Recent News

October 7, 2010

RECENT NEWS UPPER TRINITY GROUND WATER CONDERVATION DISTRICT

In my haste yesterday to get the news out to the membership of the MCPOA, I left out a very important name who played a very key roll in the FENCO battle. The UTGCD was first informed by the MCPOA, as best I remember, in the spring of 2009 shortly after they opened their satellite office located on Pelham street in Bowie. I remember meeting with UTGCD General Manager Dr. Robert Patterson and handing him a copy of the FENCO revised permit application to the RRC provided to us by City of Saint Jo Mayor, Mr. Tom Weger.

I briefly explained to Dr. Patterson the urgency and seriousness of the situation and he said he would review the application with staff and directors and get back to me at a later date. True to his word, he called me back in a appropriate amount of time and informed me the UTGCD was in the process of writing the RRC to oppose the waste treatment facility proposed by FENCO and they would stay on it until the end. They did just that.

The rest is history. They hired Lloyd Gosselink law firm in Austin and the fireworks started. The water conservation districts in Texas, are currently limited in their power by the State Legislature, but they are in a position to be heard and they made every effort to be heard and oppose what could have been a environmental disaster. They are to be congratulated for their time, efforts and large cost expended to prevent this threat to the environment. As we all know, lawyers are costly and they spared no expense in their efforts. This battle could not have been won without them intervening and getting involved.

To the staff, management and directors of the UTGCD, a great big thank you. You helped save the day. Robert McKee Interim President MCPOA Robert McKee Interim President MCPOA

October 6, 2010

RECENT NEWS FENCO CONTRACTORS GROUP, LLC

What you are about to read is very good news. At approximately 10:20 AM this morning, Darren Fenoglio of FENCO Contractors Group, LLC called Saint Jo Mayor, Mr. Tom Weger, to tell him he was withdrawing their application to the Railroad Commission of Texas to build a Stationary Waste Treatment Facility for oilfield waste at the inactive rock quarry they own three (3) miles west of Saint Jo. Mr. Rex White, attorney for the City of Saint Jo, called Mr. Weger at approximately 1:00 PM from Austin to inform him that Mr. Fenoglio, prior to the start of a pre-hearing conference before the hearing examiner at the RRC had indeed withdrawn the permit application. There will not be a oilfield waste facility three miles west of Saint Jo.

Why did Mr. Fenoglio withdraw his permit application which was originally filed in late January of 2008? It appears he finally came to the conclusion after spending thousands of dollars in engineering and legal fees that the opposition was insurmountable. As the days dragged on in this battle, the opposition grew and grew. Other cities such as Muenster and Gainesville protested to the RRC. The City of Saint Jo hired experts in the fields of hydrology, geology, physics, environmental engineering and civil engineering. They were also aided by a mayorial task force of semi-retired and retired local professional people who had special skills and knowledge of fighting such projects as proposed by FENCO.

At the end of the day, like all battles with the RRC, it wasn't engineering or technical knowledge, it was politics. We knew on the front end it would probably come to this and it did. Apparently Mr. Fenoglio did not feel he could win the politics of the battle. He started with one hand tied behind his back and was willing to gamble he could overcome the denial by the professional staff of the RRC who twice denied the permit application. Great credit needs to be given to these public servants who saw this facility for what it was. A proposed environmental disaster in the making. They set the stage for avoiding this disaster. They were the real heroes that carried the day.

There was also a large group of unnamed people who pitched in and generously gave of their time, talents and money. They too deserve our many thanks along with the local news papers and television stations from Wichita Falls, Lawton and Sherman. The Montague County Property Owners Association thanks everyone for their interest and support who joined this battle and stayed with to the very end. All their efforts and hard work eventually paid off. I hope it is a long time before we have another battle like this one. Robert McKee Interim President MCPOA

August 16, 2010

ONCOR ELECTRIC DELIVERY COMPANY, LLC

In late 2009 ONCOR sent out notification letters to selected property owners who may possibly be affected by their intent to construct the Riley-Krum West 345 kV Transmission Line through various locations in Montague County. Understandable, no one wants to give a 160' wide easement with four legged towers 180' tall with heavy wires hanging from the top running through their property. Various groups quickly formed to push the proposed project from one location to the other.

ONCOR maintains that completion of this project would enable the transmission system to more efficiently move wind-generated electric power to market and would add valuable capacity to the entire transmission system. The new transmission line would connect the proposed Krum West Switching Station (located northwest of the City of Krum in Denton County) to the new ETT Riley Substation (located east of the existing Oklaunion Generating Station) located southeast of the City of Vernon in Wilbarger County. This proposed transmission line is currently planned to be completed in 2013 assuming they receive approval for the final route from the PUC at a final hearing in September 2010.

In the spring of 2010 the Montague County Commissioners Court was asked by one of the interested groups to pass a resolution objecting to the Riley-Krum West project. To the credit of the Commissioners Court the requested resolution was quickly passed. And then the battle began in earnest pitting one affected property group against the other.

The first week of August the PUC held a hearing for interested parties and helped negotiate a route that was still in Montague County, but also extended south down into Wise County. Now that the negotiations are completed the next step is for the PUC Commissioners to approve the final route and issue a permit for construction to ONCOR.

We have since learned the interested parties at the negotiations included all four County Commissioners from Wise County and Texas State Representative Phil King. Wise County is part of Mr. King's district. In an article written by Dave Montgomery that appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram concerning wind-generated electricty from West Texas and high- voltage transmission lines Rep. Phil King was quoted as making the following statements.

Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, is working with his constituents in an effort to route the lines away from Wise County. While supporting the goal of expanding the use of wind energy, King said he has lived with the sight of a "four-legged tower" near his home for 20 years and can relate to concerned landowners. "I walk out my front door, and that's what I see," King said a day after a public meeting on the issue July 1. He said Wise County is already crisscrossed with electrical transmission lines and natural gas lines from drilling in the Barnett Shale.

 

"Wise County is already more heavily burdened with infrastructure than any other county in the region," he said, suggesting that the lines be routed to less populated areas north of Wise County . "We just think it's time they go somewhere else."

Thank you Representative King. The first county north of Wise County is us – Montague County. Upon being made aware of this article that we retrieved over the internet I called our Texas State Representative Rick Hardcastle's office in Vernon first thing Monday morning on August 9th. I asked to speak to Rep. Hardcastle and was told by his office manager, Mike Lytle, that he was unavailable. My next question was , "are you aware of the article that appeared in the Star-Telegram quoting Rep. Phil King." His answer was affirmatve. I then asked him if they had a rebuttal to this article. Mr. Lytle did not say no. Instead he told me that if we were distrubed by Rep. King's comments we should contact the PUC in Austin and make them aware of our displeasure with Rep. King's comments.

We do not know who Representative Hardcastle is representing in Montague County, but as property owners it is obvious that we are not included on the short list, so to speak, if there is such a list.

We would be interested in receiving your comments concerning this situation.

Robert McKee Interim President

August 14, 2010

FENCO Contractors Group, LLC

As we noted in our letter of July 14, FENCO had been granted a hearing date before the Railroad Commission (RRC) on August 25, 2010 in Austin before a Hearing Examiner to present their case why they should be issued a permit to operate a Commercial Stationary Treatment facility on a site 3 miles west of Saint Jo even though they have been denied a permit once in 2008 and again in 2009. The RRC, to the credit of their professional staff, have clearly spelled out and listed the reasons to FENCO why they object to issuing a permit to operate a facility at the site they have chosen. They continuously have made themselves very clear in their denial letters. It should not be that hard to understand, but apparently it is.

