In August 2008 Al Armendariz, Ph. D., a researcher and professor at SMU, released a report titled "Emissions from Natural Gas Production in the Barnett Shale Area and Opportunities for Cost-Effective Improvements". He summarized that report for the joint meeting of the City Council and the Gas Drilling Task Force in August. Horror of horrors, his study estimated that the largest contributors to the air toxic emissions from gas production activity were the condensate tanks, followed by the engine exhausts. The September 30, 2008 draft of this report said. "The engines, tanks, and fugitive and intermittent sources combined are expected to emit approximately 620 tons per day total of smog-forming compounds, substantially greater than the emissions from other sources in Dallas-Fort Worth area, such as the major airports or on-road motor vehicles."
This information was received by the City Council silently. Before long Dr. Ed Ireland of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council was questioning the report, though on what basis it wasn't clear, since Ireland is an economist, not an environmental scientist. The Council remained silent, not even sending out a list of questions to Dr. Armendariz or asking him to return for more intimate discussions. They simply ignored the report in public.
I didn't follow the tit-for-tat on this from September to sometime in March when Danny Scarth, whose scientific credentials are obscure, announced that an EPA report disagreed with the Armendariz report. It said that the quality of air in the DFW area improved steadily over 2008. The announcement must have been by way of justification for the Council's silence on the Armendariz report and their continuation of business as usual regarding the gas industry.
Now we have some answers in today's [4/09/2009] Startlegram as to why these two reports may not be contradictory after all. We learned today that four of TXI's cement plants were idled in 2008. We know that these plants are responsible for much of the air pollution in the DFW area. I don't have any numbers to relate, but it's clearly feasible that these plant closings are responsible for the improved air quality.
What is clear is that the Fort Worth City Council is like the three wise monkeys, "Hear no evil." "See no evil." and "Speak no evil." A public hearing is not a hearing at all. The Council does not hear anything that creates a problem for their plans.
