My Shale Ouevre in the Denton Record-Chronicle

Most stories published within the past 12 months, including the Citizens of the Shale series produced together with graduate students from the University of North Texas Mayborn School of Journalism, are available on the open archives at http://www.dentonrc.com/specialprojects/

Stories on the Barnett Shale drilling boom can be found in NewsBank, where Denton Record-Chronicle stories are archived if they are more than 12 months old. Check your public library for access to NewsBank. Below is a synopsis of most stories published from January 2006 to the present. 

Published 2012-2-12 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

Stuck in the middle 
Researchers have found a disparity in the proximity of gas wells to elementary schools in certain Barnett Shale neighborhoods, suggesting that, if there is a health or social cost to bear, some communities could be more affected than others. The research is among the first studies to come out of a new spatial database being built and used by the Department of Geography at the University of North Texas.

Published 2012-1-8 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

Into hostile territory

Tammi Vajda was not surprised at the news that some of the shale gas companies had promoted military-style psychological operations in communities where they worked. She and other Barnett Shale area residents have seen the tactics that blur the line between information and influence in local governance.

Published 2011-12-31 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

Lowering the boom

Battle lines between industry and local communities hardened in 2011 over where and how to drill for shale gas, not just in area cities but across the world.
The drilling boom that began on the Denton-Wise County line is spreading to shale formations in more than 30 other states and many foreign countries, even as rig counts and natural gas prices continued to drop in a glutted market.

Published 2011-11-4, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Ponder residents learn of upgrades Companies apologize, announce equipment additions, fixes to plant

Residents learned during a town hall-style meeting Thursday night that the operators of a gas plant have made repairs and installed new equipment - done so in response to more than a year's worth of complaints about odors emanating from the facility.

Published 2011-10-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Burden grows for county taxpayers

Property tax bills began arriving in mailboxes this week, and if you think your bill is higher than ever, you may be right. … Exponential growth in county property values and mineral valuations offered no relief. … the county has seen a 53 percent increase in the number of wells in the past six years, but a 28 percent decrease in overall value.

Published 2011-9-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Industry chapped over EPA proposal

Representatives of the oil and gas industry told the Environmental Protection Agency in a special hearing Thursday that new rules proposed to protect air quality were too much, too fast. The theme echoed differently for residents, who said too many wells came into their communities too fast, and the new rules meant to protect human health and the environment couldn't come quickly enough.

Published 2011-9-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Ponder adopts drilling rules

The Town Council has adopted new rules for natural gas development, increasing setbacks from neighborhoods, protecting platted property and adding public notification requirements. The council moved swiftly to adopt the new ordinance, having declined to impose a moratorium on new permits requested earlier this summer by residents of Remington Park, the town's largest neighborhood.

Published 2011-8-31, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Breast cancer rate climbs up

Invasive breast cancer is on the rise in Denton County and five neighboring counties, even as the incidence rate for the disease is lower in the state and falling across the rest of the nation. According to a 2011 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, six counties in the western Dallas-Fort Worth area have the highest rates of invasive breast cancer in Texas.

Published 2011-7-31, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Town officials have stake in Devon Energy

Some Town Council members did not declare financial ties to Devon Energy before denying a drilling moratorium, a move criticized by Remington Park residents who said the moratorium would have provided them relief. Devon Energy is currently drilling two gas wells in Remington Park, the town's largest neighborhood. Company representatives have said that Devon plans, but has not yet sought permits for, two more wells at the same controversial pad site. A moratorium would have complicated the company's production plans.

Published 2011-7-17, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Town called on to provide records

Town officials are being scrutinized for failing to respond to an open records request about a new gas well site in the Remington Park subdivision. Meanwhile, the Town Council has scheduled a vote Tuesday on a moratorium for new drilling permits, a week after a public hearing on the issue.

Published 2011-7-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Region burns through ozone limits

It wasn't much of a race. Before the dog days of summer arrived, air monitors in Denton and northern Tarrant counties had already racked up records of excessive ozone. The Keller monitor logged its fourth day above a federal limit on Wednesday. Denton's monitor logged its fourth on Thursday. It's been five years since ozone violations occurred so quickly in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

Published 2011-6-30 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Ponder residents, developer upset over well permit

Both the developer and residents of the Remington Park subdivision say town staff should not have issued drilling permits for a new gas well site without Town Council approval. But the town's new mayor says the staff acted properly and followed the applicable ordinance.

