The town of Dish has sued a group of companies that run a network of natural gas compressors and pipelines there, saying their operations have poisoned the air and depressed property values.
"We think this is really our only option," Mayor Calvin Tillman said Wednesday. "We've tried to be patient and work with these companies, and we tried to be patient with the state regulatory agencies to do something about it. Nothing has really greatly improved."
The lawsuit was one of three filed Monday in Denton County state district court against the six companies for their operations in Dish, a town known as the "Grand Central Station of the Barnett Shale" because of its concentration of gas facilities. Two other suits were filed by Dish property owners - one by Town Commissioner William Sciscoe and his wife, Denise, and another by the owners of nine properties on Chisum Road.
"These are industrial facilities that are out of place in a residential community," said Kirk Claunch, a Fort Worth lawyer who filed the lawsuits on behalf of the town and residents. "As a result, they feel that their property values have been damaged."
The lawsuits target Atmos Energy Corp., Crosstex North Texas Gathering LP, Enbridge Gathering LP, Energy Transfer Fuel LP, Texas Midstream Gas Services LLC and Enterprise Texas Pipeline LLC.
Company representatives either declined to comment or did not return messages Wednesday. A representative of the Texas Pipeline Association, an industry trade group, said he could not comment until he read the lawsuits.
The lawsuits say excessive emissions, noise and light from the facilities amount to a public nuisance. They also accuse the companies of trespassing, for allowing emissions to pollute the town's air.
"In a legal sense, a chemical coming across your land - that's a trespass," said Claunch. "These causes of actions for nuisance and trespass are well-founded principles of law."
Claunch also is representing several families in the Argyle-Bartonville area in lawsuits against natural gas companies. In each case, he said, his clients saw their property values and quality of life decline after the industry moved in next door.
Dish residents have complained for years about odors from gas production facilities and potential health impacts from the emissions, including nosebleeds. Tillman, who became a national figure for his outspokenness about the industry's negative effects, recently announced he was moving out of Dish because his two young sons had developed nosebleeds at the same time.
Tillman said the lawsuits and his upcoming move are symptoms of the same problem: the dominance of industry over private property rights in Texas.
"We should not have to go to this length simply to protect ourselves and our property," he said. "It is just horrible how little private property rights we have in Texas, where we're supposed to have private property rights."
Industry watchdog Sharon Wilson said the lawsuits also reflect an "epic failure" by state regulators to protect the public. Wilson represents the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project, which supports cleaner drilling practices and stronger regulations.
"We keep showing that the emissions are there and that they are harmful and that they are making people sick," Wilson said. "The same symptoms are being experienced by people in all the different gas patches [across the country]. If our regulators are not going to protect the public health, then the next step is litigation."
The state installed a permanent air monitor in Dish last year in response to public concerns, but the monitors do not test for all of the pollutants associated with gas production, Wilson said. The monitors also don't stop the pollution, she said, noting that some of the highest benzene levels recorded in Dish happened recently.
"It's time to stop monitoring and start fixing the problem," she said.
LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .
