|
|
|
|
|
|
A new drilling ordinance in Burleson places tighter restrictions at gas well sites and establishes a new way for the city to grant permits.
Council members discussed amendments to sections of Ordinance B-775-07, which regulates drilling and production of gas wells within Burleson, on Jan. 5.
They approved of the revisions and will pass the new ordinance at its second reading Jan. 20, said Burleson Mayor Ken Shetter.
When the revisions take effect, permits will be reviewed by the city’s gas well review committee, which will give administrative approval of future wells that meet ordinance requirements.
On the committee’s approval, permits that do not include a variance request will be sent to council members for review. Each council member will be able to request a discussion of the permit at a council meeting. If no member makes such a request, the permit is officially granted, Shetter said.
All permits with a variance request will require the council’s approval, and if an applicant is denied a permit, he or she could make an appeal before the council, Shetter said.
At the meeting, some councilmen expressed their concerns about taking the public hearing element away from granting permits. In the past, many Burleson residents attended meetings and spoke during the public hearing about being either for or against specific permits.
But councilman Dan McClendon said 80 percent of the wells are approved regardless of what is said at the public hearing.
“I like the idea of streamlining the process and having everybody have a more realistic understanding of what the council’s role in the process is,” Shetter said. “One of the concerns I have is that some of the other things going on in the city aren’t getting the consideration in the discussion that they ought to get because we’re spending hours when all we’re really talking about at some of these meetings are gas well permits.”
Ordinance revisions also place stricter security measures at well sites. Security has been a major issue with council members, and the new ordinance is designed to allay their concerns.
Well operators will be fined $2,000 the first time a security gate is found open and $2,000 per each additional day it is found open, Shetter said.
In the past, Burleson’s gas well inspector, Collin Gregory, would close an open gate and warn the gas companies of the violation, giving them a three-day grace period to correct an open gate. But council members and Gregory continued to find open gates.
“Drilling sites are by their nature dangerous,” Shetter said. “And everybody is concerned about how dangerous they are.
“During initial drilling activities a lot of people are on site but no one notices what’s happening after that when the actual drilling process takes place. The fact is, you still have a potentially dangerous process and no one is on site, but several subcontractors are in and out on a daily basis and leave the gates open. ... I’m scared to death that if we leave these gates open, some kid is going to wander on site and there’s going to be a tragic accident.”
In addition to stricter fines, all new sites must have electric gates, even if that requires gas companies to specially route electricity to the sites, Shetter said.
Also all well sites built after Jan. 20 are required to have sound walls at least 16 feet high installed before the operation begins.
In addition, it will be “unlawful to drill a well, the center of which, is located within 500 feet from any building or outdoor facility used or designed or intended to be used for a residence, religious institution, public gathering area, hospital building, or public or private school unless the lot is contained in the lease unit and the surface and mineral owner are the same; or unless a notarized distance waiver request is submitted by the surface owner of the property,” according to the ordinance revision.
In other council news:
Judy Brown and Joan Lucas of Lucas and Blessing Funeral Home updated the council about projects at Burleson Memorial Cemetery, which is located at 409 Memorial Plaza. In 2007, the council turned over operations at the cemetery to Lucas and Blessing. Although the group has made some progress cleaning the cemetery, the council expressed disappointment that the funeral home had not found a way to install an underground irrigation system to keep the grass green.
“What we need to do is make sure the committee gets with Lucas and our staff and put some target dates on different items in the contract,” Shetter said. “They have a lot of work to do, and I think we need to make sure our expectations are clear.”
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
