Welcome to Gasland: Denton, Texas Residents Face Fracking Impacts From EagleRidge Energy

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In Denton, Texas, 40 miles northwest of Dallas, residents and students at the University of North Texas are getting a free courseย in what itโ€™s like to live in the middle of a frackingย field.ย 

Although Dentonย officialsย created an ordinance mandating that fracking sitesย beย at leastย 1,200 feetย from homes, sites with gas wells already in place are exempt from the new rule.ย Someย are less than 200 feetย away from homes. Sinceย Denton is full of existing drill pads, many find themselves living in the shadow of a fracking installation that exposes themย to chemicals, noise and bright lights.

Rebekah Hinojosa, a student at the university,ย is no stranger to industrial pollution. She grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, near the U.S./ย Mexican border, home to two Superfund sites.


Rebekah at an EagleRidge fracking site near the Denton Airportย ยฉ2013 Julieย Dermansky

Still, Hinojosa had a rude awakening when sheย learnedย the university permitted fracking onย campus.

โ€œNow we have a frack site across the street from our dorms and the drill extends underneath half of the campus,โ€ Hinojosaย says. โ€œOur campus looks pathetic with a fracking site situatedย 100ย feet awayย from the universityโ€™s three wind turbines and platinum LEED certified football stadium, surroundedย by signs saying, โ€˜We mean green!โ€™ย โ€

It didnโ€™t happen without pushback. Hinojosa and friends canvassed neighborhoods, held protests and attended city council meetings to push for stricterย ordinances.

In February 2012, theย Denton cityย council passed a temporary moratorium on fracking.ย It was aย minor victoryย asย industry used the โ€œvested rightsโ€ loophole that allows them to work on sites with existing gasย wells.

When the students and larger numbers of the public began attending city council meetings, industry started to bring in their own representatives. Hinojosaย says, โ€œFake grassroots organizations would send vans full of people with prepared speeches that claimed fracking to be safeย and clean. No matter how hard we worked on our speeches, our voices seemed mute compared to the frackingย industry.โ€


EagleRidge well site across from the Apogee Stadium at University of North Texas ยฉ2013 Julieย Dermansky

โ€œIncompatible with neighborhoods:โ€ homeowners complain of toxicย fumes

Many homeowners who purchased property in subdivisions near Bonnie Brae Street and Vintageย Boulevardย have had a rude awakening too. Drilling rigs were set up a few hundred feet from the developments. No one in theย neighborhood retained their mineral rights. Homebuyers were not explicitly informed about the mineral rights or that not owning them could become an issue. Disclosure laws have not kept pace with theย increasingย threat industry poses toย homeowners.


Subdivisionย off Vintage Blvd andย Bonnie Brae Street in Denton,Texas ยฉ2013 Julieย Dermansky

When drilling began this fall, homeowners started complaining about toxic fumes, bright lights and noise. Council member Kevin Roden acknowledged on his blog that the situation for residents along Bonnie Brae was โ€œawful.โ€ He told the Denton Recordย Chronicle, โ€œI donโ€™t think I stand alone in recognizing that sort of activity is incompatible with neighborhoods.โ€ Many worry their property values will nose dive and they wonโ€™t be able to sell now that fracking is in fullย swing.

University of North Texas Professor Adam Briggle said:ย 

โ€œLand developers can build to maximum capacity right up to gas wells without informing homebuyers about the industrial activities that will occur near them. Without stricter disclosure rules, theyย have nothing to lose from gas wells on their property. And thanks to vested rights, the gas well operators can continue to make money from their sites even after homes move in right nextย door.โ€

When residents complain, Briggle said city council takes the stance it is the publicโ€™sย responsibility to do due diligence before buying a home. โ€œTexas is conducting real world experiments in people’s backyards without their consent,โ€ he said. โ€œThough legally you can sell homes to people without their informed consent, it is notย ethical.โ€

Insurance companies have taken notice of risks associated with fracking and donโ€™t cover fracking-related risks toย homeowners.

While fracking companies claim their practices are safe and the Texas Railroad Commission backs them up, Texans directly impacted by fracking, such as former mayor of Dish,ย Texas, Calvin Tillman, have taken it upon themselves to educate the publicย otherwise.ย 

Tillmanย started a non-profit organization, ShaleTest Environmental Testing, which collects environmental data and provides testing services to low-income communities. His organization uses special equipment to expose fumes not visible to the naked eye, which escape from frackingย sites.ย 

Acrossย the streetย from the university’s Apogee Athletic Stadium he videotapedย escapingย volatile organic compounds, which include the carcinogensย benzene,ย xylene,ย methane and toluene, among others.

Watchย EagleRidge fracking flowback at Apogee Stadium in Denton Texas, footage by ShaleTest.org:

EagleRidge Energy LLC, one of Denton’s largest frackers and operator of the pad site near Apogee Athletic Stadium,ย were cited for failing city inspections three times in 2012. They lost control of a well near Denton Enterprise Airportย in April, causingย traffic to be rerouted and fumes to spread over theย city.

EagleRidge has little toleranceย for public scrutiny. As Sharon Wilson wrote on her blog, Blue Daze, from a community meeting in Mansfield, Texas: โ€œAccording to Mark Grawe, Chief Operating Officer atย EagleRidge Energy (EagleRidge), Denton residents who object to his companyโ€™s reckless operations way too close to their homes, schools and parks are terrorists worthy of inclusion on the Department of Homeland Securityโ€™s watchย list.โ€

Buddy Price, spokesman for the University of North Texas, would notย give a yes or no answer when asked whether there is fracking on campus. However, Mark Grawe from EagleRidge confirmed to DeSmogBlog that fracking is going on under the schoolโ€™s grounds. He added, โ€œEagleRidge follows all the rules and conditions set by the City of Denton, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Railroadย Commission.โ€


Chemicals across the street from the Apogee Stadium ยฉ2013 Julieย Dermansky

Tillman moved his family out of Dish after the area became contaminated by fracking. Now heย is considering a run for Governor despite the industry’s efforts to demonize him. โ€œPeople that call activists terrorists are enslaved toย industry,โ€ย heย said.ย 

Meanwhile, Dentonย residentsย are taking part in an experiment they didn’t sign up for.ย Although some of them are still fighting to stall any further industrial development, the experimentย is underway. The changes are straining the fabric of Denton’s society, pitting those concerned with health risks against others with stakes in industry. Meanwhile, the city is being turned into aย gasland.


Fracking pond seen from I-35 in Denton, Texas ยฉ2013 Julieย Dermansky

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Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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