Since July 14th there has been a lot of maneuvering and legal activity by FENCO. The hearing date scheduled for August 25th has been canceled by mutual agreement of the interested parties and is awaiting a new date. The interested parties being FENCO Contractors Group, LLC., the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and the City of Saint Jo. The new hearing date has been rescheduled to take place on October 18th-20th . Prior to the actual hearing, there may or may not be a per-hearing conference where the interested parties will be given information concerning discovery, such as who will be called as expert witnesses by the interested parties.

The August 5th edition of the Nocona News carried a Letter to the Editor from Darren Fenoglio of FENCO.

RE: Fenco Contractors Group, L.L.C., application to the Texas Railroad Commission for a permit for an Oil-field Waste Disposal Facility in Montague County.

 

There has been a lot of recent, negative media coverage regarding the oil-field waste disposal facility proposed by Fenco Contractors Group, LLC to be located about three miles southwest of Saint Jo in Montague County. Much of this information has been put out by people who have never talked to me or actually looked at what I am proposing to do at the site. Some of the information being circulated to the public has been false and misleading. I want to take the opportunity to set the record straight on what I am proposing to do.

 

First, the Barnett Shale is changing the oil and gas industry in north central Texas. Many experts refer to the Barnett Shale as the largest onshore natural gas field in the United States. As the demand (and price) for energy increases, there will be more drilling and production from the Barnett Shale. Oil and gas production generates waste, and as the production increases, so does the amount of waste being generated. With all of the drilling and production activities in Montague and surrounding counties, that waste has to be managed somewhere. Right now that waste is being managed by what the Texas Railroad Commission calls "minor permits."

 

The reality is that these minor permits allow the operators to spread the waste out on the drill site or some adjacent property with no liners and no groundwater monitoring systems. Many that oppose my proposed facility say that they do not want the waste coming to this area.

 

Unfortunately, it is already here. Any of you who have observed areas in Montague County where waste has been placed on the land using this process, understand that it can leave behind some unwanted scars on the landscape.

 

I recently commissioned a review of the minor permits in the eastern portion of Railroad Commission District 9; including, Clay, Cooke, Denton, Grayson, Jack, Montague, Wichita and Wise Counties. From October 2008 to June 2010, the Wichita Falls District office had 648 applications for minor permits and issued 636.

 

In Montague County alone, the Railroad Commission received 77 applications and issued 76 minor permits in that same time frame. And, these minor permits are not for just water-based drilling mud -- the Railroad Commission also allows oil-based drilling mud and other oil-based wastes to be managed by minor permits.

 

Like it or not, oilfield waste is already being managed in Montague County.

 

The facility I am proposing is located in an old limestone quarry on State Highway 59 about three miles southwest of Saint Jo. Many of you have probably heard that I am proposing to just dump oil-field waste in this quarry. That is not a fair description of what I am proposing to do. Through their permit process, the Railroad Commission acknowledges that oil-field wastes have the potential to harm groundwater. The purpose of their rules and their permitting process is to provide safeguards against harming groundwater.

 

I am proposing to build a state-of-the-art waste management facility with liners, multiple monitoring and groundwater protection measures. This facility will also be required to capture and control the storm water that falls on the site to also protect surface water. I have hired several experts to assist in making sure that we comply with the rules of the Railroad Commission and include appropriate groundwater and surface water protection measures.

 

It is also important to understand that the protection measures to be used at this facility are the most stringent required by the Railroad Commission as well as exceed those measures used at most other facilities already permitted by the Commission. These protection measures are not cheap, either. My experts tell me that the cost of these protection measures is going to be upwards of $250,000 per acre! But I have committed to the Railroad Commission to make this type of expenditure to be sure that there is a place to properly manage the waste already being generated in our area.

