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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20-1129RESOLUTION NO. 20- 1129 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF DENTON, A TEXAS HOME-RULE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN A LETTER OF PROTEST, PURSUANT TO 43 C.F.R. SECTION 3120.1-3, REGARDING THE PROPOSED AUCTION BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT OF PARCEL TX-2020-08-6679 COMPRISING 71.5 ACRES IN AND ADJACENT TO LEWISVILLE LAKE, DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS FOR PURPOSES OF OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT; AND, PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Bureau of Land Management proposes to auction Parcel TX-2020-08- 6679, comprising 71.5 acres in and adjacent to Lewisville Lake, Denton County, Texas (the “Lake Lewisville Property”), for purposes of oil and gas development, and WHEREAS, the City of Denton is a holder of water rights to water impounded in Lake Lewisville which serves as a primary source of drinking water for our citizens, and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Denton is concerned about protection of regional water resources, and WHEREAS, the City of Denton recognizes that Gas Well Drilling and Production Activities can create conditions that potentially threaten health, safety and general welfare, including accidental releases of chemicals and fluids from the site, fire hazards, sediment discharges and similar deleterious effects, and WHEREAS, water is an increasingly precious resource in our region, about which the City is justly concerned; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY RESOLVES: SECTION 1. The recitations of the preamble to this Resolution are herein incorporated. SECTION 2. The City Council of the City of Denton authorizes the Mayor to sign a Letter of Protest with the Bureau of Land Management indicating the City’s concern over the leasing Parcel TX-2020-08-6679, comprising 71.5 acres in and adjacent to Lewisville Lake, Denton County, Texas for purposes of oil and gas development in form and substance substantially similar to the letter attached as Exhibit “ A” and incorporated herein. SECTION 3. The City Council of the City of Denton directs the City Staff to file said Letter of Protest with the Bureau of Land Management within its proscribed response period and to accomplish any necessary tasks associated with such filing. ,I„ti,„ w„ m,d, by JM---aThe the resolutionby vote U - I )Ifollowi and seconded was passed and approved by the Aye ,// .// Z -Jr 1/ AZ bZ Nay Abstain Absent Chris Watts, Mayor: Gerard Hudspeth, District 1 : Keely G. Briggs, District 2: Jesse Davis, District 3 : John Ryan, District 4: Deb Armintor, At Large Place 5 : Paul Meltzer, At Large Place 6: PASSED AND APPROVED this the dAy of June 2020. msTATR:mbR ATTEST: ROSA RIOS, CITY SECRETARY Btw;i ’agBBYnEtIf-Bat–il AS TO LEGAL FORM AL. CITY ATTORNEY EXHIBIT “A“ June XX, 2020 Tim Spisak State Director Bureau of Land Management 301 Dinosaur Trail Santa Fe, NM 87508 C l L y a-+ J Re: Protest by the city of Denton, Texas pursuant to 43 C.F.R. ba}!bq- Mroposed auction by the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") & PRFIIw-2020-08- 6679, comprising approximately 71.5 acres in Lewisvii le '"t:qbe3Denton County, Texas (the '’Lewisville Lake Property") AN\ A Dear Mr. Spisak: Management ("BLM") of Parcel TX-2020}99£qg39: ' comprising approximately 71.5 acres in development. The City of Denton ish-a=tLold aqpf -Qater rights to water impounded in Lake Lewisville, and this water serves as a{tS:rirQar}tour?e of drinking water for our citizens and citizens' 'ql/# ’ \ v in SrI[r?Unding communities' TyeXy dRwe’n recognizes that Fas Well Drilling and ProductionActivities can create externg£iLbs tRU p'dtdntially threaten health, safety and general welfare. These ext£rnalities can iac6jaWid>rfaI releases oF chemicals and fluids frJm the sitl, fire h””.d', ”dim”t.' Pg/qpR'q}'i”nt di”h”g”, '"d.'.imi!” d'.I't”i'” 'ff”t'. F”th”: I e a s e s a 1 e o f t h i s iFBbI I!\!II!!!I ( (DOI-!y-4DtO’glO;2020-O031-EA; the “EA") regarding the location of Parcel 6679. On page 2 e of the dp?