Published 2011-6-12 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Denton County included in national study by EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday it will examine water wells in Denton and Wise counties as part of a nationwide study of the effects of hydraulic fracturing on aquifers.

Published 2011-6-12 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Ponder drilling site too close for residents' comfort

Residents in Remington Park believed that when they bought into the town's newest subdivision five years ago, there would be a park behind them. Instead, Devon Energy will drill for gas.

Published 2011-6-12 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Air quality plan to emerge from haze

State regulators are reworking a statewide plan to improve air quality, but Denton County is unlikely to see relief anytime soon. The year's first air quality violation is already on the books. The highest concentration of ozone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area occurred in Denton on June 6.

Published 2011-6-5 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Session yields mixed results

Natural gas drillers will have to disclose most of the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing under a bill passed by the Texas Legislature, but many other drilling-related bills died during the regular session, including an overhaul of the state agency that regulates the industry.

Published 2011-5-26 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish bids farewell to Mayor Tillman

About two dozen people turned out Tuesday for the transition of power in the county's smallest, but often influential, town. Outgoing Mayor Calvin Tillman watched as Wester Draper was sworn in as town commissioner and Bill Sciscoe as the fourth mayor of this 11-year-old town, population 201. Tillman then handed Sciscoe his gavel as residents and family members applauded.

Published 2011-5-10 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

Fresh round of fines OK'd

State environmental regulators in Austin approved penalties Wednesday against several Denton-area companies, including a settlement against a natural gas operator believed to be the first of its kind in Denton County.

Published 2011-5-10 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Group calls for cutting industry emissions

A North Texas environmental group has launched a campaign that members hope will reduce emissions from Barnett Shale natural gas facilities. Downwinders at Risk has called on area cities, school districts and counties to pass a resolution asking that gas production companies be required to do their "fair share" in reducing emissions.

Published 2011-4-17 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

Drilling bills queued up in committee

Area legislators have introduced more than 30 bills in the state's 82nd regular session in relation to shale gas drilling and production. With a few exceptions, most bills are still in committee. More than 20 of the bills attempt some degree of change in the regulations - from a small change in current legislation to an overhaul of the Texas Railroad Commission.

Published 2011-4-14 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Group calls for water oversight

An activist group's new policy report, to be released in Austin today, pulls another state agency into the fray of criticism that the state can't keep pace with shale gas development. Through its Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Earthworks has called on the Texas Water Development Board to measure the amount of groundwater being withdrawn by energy companies and detail the effects the withdrawals are having on the water supply.

Published 2011-3-31 by Spike Johnson and Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Practice lays waste to land

Dick Ross and other farmers find it hard to reconcile Texans' storied love of the land with the growing practice of spreading tons of drilling mud and other toxic waste across it, a process euphemistically called "landfarming." As the state's permits for natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale region soar, more and more parcels of the Texas prairie are being turned into dumping grounds for disposing of the industry's waste - increasing the thousands of approved "landfarms" already in existence.

Published 2011-3-31 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Striking the balance

Energy companies tout not only the millions in royalties and thousands of jobs they bring, but also their tax-paying and philanthropy, saying their presence benefits the North Texas economy. Local economists agree the Barnett Shale boom softened the region's entry into the recent recession.

Published 2011-2-24 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Well site fine to aid environment

One of the state's first fines for air quality violations at a Barnett Shale well site will provide the first pot of money tapped for more ambient air quality monitors in the region. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved an agreed order Wednesday fining Aruba Petroleum $35,500 for violating air quality rules at its operations in Allison, near the Denton-Wise county line.

Published 2011-2-22 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Outspoken Dish mayor moving out

Residents here will need another bulldog come May, maybe sooner. Mayor Calvin Tillman - an outspoken advocate for this town of 201, especially when it comes to the negative effects of shale natural gas production - told residents over the weekend that he will not seek re-election.

Published 2011-2-21 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Team looks at drilling

Researchers from several disciplines at the University of North Texas and the UNT Health Science Center are building a new data set that will help identify impacts of the Barnett Shale drilling boom on the region's population. The interdisciplinary group is merging a broad collection of data for research, including gas production information and geographical information, such as census and waterways.

