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INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9484
April 3, 2012
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
Page 1 of 1
SUBJECT: REGULATION OF SALT WATER DISPOSAL WELLS
On March 20, 2012, the City Council asked staff to determine which cities near Fort Worth allow
salt water disposal wells within their city limits and what regulatory authority nearby cities exercise
to control the development of those facilities within their extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).
Staff contacted eleven neighboring cities: Arlington, Bedford, Benbrook, Cleburne, Denton,
Flower Mound, Grand Prairie, Hurst, Keller, Mansfield, and Southlake. All of these cities prohibit
salt water disposal wells within their city limits with the exception of Cleburne, which allows those
facilities within certain industrial zoning districts. All of the cities responded that they exercise no
development controls within their ETJ.
ate gas drilling is mostly limited to its incorporated limits.
of a city to regulate development within its ETJ generally is al
set forth in state statutes. Section 217.042 of the Texas Locale does allow a
municipality to define and prohibit a nuisance within its bounda5,000 feet of the city
limits. However, because the development of salt water disposal wells has historically been a
common practice associated with gas drilling, it may be difficult to prove that the wells are a
nuisance. Case law suggests that gas drilling activities are not a nuisance per se and, therefore,
the City would have to prove that salt water disposal wells were a nuisance due to factual
conditions associated with the wells, such as noise and dust. Again, due to the common use of
salt water disposal wells and precedent in the law, it may be di
to deem the wells a nuisance.
Chapter 212 of the Texas Local Government Code also provides cities the authority to regulate
of plats when land is being subdivided within its ETJ.Platting is not required if the division of land
is into parcels greater than five acres where each parcel has access to a public street and no
public improvement is being dedicated. Under those conditions, an operator could salt
water disposal well on an existing tract of land within the ETJ without city oversight or regulation.
If you have any questions about this information, please contact Rick Trice, Assistant Director of
the Planning and Development Department, at 817-392-7959.
Tom Higgins
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS