale

Chesapeake now touting progress on Carter Avenue pipeline

Chesapeake Energy, in its latest newsletter, says it is "encouraged by" the progress it has made in finding an alternate route for the Carter Avenue pipline.

The pipeline will connect two well sites in East Fort Worth was originally proposed to go beneath the front yards of about 30 homes. Residents have been fighting the plan since 2008, and local pols have pressed the Texas Department of Public Safety to allow the pipeline to be laid alongside Interstate 30.

Up to now, Chesapeake has maintained that it still needed to pursue the route down Carter Avenue in case the negotiations for the I-30 route fell apart.

Read below the jump for Chesapeake's statement.

Debate on hydraulic fracturing continues in Congress

The debate about hydraulic fracturing continues in Congress. The New York Times reports that a draft of the climate-change bill pending in the Senate would prohibit the EPA from regulating fracturing.

Hydraulic fracturing is the technology that made it possible to recover natural gas from the Barnett Shale. It's been around for decades, but many residents in Texas question whether it's safe.

Read below the jump to see the NYT story. To see previous reports on fracturing, check out our previous posts:

http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2010/02/congress-delves-into-hydraulic-fracturing.html

-- Mike Lee

Final order signed in Carter Avenue pipeline condemnation case

A judge has signed an order condemning the last piece of residential property standing in the way of a natural gas pipeline along Carter Avenue in East Fort Worth.

Lawyers in the case said it was only a matter of time before Chesapeake Energy’s pipeline division acquired the right of way for the pipeline, which will run beneath the front yards of more than 30 homes. State law gives energy companies that same right to condemn land through eminent domain as cities or more traditional utility companies.

The homeowner, Steve Doeung, has been fighting the case in court since 2008 and managed to slow down the condemnation with procedural arguments. Doeung said he learned about the order Monday and plans to appeal.

“I don't want to be above the law, but I don't want to feel like I'm beneath the law either,” he said.

Chesapake has been working with local politicians to find an alternate route that won’t affect as many homes.

The Texas Department of Transportation announced last week that it had given preliminary approval to a new route that would run parallel to Interstate 30.

 

http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2010/03/carter-avenue-update.html

 

http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2010/03/carter-avenue-last-homeowner-loses-a-round-in-court.html

 

-- Mike Lee

 

UPDATE: Chesapeake disputes SMU research about earthquakes

The big question last summer was whether the small earthquakes that popped up around D-FW Airport and Cleburne were linked to natural gas drilling activities in the Barnett Shale.

A team of researchers at SMU and the University of Texas has published a paper that concludes there's a link between the earthquakes and injection wells -- the high-pressure wells used to get rid of millions of gallons of wastewater produced by natural gas wells.

Caveats, according to SMU researcher Brian Stump: The team believes there's a correlation between the earthquakes at DFW airport and injection wells because the airport quakes seemed to be localized around an injection well at the airport. And the quakes stopped when the well was shut down.

But there's no evidence linking actual well-drilling or hydraulic fracturing to the quakes. And the jury is still out on the quakes in Cleburne. There are hundreds of injection wells in the Barnett Shale gas field, and thousands in Texas. Stump said the well at DFW airport is located next to an underground fault line.

Stump said there's definitely a need to do more studies, since a lot of proposed new energy sources like geothermal and "clean coal" power plants will require injecting gas or fluids underground.

The full report is available here:  Earthquake-study-10march2010

There's a map on page 4 that shows the location of the airport, the injection well and the earthquakes.

UPDATE: Chesapeake fired back -- and hard -- saying that a "causal relationship . . . has not been scientifically proven."

Read below the jump for Chesapeake's statement -- and watch for the full story in tomorrow's Star-Telegram.

-- Mike Lee

White House official discusses hydraulic fracturing

One of President Obama's aides for energy issues said the administration has concerns about the use of hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas from fields like the Barnett Shale, Marcellus Shale and Haynesville Shale. But he stopped short of answering whether the federal government should regulate the practice.

Read previous posts about hydraulic fracturing here: http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2010/02/congress-delves-into-hydraulic-fracturing.html

Follow the jump to see the full story:

Carter Avenue: Last homeowner loses a round in court

The last landowner standing in the way of a natural gas pipeline beneath the front yards of homes on   Carter Avenue lost a crucial round in court Thursday.

 

A judge told Steve Doeung that he’ll sign an order allowing Chesapeake Energy’s pipeline division to take possession of a right-of-way under Doeung's land.

Chesapeake has already gotten right-of-way from about 30 other homeowners, some of whom were condemned.

 

Doeung was able to slow down the process by raising procedural issues, but he clearly had tested the judge’s patience.

 

Meanwhile, Chesapeake and the state highway department are still negotiating a plan to move the pipeline out of the neighborhood.

 

(Read about the new route here: http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/pipelines/)

 

 

-- Mike Lee

 

The race is set in the Railroad Commission election

Check it out on our Politex blog

http://startelegram.typepad.com/politex/2010/03/railroad-commission-race-.html

Carter Avenue update

Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks announced Tuesday that there's significant progress on the plans for an alternative route to the pipeline down Carter Avenue in east Fort Worth.

(Read about it here:
http://startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/2010/03/carter-avenue-last-homeowner-loses-a-round-in-court.html)

Chesapeake Energy and the Texas Department of Transportation are working on the alternate route.

Read below the jump to see Hicks' announcement