A Fort Worth woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday, asking a court to block a natural gas drilling permit at the "Trinity Trees" site along the river trail system near University Drive.
Melissa Kohout walks her dog along the Trinity River trail almost daily. She and her lawyer have already sent two letters asking the city not to allow natural gas drilling along the river because of the danger to trail users. City lawyers have already said the permit is legal.
Chesapeake Energy owns an 8-acre grove of trees next to the trail and has announced plans to clearcut 1.4 acres to make way for six to eight gas wells. There have been several public protests and Chesapeake has already agreed to shrink the size of the drilling pad and move some of the drilling equipment onto the nearby Union Pacific rail yard.
-- Mike
(Photo: Kohout and Barbie)
Hey G Henderson,
Well gas wells can explode and kill people like what happened in Forest Hill a few months ago. That's why the City normally requires gas wells to be 600 feet away from parks. But Chesapeake got special treatment and got the well only 200 feet from the park. And drilling is loud too! If you don't mind drilling, we will just put it next to your house instead of the park where kids play.
Posted by: Mondalejones | October 25, 2007 at 08:45 PM
Why do people find the need to stir up uneccesary issues. People are always trying to find some lame excuse to file a lawsuit. I mean really, is seeing a well next to a park really going to hurt this ladies walking routine everyday? What real danger is there to trail users?
Posted by: G. Henderson | October 24, 2007 at 08:28 PM
Good. The city can expect many more lawsuits.
Posted by: B. Humphries | October 24, 2007 at 12:52 PM