Next month, the Arlington City Council will vote on whether to give final approval to a French natural gas company鈥檚 plan to expand fracking operations near a daycare.
TotalEnergies operates a natural gas well that sits just over 600 feet from the Mother's Heart Learning Center near State Highway 360 in Arlington. The company wants to drill three more wells on the same site.
Two weeks ago, the Council voted to approve TotalEnergies鈥� request to establish a drill zone at the site, although the company still needs final approval from the council on drilling permits.
Potential health risks
Multiple physicians spoke at a Nov. 30 meeting about the potential health risks the community could face if the permits are approved, including Floyd Ostrom, a retired pediatric physician.
"Public health and the citizens of Arlington will be at risk if more wells are allowed to be drilled in close proximity to daycares, schools, parks and residential areas,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose risks are especially high for children and pregnant women.鈥�
The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health , which found that unconventional natural gas development 鈥� which includes hydraulic fracturing, or fracking 鈥� is associated with preterm birth, high-risk pregnancy, and low birth weight. It鈥檚 also been linked to three kinds of asthma exacerbations, as well as nasal and sinus issues and migraine headaches.
Ranjana Bhandari, executive director of the environmental advocacy group , said it鈥檚 clear the proximity to these sites are having a negative impact on children鈥檚 health just based on the rates of childhood asthma in Tarrant County, where Arlington is located.
The University of North Texas roughly 19% of Tarrant County children have been diagnosed with asthma, compared to of about 8%.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a very large body of scientific research that links proximity to drilling to asthma,鈥� Bhandari said. 鈥淎nd these effects can often be observed as far as 10 miles away.鈥�
More than 30,000 Arlington children attend public school within just half a mile of a natural gas well, according to in June by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, and up to 7,600 infants and young children attend daycares within that radius.
Kevin Strasser, Total鈥檚 local spokesperson, said the company is working to make changes to reduce emissions.
鈥淲e implement a nano-additive to our completion equipment that reduces emissions on our sites during the completion process, and we recently announced we鈥檙e implementing new electric valves as opposed to our pneumatic valves, which reduces any emissions possible at the site,鈥� he said.
Racial disparities
TotalEnergies tried to get the same drilling permits approved last June, amid widespread protests over the murder of George Floyd and what some called a 鈥渞acial reckoning鈥� in the U.S. They were met with pushback from the surrounding community of East Arlington, a neighborhood that鈥檚 home to , and the request was denied.
With council members approving the drill site at the Nov. 30 meeting, residents are accusing them of changing their stance 鈥� even though the circumstances themselves haven鈥檛.
鈥淲hy would the vote [in January] be different than the 鈥榥o鈥� vote from last year?鈥� Arlington resident Tammy Carson asked. 鈥淟ast year the Black Lives Matter movement was all over the news. Are the lives and health of these residents, your constituents, any less important now than when that phrase was trendy?鈥�
Wanda Vincent, the owner and director of Mother鈥檚 Heart Learning Center, said all of the children who attend her daycare are Black or Latino and the city would be doing them a disservice by approving the permits.
鈥淭he health and safety of our children is of the utmost importance to our mission, and the drill site in our backyard has now placed a big question mark on that for me, for my parents and for my community,鈥� Vincent said. 鈥淗ow do we tell our children that they can be whatever they desire? But you will sell their health and safety for millions of dollars because of the color of their skin.鈥�
Legal challenges
Arlington City Council member Andrew Peel said one of his concerns if Arlington were to deny the permits again, would be costly legal battles.
A Texas law, HB 40, limits what regulations local governments can place on oil and gas drilling.
鈥淚f we deny this permit 鈥� Total can sue the city of Arlington, win and drill their wells anyway,鈥� Peel said. 鈥淎nd in that case, we would have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.鈥�
The council will vote on whether to approve or deny Total's permits on Jan. 4.
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