In Case You Missed It ...
Sep 2, 2008 5:10 pm US/Central
Homeowners Upset About Gas Drilling Truck Route
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
Protesters will voice their concerns tonight over drilling for natural gas near residential neighborhoods. The most recent concern involves the Crestwood neighborhood, just west of downtown Fort Worth.
Tuesday night some Crestwood residents were gearing up to protest outside city hall. That is where council members will consider granting a special drilling permit.
The owners of the Greenwood Memorial Park Cemetery have given permission for a high-impact gas well drilling site on their property. The problem is they don't want the truck traffic on their land and the drilling company wants to use an alternate route; that route sends the trucks along side the Crestwood neighborhood.
Joe Bailey's front yard looks onto a battle ground of sorts and it all involves the latest fight over urban gas drilling.
The sights and sounds aren't something the Fort Worth resident enjoys. "Trucks will be backed up here," Bailey said pointing to a nearby area. "I'm gonna be listening to diesel engines running; smelling the diesel fumes. I just don't want that. I don't want that in this neighborhood."
Chesapeake Energy needs a permit from the City of Fort Worth before it can start drilling in Bailey's neighborhood. Right now Rockwood Park Drive is the only viable access to the drill site, but there are 60 homes, a little league ball field and a neighborhood park along the roadway.
Bob Hayes says with the big rigs being so close to the neighborhood it raises safety and noise concerns. He hopes Chesapeake will reconsider its access route.
Hayes believes there's a simple solution to the problem. "They have this technology to drill horizontally. They've got to use it to the absolute maximum," he says. "And stand off from the neighborhoods as far as possible, so that they don't interfere with the neighborhood itself."
Jim Stallings doesn't live on Rockwood Park Drive and says he is anxious for the drilling to start. "Just to get the thing behind us. Just to get started. See what's gonna to happen."
Bailey says sending the trucks through the Greenwood Memorial Park Cemetery would solve the problem. "You don't want them driving there with funerals going on naturally," Bailey conceded. "But we're living and they're not, so it's not going to bother them."
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
