XTO Abandons Southlake!!

XTO Abandons Southlake!!

XTO pulled its applicaiton on 5/16/2011
Their stated reasons for this are economic, given plans to surround our city with 3 pad sites (Sky Creek, Joe Wright, & Milner) and connect them with one pipeline failed. XTO should take full responsibility for their failure to develop their investments: 1) XTO WAITED 2 YEARS to apply for their first pad site in Southlake leaving them little time to reapply before leases expired. The price of gas collapsing to 1/3 of its peak value surely played a roll in their delay and reluctance to renew leases. 2) XTO proposed sites NEEDLESSLY CLOSE to homes (Summer Place, Keller) and schools (Grapevine). They did so favoring the pad site owner over the protest of residents within setbacks leading to loss of support, mistrust, and failed proposals. 3) XTO asked for UNNECESSARY VARIANCES (venting) for months insisting they could not drill without them but dropping the request after our protests. (More mistrust) 4) XTO IGNORED the growing concerns of residents to the impact of urban gas drilling on health, safety, environment, and property value. They only agreed to additional monitoring and safety measures after our insistence. (Less support). When asked for a blast study on Joe Wright XTO refused wanted approval before doing the study, even though it is next to a jet fuel storage site !!!! 5) XTO ABANDONED the approved Milner Pad Site because it was not economically viable to run a pipeline for “only one site” but there are 2 active sites in Westlake closer than Joe Wright that will need a pipeline! (Could they not make a deal?)
XTO’s was not solely responsible for the failure of their plans, the city helped with its irregular voting procedures on Joe Wright. Fortunately they got their procedures worked out for the Joe Wright site and required CC to approve by supermajority the site.
Southlake Taxpayers Against Neighborhood Drilling
was forced to file a lawsuit on April 14, 2011 in Tarrant County's 153rd District Court. The city of Southlake could not release any permits related to the approved XTO Energy gas well site on the Milner ranch near Hwy 114 until the case was settled.
Council approved the Milner site(GAS10-004) at the end of February 2011 with council members Al Zito and Carolyn Morris opposed. Fort Worth-based XTO planned to drill 18 natural gas wells on site which was only approved by a vote of 5-2 (71%) not a super majority of 6-1 (more than 75%). STAND felt a super majority was required base on the reports that the city's Planning and Zoning Commission made months before. The commissioners voted 4-3 in November against approving the controversial drill site, but City Council interpreted this as a report without a recommendation and approved the SUP by a simple majority (5 votes) instead of a super majority (6 votes)
Cloud of uncertainty regarding its voting process.

A hearing was set for Sept 15th, 2011 to determine if the case would move forward. Former Council member and current candidate for city council Greg Standerfer filed a motion to join the suit arguing that the city cannot enforce its ordinances!! Mr. Standerfer never got to waste the judges time because XTO abandoned their plans and pulled out of Southlake.

City Council moved forward on this permit ignoring P&Z’s clear denial as if they had no recommendation from P&Z ! Why did the maylor allow this to happen when the matter could have easily been sent back to planning and zoning for clarification. State law requires City Council to have a report and recommendation from P&Z before voting. The city attorney spoke for several minutes to explain how a “NO!” can really mean “we don’t know?” or on the City Council Shenanigans page.

Thank you to Al Zito and Carolyn Morris for standing up for Southlake’s quality of life and environment.

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