#-Klaor example parcel 6679 is indicated as being in Lee County. On page 28, parcel 66Z-g"is,listb~dai-Being adjacent to Somerville Lake, which is in Washington County, Texas. These „hd,rAt,v„nf,I,i,n- I,-b„t„t,r, ,f th,i„„ ,f thi r,f,r,n„i-I,r,d,. Wi’ „k th,t thti propo'hd lease be withdrawn, and these errors corrected prior to any further proceedings in this bb rJ On behalf of the City of Denton, Texas and pursuant {$ CIty,*Co_uncil Resolution No. XXXX-007 dated June XX, 2020, 1 am authorized as Mayor oflb CPy.gf #prIon to file this Letter of Protest, pursuant to 43 C.F.R. section 3120.1-3, regardbE the probbgd auction by the Bureau of Land Lewisville Lake, Denton County, Texas (tUg'"La{e ERP. iI!,Ville Property"), for purposes of oil and gas <\\ppear to be some discrepancies in the Environmental Assessment).:_:,',:!N h matter The City appreciates that the comment period has closed on the EA related to the proposed activity from the Oil and Gas Lease Sale. However, given the impacts that proceeding with the sale auction of Parcel 6679 could have on surface water quality in Lewisville Lake, which is Denton’s and many surrounding community’s primary source of drinking water, the City is compelled to submit the following comments and respectfully requests BLM’s consideration of them The City of Denton Water Utility is a non-profit enterprise fund of the City of Denton that provides water and wastewater services to a population of approximately 140,000 people, two major universities, and a substantial number of commercial, and industrial customers,,.ihe City of Denton holds rights to water stored in Lake Lewisville and contributes financially to the%6peration and maintenance of the Lake Lewisville Dam and related infrastructure, incLydirtg cont;b_uting milIIons of dollars help fund major repairs to the Dam in the coming years.k*'v =]b'\b In general, the City of Denton endorses the comments concerning th& EA su*bFhi„tted by city of Dallas Water Utilities related to surface water quality, induced seis§TEKARnd)Jealth and human safety in their letter to you dated May 15, 2020. The City of{pet}ojfl’'s„=p*osit ion regarding the concerns raised by Dallas Water Utilities are as follows: a \) \, b --\\a Induced Seismicity ps The City of Denton shares the concerns and critiques +qgara},ng=induced seismicity outlined in Dallas Water Utilities letter. The Hickory Creekgf©{Leu7svili’e Lake is already prone to seismic ?'tiv.ity '"d th' city f'”? th.'t 'iI.'."d g” gl@NPs.1 667? will ””':b't' ”i'mi' ”ti'ity in this area. Increased seismic activity wo_q&,w6rsen tAe risks oil and gas drilling pose to surface ' ,+“ \ ql A u u ' water quality, health and human safety;and tt\'e,'sa*feTy and integrity of the lake’s dam. \ Health and Human Safety x„ %%> =\ As outlined in the letter from Dalbs..W?te-PUtilities, the EA fails to take into account that the publichealth and safety rbt©QcihdqA';ith iiI and gas development – “occaiion il firi £tarts; ;dill, ,f h,(,rd,,; mIR!)XA?irb,n,,. pr,e,i,dw it„, iF hyy„,Iii +,i,t„i,g fI,ii:,.ii a dust" – would, in th-d’c}id-bf?a£el 6679, all occur adjacent to Lewisville Lake. This area, as noted in the EA, is sqELQ&Qdectb.y-.hfgh density residential development. Parcel 6679 appears to be the only parcelaFttB£F@,E_&qhat is associated with high density residential development, yet the EA does not MANly ad-ditional assessments concerning the impacts mineral extraction will have on th£faxelo}ants, other than to state that the setback regulations required in the lease saJeggTb,u*Pd%n'sffficient to minimize impacts. Local regulations concerning gas well setbacks arh\rAeR’q&backs represent substantially more separation distance than contemplated in the EA arm49ould represent economic impacts to surface property owners due to land in proximity to mineral extraction sites not being developable. In summary, the EA fails to consider that any such impacts will not be limited to Parcel 6679 and its immediate proximity, but has the potential to impact the entire lake, as well as those that live in proximity to the lake. tion of air, soil, or water” and “increases levels of fugitive Dam Integrity The City of Denton also shares Dallas Water Utilities’ concern about the impact of oil and