Ada berita menarik mampir ke inbox saya. Berikut sharing-nya http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-drilling_14met.ART.State.Edition2.50cfd2d.html *Earthquakes fuel questions over natural gas drilling in Cleburne* *12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, June 14, 2009* *By SHERRY JACOBSON / The Dallas Morning News sjacob...@dallasnews.com / The Dallas Morning News David Tarrant contributed to this report. *
CLEBURNE – They call it "mailbox money" because it shows up out of nowhere, like an unexpected gift. [image: Photos by MELANIE BURFORD/DMN]Photos by MELANIE BURFORD/DMN *Contractors **lay* pipe alongside West Kilpatrick Street at a new gas well site in Cleburne. In recent years, 170 wells have sprouted within the city. "I just got my first check, $836, for three months of royalties," Mayor Ted Reynolds said. It's hard to find anyone in this North Texas city of 30,000 who isn't getting mailbox money in exchange for allowing a natural gas company to drill on – or under – his or her property. But after a spate of mild earthquakes in the past two weeks that could be connected to the drilling, people are starting to reconsider: Is it worth the money? "Have we done irreparable damage already?" Mike Prather, owner of Johnson County Feeders Supply, wondered one afternoon last week. "No doubt it's been very good for our economy," said Prather, who also collects gas royalties. "You drive to communities outside Johnson County and you can see the difference." The difference for Cleburne is well-maintained public buildings, vibrant shopping strips and a downtown area with nearly every store occupied. "Look at anything nice in Cleburne, and it's either from the gas-royalty money or the half-cent sales tax we're putting into economic development," said Reynolds, who has been mayor for five years. Since drilling began about six years ago, the city's own gas royalties have totaled nearly $30 million. Last year's $9.3 million payout covered nearly 13 percent of the city's annual budget. "Nearly everybody in Cleburne is leased," said City Manager Chester Nolen, who started his job about a year ago. His first royalty check, about $400, arrived last week. "I expect the amount to go down to $100 to $150 because the well just started producing," Nolen said. Most people are getting from $50 to $100 a month – or up to several thousand – depending on how much land they have, he said. Bo Swisher, a pipeline construction inspector for Audie Price Inspection, described the relationship between residents and gas companies in almost biblical terms: "Natural gas is a gift from God." On shaky ground Residents' biggest concern came a year ago when natural gas prices dropped, cutting into their monthly or quarterly checks. On June 2, things got really shaky. At 3:06 p.m. that day, the first earthquake in the city's history set off sensors monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey, a federal agency that tracks tremors. The quake was considered minor, registering at a 2.8 magnitude. Although no damage or injuries were reported, it still managed to rattle the nerves of the people who felt its tremors, including the mayor. "I was a little bit worried," recalled Reynolds, who was at home when the earthquake struck. "I had never been in one before. I kind of thought it was a sonic boom. It wasn't noisy, but the ground shook." Initially, residents and even some geologists consulted by city officials discounted the possibility the quake had anything to do with natural gas drilling, Everybody called it a coincidence. In the next week, four additional quakes were detected in and around the city. Although the tremors were mild – as low as magnitude 2.1 – they still were noteworthy for North Texas. "If you look at the history of earthquakes in Texas, it's unusual to have any down there," said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. "I'd be somewhat concerned about what's going on if I lived there," he said. He was quick to add that he didn't mean "there's going to be a bigger earthquake." Caruso advised looking for a possible connection between the quakes and natural gas drilling. He particularly suggested focusing on the relatively new practice of using highly pressurized water and sand to fracture rock to release the gas. "It warrants investigation," he said. Hotbed of gas wells Located about 50 miles southwest of Dallas, Cleburne was among the first to embrace natural gas production from the Barnett Shale gas field that stretches beneath 18 North Texas counties. In recent years, 170 gas wells have sprouted within the Cleburne city limits, although most are in industrial or commercial areas near the outskirts. Johnson County has nearly 2,000 gas wells. Other counties, including Tarrant and Denton, have similar numbers of gas wells, but Cleburne has one of the densest concentrations in the area. With all the money flowing into the city's mailboxes, who could blame anyone in Cleburne for resisting the idea that drilling might be related to the quakes? "We got into this in 2002, and it's been very good for the city and very good for the taxpayers," city spokesman Charlie Hodges said. David Kirkley, who has lived in Cleburne since 1972 and has four gas leases, said the tremors weren't even detectable in his neighborhood, which was supposed to be the epicenter for three of the quakes. "I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the drilling," he said. "We've got movement in the earth all the time." Harriett Roberts, who leases property for gas drilling in three neighboring counties, reasoned that the quakes had to be natural. "I think God controls nature," she said. "And I think we're overreacting." The City Council, however, decided not to ignore the quakes, voting unanimously last week to seek "an objective opinion" from one or more geologists, Hodges said. "We want to find people who we know are not in any of the perceived camps, who will come here and give us an objective, impersonal analysis of the data," he said. The quakes have piqued the interest of Southern Methodist University geologists, who plan to place portable seismometers in various locations to gauge the depth of future tremors. The testing would indicate whether the quakes are occurring at the same depth as the drilling. In all, 18 mild earthquakes have been detected in North Texas since late October, including tremors in Euless, Irving, Grand Prairie and Dallas. The tremors were said to originate from 3 miles below the ground, while most of the drilling is occurring at about a 1-mile depth. Dr. Larry Standlee, a geologist at the University of Texas at Arlington, also plans to do computer modeling based on the seismic data. "Something is going on – exactly what, I'm not sure," Standlee said. The idea of city leaders seeking out geological opinions is not sitting well with some residents. They wonder what will happen if evidence suggests that the quakes are related to the drilling. Roberts said she doubts the city will be allowed to renege on the hundreds of drilling permits already issued to gas companies. Reynolds, the mayor, said he's not sure what would happen in that event. "I don't have a clue about what we're going to do next," he said. "But we're sure going to get to the bottom of it." Staff writer David Tarrant contributed to this report.