Published 2010-12-20 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

Five-year drilling saga at an end

A five-year battle over a controversial gas well site south of Denton is over. Carrizo Oil and Gas has informed the city it is no longer pursuing drilling sites near a neighborhood in Denton's southern extraterritorial jurisdiction, bringing an apparent end to a saga that involved two energy companies, two possible drilling locations, a city-initiated lawsuit, a bankruptcy and a hearing before the state's top oil and gas board.

Published 2010-12-9 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown, Denton Record-Chronicle

EPA action against driller a first in Texas State: Agency's order against firm in Parker County 'premature'

The federal crackdown this week on an energy company whose gas drilling operations were blamed for contaminating water wells in Parker County was the first of its kind for Texas.

Published 2010-12-4 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth solidifies gas committee

City leaders decided to make permanent the committee that reviews its natural gas drilling and production ordinances, voting to add three more residents to the group.

Published 2010-10-31 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Pipeline report calls for safety regulations

Recommendations from a new pipeline safety report apply to many parts of the Barnett Shale region, even though they came out of a study of Fort Worth neighborhoods, experts say. The report, paid for by the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods with a $48,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Pipeline Safety, included 26 recommendations for local, state and federal regulators.

Published 2010-10-23 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth council passes drilling ordinance

Scores of residents packed the council chambers Thursday or sent e-mails to the mayor, insisting that the City Council amend a proposed, 58-page gas drilling and production ordinance with 1,000-foot setbacks for protected uses. Residents were visibly upset with a proposed variance to reduce setbacks for tanks in exchange for emissions controls. Several residents shouted their displeasure at council members as they moved into another room for a closed session during a break in the meeting.

Published 2010-10-15 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish meeting focuses on health complaints

More than 60 people from all around the Barnett Shale region crowded into Dish Town Hall on Wednesday night, many of whom have reported health effects from natural gas drilling and production near their homes. The meeting was organized by the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project, which asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in December to change how it investigates odor complaints associated with natural gas drilling and production.

Published 2010-10-14 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Oklahoma quake rattles Denton

For some Denton residents, it took a moment to realize what the shaking floors, pulsing walls and vibrating decor were all about. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 4.3 earthquake about six miles east of Norman, Okla., at 9:06 a.m. Wednesday. Seismologist Oliver Boyd, with the U.S. Geological Survey in Memphis, said the earthquake was not near any mapped fault.

Published 2010-10-9 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth gets input on gas ordinance

Residents told the City Council on Thursday that setbacks contained in a revised ordinance for gas drilling equipment still were not large enough to protect human health and safety, as well as property values.

Published 2010-9-18, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Drilling can dig into land value

One year to the day after a company set up its drilling rigs on their land in eastern Wise County, Tim and Christine Ruggiero confirmed the depth of their loss. Originally on the 2010 tax rolls for $257,330, their home and 10-acre horse property are now worth $75,240.
The Wise County Central Appraisal District Appraisal Review Board agreed that the drilling company's use of the land warranted the extraordinary reduction.

Published 2010-9-5, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

New toxins report released

State environmental inspectors returned to Dish in mid-June after Mayor Calvin Tillman disclosed to the public that both his young sons recently woke in the night with heavy nosebleeds. Inspectors sampled the air for compounds they didn’t test for in previous visits, including formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, along with 16 other carbonyl compounds that are byproducts of combustion. Formaldehyde is not one of the toxic compounds regularly measured by permanent air monitors, such as the one installed in April at Clark Airport in Dish.

By Lowell Brown and Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe , Denton Record-Chronicle

Vote inspired flurry of feedback

Denton city leaders were bombarded with letters and e-mails opposing new natural gas drilling regulations in the days leading up to the July 21 vote, a Denton Record-Chronicle analysis found. The correspondence shows the extent to which residents of Robson Ranch, pushed by the developer of the south Denton retirement community, tried to lobby city leaders to exempt the development from new regulations.

Published 2010-8-24, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Plan would add air monitors in Barnett Shale

A proposal by state leaders to double the number of permanent air monitors in North Texas — with the natural gas industry picking up the tab — drew mixed reactions locally. While state regulators have not yet indicated where in the 24-county Barnett Shale region the next eight monitors would go, they have indicated that operators would pay the costs.

Published 2010-8-20, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth Council approves extension

The City Council has approved an extension for a moratorium on new natural gas drilling and production permits, a top item on the gas well committee's wish list as it tackles issues in the city's current ordinance. The committee has also asked the city for some extra resources to accomplish its work.

Published 2010-8-14, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Help tough to find for Corinth panel

Corinth’s gas well committee has been reaching out to experts as it works through rules and regulations for the city’s gas development ordinance, but few have agreed to help for free. The special committee continued its line-by-line review of the city’s gas well ordinance this week, after posing dozens of questions to Ed Ireland of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council.

Published 2010-8-8

By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

County ranks third in Barnett Shale inventory

Denton County has more sources for pollution from natural gas production equipment than all but two of the 24 counties in the Barnett Shale area, according to a new state inventory. Operators reported 7,812 pieces of stationary equipment in Denton County known to emit greenhouse gases or toxic compounds. Only Tarrant County, with 8,659 pieces, and Johnson County, with 10,859, have more.
In all, nearly 49,000 pieces of production equipment, all with the potential to emit toxic compounds, were reported by energy companies to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The special inventory pinpoints the location of production equipment associated with about 14,000 gas wells already drilled in the Barnett Shale. More than 3,300 new wells also are permitted.

Published 2010-7-26, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Enbridge to replace three tanks

Some equipment changes at the natural gas compression complex here could help improve air quality. Canada-based Enbridge Inc. is replacing three storage tanks with tanks that have vapor recovery.

Published 2010-7-22, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

City gas well rules change

In its first pass at addressing concerns that have emerged over natural gas drilling and production, the Denton City Council adopted a number of changes to its ordinance early Wednesday. The changes include pushing gas wells to a 1,000-foot setback from homes and other protected uses, more stringent limits on noise, higher permit fees, quicker expiration of gas plats and permits, and new screening requirements.

Published 2010-7-15, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Both sides miffed by drilling proposal

Neither representatives of the industry nor residents who packed the Denton City Council chambers Wednesday night supported the first round of changes proposed for the city’s natural gas drilling ordinance. In nearly two hours of public testimony to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, industry representatives decried the tenfold increase in permitting fees while residents complained that the rules would not go far enough to protect human health and safety.

Published 2010-7-14, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish proposes meter station rules

In a quiet, sparsely attended meeting, neither of the two residents who came asked to speak during a public hearing on the town’s proposed rules for natural gas metering stations.

Published 2010-7-9, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Meeting draws more than 600

More than 600 people filled a hotel ballroom in downtown Fort Worth in the first of four public meetings to be held nationwide on hydraulic fracturing.

Published 2010-6-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

New analysis highlights toxin findings

The latest health-effects analysis of Barnett Shale air by state environmental officials is the first to underscore similarities of toxic compounds inspectors continue to find at elevated levels around natural gas facilities. The analysis, written May 25 and released June 4, is the fifth such analysis released by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality since October.

06/05/2010

Published 2010-6-5, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth readies natural gas panel

Two residents have been selected for a special committee that will examine the city’s ordinances for natural gas production while the clock ticks on a moratorium on new projects inside city limits.

Published 2010-5-12, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

State: Toxins in Dish at normal level

State health officials have released the final report of a health investigation in Dish, where blood and urine samples were collected from 28 residents in January.

Published 2010-5-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Federal oversight promised for shale

With oil and gas extraction now a national enforcement priority, some energy companies in the Barnett Shale could soon face stiff penalties for operating outside federal rules, said Dr. Al Armendariz, Region 6 director of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Published 2010-5-1, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth denies 2 well permits

After working through a core of six variance requests made by XTO Energy, and denying five of them, the Corinth City Council brought seven hours of deliberation to an abrupt end about 2:30 a.m. Friday, unanimously denying permits to drill two wells at the Lake Sharon Christian Center.

Published 2010-4-16, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Residents: No to XTO

Residents packed the council chambers and overflow facilities for the second time this month, asking the City Council to deny 11 variances requested by XTO Energy for drilling at least two natural gas wells at Lake Sharon Christian Center. Community organizer Cora Bell presented a petition with 977 signatures collected in eight days, opposing the company’s request and asking the City Council to conduct an independent environmental impact study of the drill site, to be paid for by the company.

Published 2010-4-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Tests find toxins in Dish residents

Tests on blood and urine samples taken from residents by state health officials in January have found the same toxic compounds in people’s bodies that have been detected in the air and water here. The results showed that exposure is occurring, according to Louisiana chemist Wilma Subra. “Clearly, it’s connecting the dots — which we didn’t want to happen,” Subra said.