gas drilling at Parcel 6679 on the integrity of Lewisville Dam. As outlined above, the City of Denton is contributing millions of dollars towards major repairs to the dam, which is located upstream of a very large number homes and businesses in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. Any risks to the integrity of this dam must be avoided. In addition to the issues above, the City of Denton respectfully submits the following specific concerns: P \ hIS L Surface Water Quality dy ) The City of Denton is especially concerned about the EA’s failure to adequately.pdIJr,eis potential threats to surface water quality. Parcel 6679 is located directly wtthifl f;Wjs011Le Lake and its floodplain. Mineral extraction from Parcel 6679 would require su£fScq\activibes near the lake, i,hi;iT-hi; th:-ALl'e.tial' ii–ji:e– , si£nificar,t- ;isk–to’-th:-l„rtatb>ahr:Mity. ’ X-ny spill;--oF hE releases of oil and gas waste and their hazardous componepJs Wb IIla directly impact the surface water quality of the entire lake, which serves as a primary%=oy=£ce3df,_adrinking water for millions of people. However, the EA barely addresses the risks to water quality in Lewisville Lake from oil and gas production on Parcel 6679. Indeed, the City a6gld bhg§t out that the words “drinking water" appear only twice in the 96-page EA (wIth one of"€hoge two occurrences in a footnote). Section AtB-2 of the EA does specifically addLeg; ira})a&s3to surface water quality. However, the EA discounts these impacts for Parcel 66_d.Ly sti’tin;}th it the actual activities associated with hinera1 Jxtractiii would occur outsidq,dih>e©sX4a (since the lease area is inundated by the lake), and therefore the all surface w3a er Rlpact}for the parcel would be avoided. The position fails to consider that the mineral e}t(fctioNwill occur in proximity to the lake and has the potential to impact the entire lake,in.£lu?iioaparcel 6679. This statement is also misaligned with text within the same sectloW'~the EA;t'hat states "Surface disturbance associated with Allure potential development o£!hebaje)2arcels may also cause sedimentation from stormwater runoff -th It' 'cir; irav£i di wnbbb8-rIM; iettands- or £L;erbodies. Furthermore, if the stormwa;'er has been in conta£Pw}hq'J}&4inants on the well pad, those contaminants could be carried to nearby wetlaryt ik&\d ubgctFodies. 11 l Kgb The City a’t§~rM1 has conducted research on this topic specific to Barnett Shale drilling and prodqFroJ}QpeX.!>ns under standard operating conditions. This research indicates that gas well PQ,d3LRq,.Ra£e\th€ potential to negatively impact surface waters due to increased sedimentation „%\} A(1)„„, i„ th, P„„„, ,fm,t,I, i, ,t„mw,t„ „n,ff, ,nd th,t p,d ,ites also have the pB19ntial to produce other contaminants associated with equipment and general site operations (see Banks, KE and DJ Wachal. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Final Report for Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Grant Assistance Number 66.463 Water Quality Cooperative Agreement for Project Entitled "Demonstrating the Impacts of Oil and Gas Exploration on Water Quality and How to Minimize these Impacts Through Targeted Monitoring Activities and Local Ordinances" ID No. CP-83207101-1). This research demonstrates that many contaminants can adhere to soil and can be transported off the site if good management practices are not imposed. Reserve pits and similar uncontained fluids on site. The EA discusses the potential for petroleum products and other chemicals used during drilling or hydraulic fracturing, if released, to cause surface and groundwater contamination. This is particularly true for open reserve pits. However, there are no specific requirement{ apparent within the EA to mitigate these issues, other than a brief statement in Appendix gIEa3q£Feserve pits, if authorized, are lined using an impermeable liner or other lining mechan.is’mq(i.e:,'be}Ttonite or clay), to prevent fluids from leeching into the soil” . The intention of this rral 'gBtLoh reqJireH is to prevent chemicals from penetrating the soil and impacting the aquifer or from moving off- site to a surface water source. However, these requirements do not p;.recTbc{e"6Ren