GAS LEASING COALITION & SEISMIC SURVEY

Update on the Seismic Survey Project for Woodbriar Estates

As most everyone should be aware, since last September (2011), individuals from Gateway Permit Services have been going door-to-door in Woodbriar Estates.  They are asking for your permission (by signing a permit), to perform a seismic survey of the land under your property.  They have been contracted by Dawson Geophysical (headquartered in Midland, TX), who will do the actual seismic surveying.   Finally, for your information Dawson has been contracted by Chesapeake Energy to do this surveying.  More about the actual surveying and Chesapeake’s involvement, please see below.

This process of contacting all homeowners in Woodbriar Estates and other areas around us has already taken many months.  In addition, Dawson Geophysical will also have to submit all acquired permits from homeowners to the City of Colleyville for approval prior to any actual survey being conducted.

IMPORTANT:  As a homeowner in Woodbriar Estates you ARE NOT required to sign a permit granting permission to perform a seismic survey under your property if you do not want to.  Dawson will simply bypass your property and perform the survey on those properties who do grant them permission.  It’s entirely up to you as to what you want to do.  Finally, Woodbriar Estates Homeowners Association has no specific recommendation concerning this program. 

ALSO, whether you do or do not give permission to do a seismic survey under your property WILL IN NO WAY IMPACT any future decision you may make regarding signing or not signing a gas leasing agreement with any gas drilling company.

The actual seismic survey includes placing a cable in a street along the curb.  Connected to this cable are geophones (seismic listening devices) staked in the ground and an occasional small box called an RSR (Remote Seismic Recorder) box.  Once the cable is laid out, it will stay on the ground for 3 to 4 weeks.  Also, depending on the mapping design that is done, every street may not have a cable.  During this period when the cables are in place, a police escorted convoy of specialized trucks (called Veibroseis Trucks) will drive down selected streets and stop at selected points, lower a pad to the ground and create downward traveling sound energy.  The convoy stops at each point for approximately 4 minutes. 

The seismic survey does not create vibrations that would damage any underlying infrastructure or nearby structures.  The seismic survey company (Dawson) is responsible for providing third party monitoring to assure that any activities fall within industry guidelines.

It is anybody’s guess as to when the actual survey will be conducted, if at all.  With the current freefall in natural gas prices and a current overabundance of natural gas supplies, it is and will continue to be a very fluid situation (no pun intended).

Also, is this a prelude to renewed interest from drilling companies like Chesapeake?  It could be.  However, at this point in time we have no information that any company (including Chesapeake) is interested in acquiring gas lease agreements from homeowners in this area of Colleyville.  Also, we are still part of the BC/MRC Gas Leasing Coalition and will remain so indefinitely.  See further information regarding our involvement with the BC/BRC below.

If you have any further questions or comments, please direct them to Gary Guthrie at 817-581-7849 or gwguthrie@sbcglobal.net.

As it appears this will continue to be a lengthy process with unknown timelines, we will provide further updates as needed in future newsletters.

Update on the Gas Leasing Coalition Program

As most of you know the Woodbriar Estates Homeowners Association is an active member of the BC-MRC Gas Leasing Coalition (formed in the summer of 2008), which covers a large geographical section of southern Colleyville and northern Bedford neighborhoods.

In the fall of 2008 the BC-MRC Coalition received and approved an official offer from Titan Caffey which was later rescinded by them as the result of the steep decline in the price of natural gas and the ongoing deterioration of the U.S. economy.

Late in 2008 Titan Caffey made a new proposal which is outlined on the BC-MRC web site in detail, as well as the reasons why the coalition turned down this latest offer.  The WEHA Board of Directors agreed with the coalition’s stance regarding that particular offer.

During 2009 and most of 2010 there has been little to no activity on this program.  However, in the fall of 2010 a group of three law firms in Dallas decided to file suit in court against Titan Caffey for breach of contract on behalf of homeowners in the BC-MRC Coalition.  In order to participate in this lawsuit, each homeowner in the BC-MRC Coalition had to agree to participate in this lawsuit in writing to this group of three law firms.

Since the decision to join the law suit was solely up to each individual homeowner, WEHA has made no recommendation on this matter and has no involvement in this effort.  For further information you should contact Riddle and Williams, P.C. at cmcclimon@ntxll.com.

WEHA will continue to update you on any changes that might occur concerning this situation.  In addition to our due diligence, YOU should also regularly check the BC-MRC coalition web site for any new update postings.

Their web site is www.bc-mrc.org.