Published 2010-4-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth assesses drilling request

The mayor and City Council deluged city staff with questions during a special workshop session Thursday night as they considered XTO Energy’s request to drill at least two natural gas wells in a Lake Sharon neighborhood. The five-hour meeting ended behind closed doors, as city leaders met with the city attorney for more than 90 minutes about the energy company’s permit application.

Published 2010-4-3, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth delays gas well action

The Corinth City Council voted late Thursday to postpone action on two gas well permits and a series of code variances for XTO Energy, after residents crowded City Hall to oppose the company’s plans. The decision came more than four hours after a public hearing began on the topic. Deliberations will continue at the council’s next meeting April 15.

Published 2010-3-29, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Drawn into focus

Tim Ruggiero had a lot of time to think, sitting in the secretary’s office as his father met privately with the grade school principal. He remembers shaking as he sat in that chair 30 years ago, afraid after seeing how unhappy his father was and unsure of the punishment that would come.

Published 2010-3-28, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Landowners’ fears surface

A bit of yellow tape dangled from a short wooden stake in front of Christine Ruggiero’s house on Star Shell Road that September morning, less than a year ago. The subtle signal meant something to someone. On her 20-minute drive to work, Ruggiero hoped that what she saw wouldn’t become what she feared. Aruba Petroleum had already dug up several acres of land on the neighboring 38-acre homestead, drilling a new gas well on Pat and Jim Headen’s front lawn.

Published 2010-3-4, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Methane levels get new check

An atmospheric researcher drove a specially equipped van through several Barnett Shale counties this week and found methane plumes near many natural gas facilities, with one plume in Flower Mound measuring 40 parts per million.

Published 2010-2-25, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Group calls for drilling changes

Leaders from the state and national offices of the Oil and Gas Accountability Project rolled out a platform for regulatory reform during a nationwide media conference call Wednesday.

Published 2010-2-15, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Fund decides gas use runs counter to goal

A North Texas environmental fund dedicated to paying for projects that help clean the air will no longer pay for projects that use natural gas as an alternative fuel. The Sue Pope Fund was created in 2007 with a $2.25 million settlement between a cement company and two environmental groups.

Published 2010-2-8, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish halts new drilling for now

After only a few minutes of discussion, town leaders declared a 90-day moratorium on issuing new drilling permits inside town limits, citing concerns about emissions from production equipment and their effect on human health. Both Commissioners William Sciscoe and Charles Smith told Mayor Calvin Tillman they were comfortable with the reasoning for the moratorium.

Published 2010-1-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Samples from Dish in the lab

Texas health officials are now waiting on lab results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, having selected 28 residents at random for biological sampling that could determine whether they have been exposed to toxic substances.

Published 2010-1-28, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Elevated benzene levels found

State environmental officials found elevated levels of benzene at 22 percent of natural gas facilities they sampled last year, according to a report released Wednesday.

Published 2010-1-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

TCEQ reports findings

The Texas environmental agency says a survey of more than 100 natural gas facilities in Fort Worth showed no cause for concern about potentially dangerous pollutants.

Published 2009-12-24, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Gas complaints jump to TCEQ’s top priority

Complaints about odors and other pollution at Barnett Shale gas facilities — be they wellheads, metering stations, compressors or other facilities — have become a top priority at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Published 2009-12-1, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

State to test health in Dish

Officials with the Environmental & Injury Epidemiology and Toxicology Unit of the Texas Department of State Health Services will investigate health concerns related to natural gas production here, probably early next year. Health concerns were raised in October after the town of Dish commissioned an air quality study and scientists found toxins at troubling levels.

Published 2009-11-24, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

High emissions levels recorded outside Dish

State environmental inspectors found emissions at some eye-popping levels during short monitoring visits in August and October, including particularly high readings obtained at the fence line of a natural gas wellhead where an operator reportedly left production equipment open.

Published 2009-11-23, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Environmental inspectors find high emissions near Dish

State environmental inspectors found emissions at some eye-popping levels during short monitoring visits in August and October, including particularly high readings obtained at the fence line of a wellhead west of Dish where an operator reportedly left production equipment open.