pits, which ”' P'.p”ti”I”ly p”?? I' ”I”'ing .”nt'nF' durirF rein eveTaUIate.d. Due to thT proximity of these activities to a major regional drinking we*d\?qpreqpHe City of Denton requests that, if BLM pursues leasing this property despil_e tFekQity'bf Denton's and other’s objections, that no open pits be allowed. Closed loop drilli#&*stkoull';he required to minimize the potential for contaminating surface or ground water rg&ERb in this respect, BLM is able to impose stipulations through conditions in the mineral @'gse Pol R'sure protection of the drinking water for a multitude of cities, and we urge BLIV© D sob\4 bXA Risks for inundation and associated site release it-and "safety concerns. In previous lease sale documents (parc'e(NMtW6M43, for example), the US Army Corps of E,gi,„„ „q,i„d , mi,im,m „;{;k\fh f,,t f„m p,im J’fa,ititi,s critical to thE operation of Lewisville lake, no wrf@occBancy at the 522 foot National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) conservation poa\gleWn of the lake, and no surface occupancy of any lands lying at or below t_he eIa%tiaaf the spillway crest elevation of 532 feet NGVD. To m.i"imi'.' 'i'k' 'f i'V.pd4i?)}$p)city 'f D''t'' r:q'”t' th't .' "' P ”rf' '.' o:cupancy': stipulation should be gd&& t-iSd%ase sale that specifies that the mineral extraction site should be located at a mMi©MfMfeet NGVD, plus an additional 2 feet of freeboard. Analyses of historica1 elevaUo\ o}\Rke,}ewisvi11e indicates that the daily maximum surface water elevation SjE EfI?a v5sTh : e= r ::: eae t :: : 1 i : : = 1 hT rask : i :aes IITer y5 ;; }= = =: L :sh: = =nn = = :e hK 24/ 20.r5’.tdqkuly 1’0, 2015, a span of 48 days. There are additional mutually exclusive events where the;taPd surf:eeg'gtevation exceeded 532 feet for 28 consecutive days, 21 consecutive days, and 12=%qjsi}a.IIb days. 1, summ„y, past d,t, ,„ lake e1,,,ti,„ le,eIs i,di„t,s that restricting surfa&development to only the 532-foot elevation creates a substantial risk for inundation of c o n s e c u t i O) of the lak the surf;ce gas well sites, which could result in surface water contamination and safety risks. Floodplain Protection The City of Denton is concerned about development of gas well pad sites within floodplain areas without substantial additional safety and protection measures. While the EA recognizes this concern for other parcels, there is no stipulation for floodplain protection for parcel 6679. Presumably, this is due to the fact that 6679 is inundated by the lake. However, the surface development that will be needed to extract minerals from this parcel will be in close proximity to the lake, possibly within a floodplain. To protect floodplains and water courses, the City of Denton, at a minimum, requests the addition of theOFO-4-NSO and OFO-l-NSO stipulations, which prohibit surface disturbance within riparian-wetland areas and waterbodies, and floodplains, respectively, to the Lease Sale agreement for parcel TX-2020-08-6679. JP The City would point out that this proposed lease on Lewisville Lake is the se£dn?l\in;lesskthan 5 years. In both cases, the City learned about the proposed lease through thIrd’;dev soy_des. As a non-federal partner that contributes significant financial resource>Q 't\'@ration and maintenance of Lewisville Lake, the City believes that BLM should, q.s a“'q)attqr of courtesy, directly inform the City of any proposed leases at Lewisville Lakeffh9"q}y )}ould not have to regularly monitor the BLM regional office website to learn abo'&t“;actiGa as at a project it financially supports in partnership with a federal agency. a -\J --\ ':'':„==':::,*„:'::*:-.':_=*=~''::„'*„'';=':IA\b„:„=';,'..„.„*„''.;;.':i'’.I'T:IT;11;.ri;:F;Hq):aTI'Bl"!::I are intended to protect Lake Lewtsville ancIJh&s iqre the health, safety and general welfare ::==, IIZ.:::„'.' T= TL:',=.;:=„'.*=„:=:.:&SX?::',?:„'::::::*=;„=:,::::,';.=== t, ,„ imp„„,d „I,ti,.,hip with BLM< hXsJ,i,>t, ,.,.„ L,wt„ill, L,k, „„ ,,„ti.., t, „rv, the people of our region. \ IV \lb SgPRespectfullyJr n\ Ch„, w,tt,, fHV M,y„, city ,Pi&nI\ J T h mSb):1 h n C o r n y n #rh}Horihatite Ted Cruz 6{X{:E':.\':::,$===..,,.;„..,,.„„.„„..;:,.“ Vherry Lowery, Director, Dallas Water Utilities CC :