As he voted to approve new gas drilling near homes last month, Arlington council member Andrew Piel said he took no joy in the decision.
He argued the approval was necessary to avoid a costly and unwinnable lawsuit from Total Energies, the company seeking to drill two new wells in southeast Arlington. Piel cited House Bill 40, a 2015 state law that prohibits cities from banning fracking or implementing regulations on natural gas drilling that are not “commercially reasonable.”
“If we were to vote this gas well down tonight, the applicant gas well company would be able to sue the city for violating this law, easily win and will be able to drill their gas wells anyway,” Piel told the large crowd attending the May 23 hearing. “I cannot disregard the law when the outcome is certain because of how I might feel about the law. I wish it were different.”
Nearly four weeks after council members approved Total’s application, the city is facing a new lawsuit anyway — but not from a gas driller. Environmental advocacy organization Liveable Arlington and two residents filed suit June 12.
The lawsuit claims city staff and council members violated the Texas Open Meetings Act and deprived plaintiffs of their constitutional due process rights by:
- Failing to post adequate notice of Total’s permit application.
- Failing to follow city ordinances while considering Total’s application.
- Revising a drill site map during the May 23 hearing in violation of city and state rules.
- Scheduling a second hearing on the gas wells for June 13 despite committing illegal acts.
Liveable Arlington and two homeowners, Jade Cook and Gibran Farah Esparza, are seeking a court order to prevent the city from granting gas well permits to Total. Cook and Esparza share a home with two young children, and Cook is currently pregnant with their third child. The couple lives within 1,320 feet of 5720 S. Watson Road, where two new gas wells are planned.
Dallas-based attorney Chrysta Castañeda, a former Democratic candidate for the Railroad Commission of Texas, is representing Liveable Arlington.
Castañeda said her client wants Arlington to enforce its own ordinance, which requires a gas drilling zone to be 600 feet away from protected buildings such as schools, churches and homes.
In this case, city staff estimated that a home was “approximately 600.1 feet” away from the proposed drill zone. Liveable Arlington has questioned that number, arguing that city staff increased the estimate so that Total’s application would not require support from a supermajority of council members to move forward.
“The city cannot subvert its legal requirements on the fly, nor can it hide behind House Bill 40 to say that the ordinance no longer has force,” Castañeda said in a statement.
The plaintiffs are also represented by attorney Jayla Wilkerson, who said the city’s ordinance is a “very important safeguard” protecting residents from intrusive drilling that disproportionately harms poor and vulnerable neighborhoods.
A city spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation. Council members Rebecca Boxall and Long Pham referred requests for comment to the city attorney. Raul Gonzalez declined to comment. The remaining council members — Barbara Odom-Wesley, Helen Moise, Jim Ross, Bowie Hogg, Nikkie Hunter and Piel — did not respond to requests for comment.
Per a June 14 filing, the city attorney’s office will represent all defendants in the case, including council members and assistant planning and development services director Richard Gertson.
Parents ask council: ‘Please help us’
This marks the second time that Liveable Arlington has filed suit against the city of Arlington over gas well permits.
In late 2021, after city council members initially approved three new gas wells near a daycare center, Liveable Arlington and the owner of Mother’s Heart Learning Center took the dispute to court. The suit was dropped when city council members reversed their decision and denied Total’s permit in January 2022.
No such reversal happened with Total’s request this time. The company wants to drill two more wells at its Fulson site, which sits near Tarrant County College’s southeast campus and Fish Creek Linear Park. Total operates 31 drill sites in Arlington under its North Texas subsidiary, TEP Barnett.
On June 13 – the day after the lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County district court – Arlington City Council members heard directly from Cook and Esparza.
The parents said they…
Read More: City of Arlington faces new lawsuit over vote to approve new natural gas