HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9193 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9193
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 9, 2010
° T Page 1 of 2
r SUBJECT: Air Quality Study
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) provided the City preliminary data regarding
benzene emissions from gas related activities in Fort Worth and other areas within the Barnett Shale.
TCEQ plans to conduct further studies during the summer to validate these initial results.
Upon the request of the Mayor and City Council, staff is proposing hiring a private environmental
engineering firm to further evaluate the risks and obtain more definitive data to answer remaining questions
regarding these emissions. A review of the proposed firm will be conducted to minimize any perceived
conflicts of interest.
A partnership with the concerned citizens, the various regulatory agencies and the industry is critical in
order to ensure that the study design and the scientific protocols are generally acceptable. This will help to
resolve the current challenge of conflicting studies and inconsistent conclusions drawn from the data. Staff
is also working to include a university to validate the study methods and provide peer review of the effort,
seeking input from the Environmental Protection Agency and citizen involvement.
The objectives of the study are to determine if there are short-term or long-term health impacts that warrant
changes in local rules for drilling setbacks or the pursuit of rule changes at the state level regarding air
quality. A preliminary framework of the study follows.
1. The firm will review existing data on the content of gas produced at all sites in Fort Worth and
identify the subset that is most likely to produce volatile organic compound emissions(including
benzene) for canister collections.
2. An additional subset of sites will be selected randomly and/or based on input from stakeholder
groups.
3. A computer simulation of the plume dispersion will be performed on the site having the greatest
volume of detected emissions.
4. Based on the data, the firm will validate the maps depicting the richness of the gas to determine if
the hypothesis that most of Fort Worth are at limited risk of VOC emissions based on the limited
condensate production.
5. Canister collections will occur in March/April and in July/August to ensure that the conclusions
factor in weather conditions.
FOFFICIAL RECORD
RE TARY
TH, TX
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9193
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 9, 2010
`+"""'�► Page 2 of 2
• SUBJECT: Air Quality Study
It is anticipated that as early as February 23, the City Council will be asked to approve a contract for the
study and consider allocating gas lease revenue for this purpose. Staff will be scheduling meetings with
interested organizations prior to the execution of the contract to receive comments.
If you have additional questions, please contact Susan Alanis at 817.392.8180.
Dale A. Flsseler, P.E.
City Manager
OFFICIAL RECORD
CITY SECRETARY
FT. ',NORTH, TX
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS