Chesapeake to drill for gas in downtown

First, Chesapeake Energy got many people (including my friends Steve-o and Bernie) upset over its plans to wipe out 2.5 acres of trees along the Trinity to drill for gas. Now, they’ve set their sights downtown. I was (relatively) quiet about the Trinity Trees (a decision I regret somewhat), but I can be quiet no longer.

Chesapeake, you just had to push me.

The drill site is on Lancaster, just south of where Lamar stops and directly south of the T&P Warehouse. I am extremely upset that the city could even be considering allowing this.

The proposed site is roughly outlined below in red:

A few notes (all measurements are from the rough center of the site). The site is approximately:

1. 410 yards from the Texas & Pacific Lofts/Station.
2. 230 yards from the Post Office.
3. A simply ridiculous 55 yards from the Texas & Pacific Warehouse.
4. 105 yards from the newly remade, better designed, narrower, pedestrian-friendly Lancaster Avenue.
5. 40 yards from the rail lines that are currently used by freight trains and which will be used by the Southwest-to-Northeast commuter rail line.
6. 78 yards from I-30.
7. 65 yards from the planned Lamar-to-Hemphill connection.
8. 565 yards from Burnett Plaza, the city’s tallest building.
9. 450 yards from the Omni Hotel & Condos.
10. 611 yards from AMLI Upper West Side.
11. 581 yards from the former Care-A-Lot Inn, which is being redeveloped into a hotel.
12. Between 200-450 yards from quite a few other buildings.

Why all the measuring? A mental exercise, I suppose. When I read about a gas well blast in Hood County that broke windows 400 yards from the site, I get out the ‘ol measuring stick.

That blast, incidentally, wasn’t even an explosion of the main well. It was an explosion of a tank filled with water which had become mixed with gas during the extraction process. Even so, it gave us broken windows 400 yards away and a fireball shooting into the sky. I’m betting a real gas explosion would be even more powerful. How comfortable are you with something like that in downtown, just 230 yards from our historic Post Office? 410 yards from a historic occupied residential building and busy train station?

Incidentally, I also couldn’t help but see the little blurb at the bottom of the article, about the well in Acton that sprung a leak and created a “massive cloud of acrid vapor.” That wouldn’t be too pleasant drifting over downtown.

The drilling site is simply too close to current residences (such as the T&P Lofts) and businesses. It doesn’t stop there, though.

The city is expending huge amounts of effort to remake Lancaster to its former glory as a proper urban environment. This gas well would not help this project. All along Lancaster, the soon-to-be-shut-down north side of the old widened street is marked for dense, walkable redevelopment, which would be home to many shops, restaurants, and new residences. The gas well would be too close to these future developments.

Then, there’s the T&P Warehouse directly adjacent to the site. This is about to be redeveloped into about 300 apartments and ground-level retail space. The drill site would be far too close to these residences. Fifty-five yards from a historic building, the planned redevelopment of which would be an enormous boost to the Lancaster project, and which would house hundreds of residences? That is simply unacceptable.

In addition, the gas well would do nothing for the city’s plan to remake Lancaster into a pedestrian-friendly urban environment. Besides the issues of having an explosive well so close to dense residences and pedestrian traffic, the wells themselves are harmful to the urban environment thanks to their design. They are not pedestrian friendly – rather, they are harmful to the streetscape. Their construction requires large amounts of heavy truck traffic and extensive disruptive work not compatible with a dense urban setting. Even after the rig is gone, the remaining pump system would block any new development there for a long time. A hazardous dead spot would be plunked right into an area the city is trying to redevelop.

Then, there’s the proximity to the rail line and the Interstate. I’m more than a little queasy about having a drilling site directly adjacent to not only heavily-traveled I-30, but also a busy rail line that will be serving thousands of riders when the Southwest-to-Northeast line opens up.

Basically, this gas well is bad news. I’m not against gas drilling or private property rights, but once you’re talking about downtown, property owners must be held to standards of urban design and planning. This well would be a serious mistake, and we’re going to have to start looking in to ways to make the city aware of just how bad an idea this is.