7/29/2019 Press Release - Trinity East Cease and Desist Letter-1

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For immediate release For More Information:March 11, 2013 Zac Trahan, Texas Campaign for the Environment

Phone 214-599-7840Jim Schermbeck, Downwinders at Risk Phone 806-787-6567

Revelations about Previous Accident put GasCompany Seeking to Drill in Dallas on theDefensive

Company threatens to sue environmental group for sayingcasing failure in Irving may have contaminated groundwater

(Dallas)---As Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm has faced mounting questions over her handlingof the Trinity East gas leases and City Attorney Tom Perkins has announced his departure the gas company itself has lashed out against opponents working to prevent drilling on city-owned park lands.

With help from regional activists, Dallas residents have unearthed state documents showingthat Trinity East had previously drilled a well in Irving in 2009 that had an accidental casingfailure deep underground. Environmentalists have raised questions about any potentialgroundwater pollution that may have resulted, pointing out that contamination was and still ispossible which prompted the gas company to issue a cease and desist letter, threatening alawsuit.

Zac Trahan of Texas Campaign for the Environment, named in the letter, said the group hasworked with an attorney to issue a response. He pointed out that residents should beconcerned about such an accident happening in Dallas. Gas well casings are designed to protect underground aquifers from the toxic chemicals used in the drilling and fracking process.

Industry data and reports show that one out of every 20 gas wells will have a casing failureimmediately, and Trinity East has applied to drill up to 60 wells in Dallas, said Trahan. Thecompany has admitted that a gas well they drilled along the Trinity River had a casing failure,and as far as we know, no independent testing was required to determine whether or not thisresulted in groundwater contamination.

Prior to 2012, state law only required gas companies to submit a report to the state explaininghow far underground a casing failure occurred. Trinity East, then known as Expro Engineering,reported that it was 2,800 feet below the surface which is about 600 feet beneath the deepest water aquifer. In its letter, the company cited this self-reported depth as proof that theaccident did not result in any groundwater pollution.

Any casing failure on that well could not have caused or produced aquifer contaminationbecause surface casing was set and cemented at required depths to protect all fresh water aquifers.

7/29/2019 Press Release - Trinity East Cease and Desist Letter-1

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But environmentalists are urging Dallas officials to demand more than just the word of the gascompany, saying the state documents raise more questions than they answer. Jim Schermbeck of Downwinders at Risk posed several of those questions. He said Dallas officials and TrinityEast representatives still have much to explain.

An adjacent well the gas company drilled was said to be closed in waiting for construction of a production facility. Is this the Trinity East gas processing facility proposed in Dallas? The City of Dallas is listed as one of the entities in the lease agreement for this Irving drilling site. Whendid the City Council authorize this lease? What is the full extent of the relationship between Dallasand this gas company?

The Dallas City Plan Commission is scheduled to vote on the three proposed drilling sites nearthe Luna Vista Golf Course and a gas processing facility near the new Elm Fork Soccer Complexon March 21 st .

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