On the same night that Crestwood residents were opposing the permit in their neighborhood, a couple of dozen residents in Highland Hills were asking for a high-impact permit near their neighborhood, which is near Oak Grove Road and Interstate 20 in south Fort Worth. Highland Hills residents signed their leases around 2005, earlier than other neighborhoods, and many residents received only a $200 bonus for a residential lot.
"Highland Hills got the short end of the stick when it came to gas-lease bonuses," said neighborhood leader Eunice Givens. "We told them to make it up with the royalties. We are in support of this [permit]."
Spokeswomen for XTO and Devon declined to comment on the permit system.
Chesapeake spokeswoman Jerri Robbins said via e-mail that waivers will continue to be necessary if inner-city residents are going to get the money they've been promised for the natural gas beneath their land.
"Yes, we can safely say Chesapeake has much to lose, as we have spent millions of dollars obtaining mineral leases in order to produce the minerals of lessors from contiguous parcels of land," Robbins wrote. "But we are not the only ones losing -- future royalty owners will never receive their royalty checks if we are not able to drill, our nation loses an important energy source, and the city loses millions in tax revenue."
'What's the rush?'
Paul Roach, a frequent Trinity River trail user, said some areas of the city have to be preserved, even if there's an economic downside.
There's a bench dedicated to his late wife along the trail near the Crestwood site, and Roach has collected 300 signatures on a petition opposing the permit.
Up to now, most of the discussion about the site has dealt with the truck route. Roach said he's concerned about the impact on the 100-year-old trees along the river, which are home to hawks and other wildlife.
If the city were to turn down the permit, Chesapeake might still be able to drill at the site in the future, as technology improves, he said.
"They're drilling further and further now, what's the rush here?" he asked.
"We're going to have to come to the understanding that there are there some places in our city where it's inappropriate and the impact just too high for us to drill."
Staff writers Jessica DeLeon, Susan Schrock and Adrienne Nettles contributed to this report.
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