Published 2009-10-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish air study brings health worries to fore

Dish resident Dawn Melton, who serves as the town's volunteer librarian, told a crowd of mostly strangers that her headaches have gotten worse in the past couple of years.

Published 2009-10-11, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish air study detects pollution

For a mid-August day that Mayor Calvin Tillman said, smell-wise, "was not that bad," a city-commissioned air quality study detected a host of volatile organic chemicals, several in concentrations greater than allowable limits.

Published 2009-10-08, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Key claims about gas drilling probed

Many claims about natural gas drilling in general, and at the Rayzor Ranch site in particular, were left unaddressed at Tuesday's meeting. Below is a brief investigation into some of those key claims.

Published 2009-08-02, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Denton County air at quality threshold

After Beth Lutz returned to Denton from a California vacation, her eyes began itching and burning again. The constant irritation in her throat returned, too.

Published 2009-06-14, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Pass, fail or erode

State legislative session ends with final decisions made on natural gas bills

Nearly 60 pieces of legislation tied to natural gas drilling, production and distribution got some kind of hearing in either the state Senate's Natural Resources Committee or the House's Energy Resources Committee in the 81st legislative session.

Published 2009-05-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish agrees on study

Gas odor reports spur town to examine local environment for clues

DISH - Town leaders agreed to an environmental study of this small community during the commissioners' regular meeting Monday night, after Mayor Calvin Tillman reported he had followed residents' reports of natural gas odor and got positive readings on a natural gas detection unit.

Published 2009-03-12, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Barnett Shale-related jobs decline

Employment losses in the Barnett Shale energy sector have reached 40,000, a 36.3 percent reduction since last summer's peak of 110,000 jobs in North Texas, a Texas economist said.

Published 2009-02-07, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Corinth tightens well ordinance

Weekend gas well flaring prompts city to action

City leaders moved swiftly to strengthen the city's gas well development ordinance after a drilling company flared a new well for most of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, angering scores of residents who lived nearby.

Published 2009-01-27, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

EPA sued over lack of oil-gas rules

Two groups say agency violates Clean Air Act by not regulating industry

North Texas residents could breathe cleaner air, depending on the outcome of a lawsuit filed against the Environmental Protection Agency this month.


Published 2009-01-18, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Argyle figures out cost of gas drilling's toll on roads

Engineers have come up with a figure for the town to rebuild its roads so that they can handle drilling traffic: $311,520 per lane per mile.

Published 2009-01-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Pipelines inspire legislation

Natural gas companies and Barnett Shale cities seek help of lawmakers

Two organizations are asking state legislators to address growing concerns about gas pipeline companies this session.

NOTE: Behind the Shale is a five-part series co-written by Lowell Brown and Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe that explores urban gas drilling and one Argyle-area neighborhood's struggle against it. It won first place in small market print from the Society of Environmental Journalism.

Published 2009-01-01, Denton Record-Chronicle

[“Behind The Shale,” Chapter 5]

Neighborhood metamorphosis

Jennifer Cole stared at the letter in her hands. No matter how many times she read it, it didn’t make sense, she recalled. The letter, which appeared in her mailbox just after Thanksgiving 2007, said that a Houston company planned to conduct seismic testing so it could drill on the land behind her Argyle-area home.

Published 2008-12-31, Denton Record-Chronicle

[“Behind The Shale,” Chapter 4]

Voicing the silence

For a while, Kim Couch thought her children hadn’t noticed the effect of the natural gas drilling in their neighborhood along Britt Drive. “You think they are just in their own little world, running around and carefree,” Couch said. Her view changed when television news cameras descended on their Argyle-area neighborhood after the first well was drilled three years ago.

Published 2008-12-30, Denton Record-Chronicle

[“Behind The Sahle,” Chapter 3]

Culture clash

Gene and Jennifer Cole stood in the backyard of their Argyle-area home, staring up at the mountain of rocks behind their fence, and then turned to a stranger in a black pickup. “What’s the problem?” the stranger asked. It was not a simple question. For months, the Coles and their next-door neighbors, Jana and Darrin DeGrand, had fought a gas company’s plan to dig a gas well from the dirt-and-rock plateau where the stranger stood.


Published 2008-12-29, Denton Record-Chronicle

[“Behind The Shale,” Chapter 2]

Perils afoot

Natural gas bubbled from the frostbitten ground around the well for several hours before the earth erupted about 1:45 a.m. on a December morning in 2005, tossing truck-sized boulders into the air.