 

I invite you to come to a public meeting I am hosting August 25 or 26 in Saint Jo, Texas. I will have documents and maps that will describe what I am proposing to do. I will also have my experts there to make a presentation about the facility and to answer your questions. Before you make up your mind about my proposed facility, please come see for yourself what I am planning to do. No one wants to think about having to deal with oil-field waste. The reality is: we already are! The choice, at this point, is whether we want to manage this waste as we presently do -- without liners and monitoring systems -- or whether we want to manage this waste at a state-of-the-art facility that includes liners, monitoring systems, and other measures that will protect our precious groundwater and surface water.

 

Darren Fenoglio

 

We have recently learned that Mr. Fenoglio has reserved the Saint Jo High School Auditorium for Wednesday, August 25th to hold a Town Hall meeting from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM. We assume he will have his Austin attorney, Steven Fenoglio a cousin, and probably several other professional people to conduct a program of trying to convince everyone that the professional staff of of the RRC is wrong and they are right. This promises to be a very interesting evening.

Plan on attending. The City of Saint Jo and area protestants need the support of all property owners and other interested parties.

Robert McKee Interim President

March 19, 2010

RILEY-KRUM WEST 345 KV TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT

As many of you are aware, Oncor Electric Delivery, based in Dallas has stated their intentions to build a 345 kilovolt transmission line that would be routed through Montague County. This line would require property owners affected by this facility to grant Oncor an easement of approximately 360 feet running through their property. The steel towers designed for holding the lines are 180 feet high which is equivalent to a 18 story building. No property owner wants any part of this facility. The Montague County Commissioners Court has unanimously issued a resolution opposing this facility coming through Montague County. They deserve applause for the action they have taken. The destruction to property values along the proposed right of way would be enormous and property owners would once again be underpaid for their land. Several realtors have publicly stated a devaluation of at least 50% would occur.

The MCPOA web site has a link to the Oncor public notice for this proposed facility which can be found listed under the heading of Utility on the IMPORTANT LINKS page.

September 16, 2009

Summer is Finally over and it is time for some much appreciated RAIN.

Resource Consultants

We have recently added another topic to our expanding website under the heading of Reasearch Consultants. Our first addition is Mineral Web, Oil and Gas Mineral Web Services which we now link to at www.mineralweb.com. This company is principally owned by Mr. Kenneth Dubose, a resident of Houston, a MCPOA member and property owner in Montague County.

Oil and Gas

There have been a number of events that have caught our attention in recent months. Some good and some that is unfavorable. EOG Resources, the dominate energy company operating in Montague County, has indicated they are not going to renew approximately 2/3 of the mineral leases they have under contract at expiration of the leases. This may be for two reasons. The falling price of natural gas and seismic tests that are coming up short.

It hasn't been all that long ago that we were being told that our country was running out of natural gas. Never forget about changes in technology. Because of recent successes in extracting natural gas from shale formations in Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York states we are now being told there is a 100 year supply of natural gas in this country. None of this would be possible without the changes in energy technology over the past decade. Natural gas that was selling for $14 plus dollars 15 months ago is now $3.00. It is hard to make a profit at that price. $70.00 oil is still profitable and urgently needed . EOG Resources is now concentrating on oil much more than gas because the economics favor oil over gas. Then to, they have developed new technology that is very helpful to their efforts.

Water

In early 2008, Fennco Contractors Group, LLC applied to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) for a permit to operate a solid waste disposal site at the old rock quary 3 miles west of St. Jo. It was denied by the RRC on the grounds that it posed a serious endangerment to the surrounding environment and the Trinity Aquifer. The city of St. Jo and the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District are opposed to this facility because of the potential danger posed to the water supply of St. Jo and the surrounding community. Fenco has asked for a hearing before the RRC examiners to overturn the RRC evironmental staff recommendation not to allow a permit. The MCPOA, members and non-members, have written numerous letters to the RRC opposing this facility. The UTGCD has hired a law firm in Austin to represent them before the RRC when the hearing is scheduled. The MCPOA and the City of St. Jo will also have representatives at the hearing.