Published 2008-12-28, Denton Record-Chronicle

[“Behind The Shale,” Chapter 1]

Eminent dominance

Jennifer Cole stepped across the parched ground of a North Texas autumn, past her dirt-caked backyard swimming pool, inching closer to a roaring machine. She watched it force its way through the earth, pushing dirt from side to side in waves like an oceanOs tide. Day by day, the bulldozer was remaking the lot behind her home on Britt Drive near Argyle, changing a sloped meadow dotted with oak trees and cattle into a flat and lifeless expanse.

Published 2008-11-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Bills outline gas drilling restrictions

Denton County residents and others in the Barnett Shale could benefit from a push by Montgomery County residents to shore up laws enforced by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that govern injection wells.


Published 2008-11-16, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Town seeks pay for trucks' toll

Council to consider ways to calculate, collect for road damages from trucks

Town leaders may begin requiring agreements from energy companies to help rebuild damaged roads, after XTO sued Argyle over its ordinance meant to get the same result.

Published 2008-10-29, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Cities ask for more pull in planning of gas pipelines

Barnett Shale cities large and small have joined a mounting refrain asking the Texas Legislature for more authority in saying where natural gas transmission pipelines are built inside their corporate limits.

Published 2008-09-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Pipeline to link Barnett Shale

Crews continue to lay and weld pipe in Denton County this month, finishing a 3-foot diameter, 178-mile intrastate pipe line known as the Sherman Extension.

Published 2008-07-19, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Dish wants more say in gas pipelines

Town seeks other cities to join in asking Legislature for help

DISH - After last week's Town Hall meeting ended, the sum total of traffic on the southern end of town included a boy riding his bike and Jim and Judy Caplinger taking their pickup back home, where yet another Barnett Shale gas pipeline is being installed.


Published on 2007-12-07, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Energy boom spurs new NCTC program

North Central Texas College has announced a new technical degree for fall 2008 to meet the need for more trained workers in the Barnett Shale energy boom.

Published on 2007-11-14, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Firms monitor selves for NORM

[No. 4 in a 4-part series]
State relies on companies to manage their natural radioactive material waste

Three state agencies have their hands in its regulation in one way or another. Inspectors can make spot checks or investigate complaints.

Published on 2007-11-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Risks may deviate for the NORM

[No. 3 in a 4-part series]

Researchers say dangers from naturally occurring radioactive material vary

Published on 2007-11-12, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Poisoning property

[No. 2 in a 4-part series]

Landowners wonder what they have been unknowingly exposed to

Published on 2007-11-11, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Gas drilling's dirty side effect

Radioactive material brought up from Barnett Shale during production

[No. 1 in a 4-part series]

Includes NORM 101 and BARNETT SHALE BY THE NUMBERS

Blasted free by millions of gallons of fresh water and chemical soup sent miles below ground, some of earth's baddest geological actors - radioactive elements capable of scarring soil and scourging human health - are slowly rising to the surface along with the Barnett Shale's natural gas.

Published on 2007-07-23, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Era fending off injection well

Residents in the tiny Cooke County town of Era, just across the Denton County line, call it their Perry Mason moment.


Published on 2007-05-27, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle

Families protest injection well

This summer is probably the last that Abby and Teresa Schofield will take carefree bike rides along the quiet stretch of Florence Road in front of their house.

Published on 2007-04-02, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Permits issued despite concerns

The Texas Railroad Commission has issued permits for nearly 30 new injection wells for oil and gas waste in counties around the Barnett Shale in recent months, including a new injection well in Denton County.

Published on 2007-04-02, Denton Record-Chronicle

AP picks Record-Chronicle as best in state in its class

The Denton Record-Chronicle has won the state's top journalism award for newspapers in its class in an annual contest sponsored by the Associated Press in Texas. Also, Community Service award for reporting on the Barnett Shale boom.

Published on 2007-02-04, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Study: Competition for water may rise

County could need groundwater protection district

Water suppliers and individual Denton County residents who rely on wells may find in creasing competition for their drinking water, according to a study recently released by the Texas Water Development Board. As a result, the county may be on track for a groundwater protection district.

Published on 2006-12-14, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Devon: Growth part of future

Officials say oil wells to be lasting part of landscape

After releasing its latest economic impact study, a Devon Energy executive told local leaders to expect exponential growth in the area for the foreseeable future, as long as natural gas prices remain stable, extraction technology advances and the company can continue to access land for drilling.

Published on 2006-12-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Drilling could sap water supply

Use projections don't include industry need

Despite problems locally with water wells gone dry, hydrologists anticipate the Trinity Aquifer can remain a viable source of water for the long term, even after the Texas Water Development Board released new estimates of the area's future groundwater use as anticipated in early January.

Published on 2006-12-06, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
County approves tougher fire code

The adoption of a new fire code Tuesday by Denton County commissioners will bring more stringent construction and safety rules to unincorporated Denton County. The enforcement of the new rules, as well as two new employees for the Den ton County fire marshal's office, is expected to cost the county about $230,000 this fiscal year. Also provides for two gas well inspectors.

Published on 2006-12-03, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Water officials warn of area's dry future

The problem descended on North Texas in several different ways - ever-increasing consumption, exponential growth, out-of-nowhere demand for gas well "fracing" and, of course, the worst drought in at least a half-century. But the solution to the area's failing water wells and low lake levels needs more than lip service to conservation, according to some water officials.

Published on 2006-10-08, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Pipeline locations hit or miss in area

As if tracing out a colossal connect-the-dots game, miles of high-pressure pipelines link more than 2,000 gas wells along Denton County roads and under prairies and pastures, pushing the gas mined from the Barnett Shale toward scrubbers or refineries and on to market.

Published on 2006-09-14, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
New rigs safer, quieter, cleaner

Published on 2006-09-01, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
DISH forced to refigure its budget

A miscalculation on what property in the town of DISH was worth last year has led the county tax officials to refigure the town's estimated tax revenue, and has forced the town's mayor to rework next year's budget.

Published on 2006-07-28, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Changes set Argyle up for gas boomlet

With a temporary drilling moratorium lifted Tuesday night and well setbacks relaxed, more gas drilling rigs will soon rise above the hills and trees of Argyle.

Published on 2006-07-23, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Drilling laws rely on enforcement

Area cities are learning that their gas drilling ordinances are bringing higher accountability for the gas drilling companies wanting to drill and make a profit in their area. They are also learning the key lies in their ability to enforce their own rules, because the nearest field office for the Texas Railroad Commission, the state agency responsible for monitoring gas well drilling, is in Wichita Falls.

Published on 2006-06-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Drilling moratorium continues in Argyle

The Argyle Town Council took no action on either its new or old gas drilling ordinances during a special meeting Wednesday night, so a temporary drilling moratorium will continue at least into July.

Published on 2006-06-10, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Argyle considers drilling ordinance

The Argyle Town Council is expected to take its first pass at a gas-collection pipeline ordinance during its regular meeting Tuesday. The town is currently about a month into a 90-day moratorium on gas drilling as it considers this component of the industry's push into the eastern portions of the county.

Published on 2006-05-28, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Cars not only culprit for smog

Bright, blue skies are turning hazy for the summer, and no one knows yet whether last year's spike of unhealthy ozone days will subside.

Published on 2006-05-13, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Lake Dallas sets drilling rules

The Lake Dallas City Council created an oil- and gas-drilling ordinance Thursday, mindful of two recent blowouts at other Barnett Shale drilling sites.

Published on 2006-04-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Accident prompts review of ordinances

After a recent blowout in a Forest Hill gas-drilling rig killed one worker and forced the evacuation of more than 500 people from the neighborhood around it, Corinth Mayor Vic Burgess said he'd like to take a second look at his city's ordinances.

Published on 2006-04-30, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Well-drilling rigs vs. communities

Cities, towns rewriting ordinances so wells, residents can co-exist

Most of Denton County's 1,800 gas wells drilled in the past five years reach deep below quiet farm and pasture land in the western third - and least populous - areas of the county.

Published on 2006-04-16, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Leak concern prompts state probe

State environmental officials are investigating a possible contamination of land near a gas well site about five miles west of Krum on FM1173.

Published on 2006-02-18, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Town to allow first gas drilling inside its limits

The eastward march of gas-drilling derricks advanced into new territory Thursday when the Corinth City Council approved its first application to drill inside the city limits.

Published on 2006-01-22, by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Denton Record-Chronicle
Drilling waste dumped in culvert

James Price says he can't remember the first day he noticed that the old trees along FM407 were dying.