DISH — Construction has stopped on a Crosstex Energy pipeline and compression plant after Mayor Calvin Tillman posted notices on the contractor’s equipment warning them of a $2,000-a-day fine if they continue to work without proper permits.

A Crosstex spokeswoman said the company got ahead of itself and failed to secure building permits before beginning construction inside the town limits.

“We do admit the error on our part,” Crosstex’s Jill McMillan said.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Dish Mayor Calvin Tillman, shown Monday, stopped construction of a pipeline compressor station planned by Crosstex Energy until the company secures permits to build inside town limits.

Construction started on the site about 10 days ago, after Crosstex requested a pipeline permit from Dish officials. Tillman drove by the construction site Oct. 5 and saw more work being done than was needed for a pipeline. Work stopped the next day.

“I saw the lime going down and said, ‘That’s a road,’” Tillman said. He drove up the new road base and discovered the pad site, which is hidden from Tim Donald Road by a stand of old oak trees.

“I was very surprised to find the pad site almost complete,” Tillman said.

Since Dish is too small to have a code enforcement employee, the job of writing such tickets falls to the mayor. Tillman had once been with former Mayor Bill Merritt when Merritt wrote up another pipeline construction project for failing to follow Dish’s code of ordinances, he said.

After posting notices on the equipment, Tillman wrote Crosstex officials and advised them to present their plans and secure permits in accordance with Dish ordinances.

The contractor also removed construction equipment from the site.

Crosstex is now working closely with the mayor and area property owners on construction plans, McMillan said.

Frustrated by ongoing noise and smell from the original compression plant shared by Atmos Energy, Energy Transfer and Enbridge between Tim Donald and Strader roads, some Dish residents have taken aggressive steps to protect their property values.

A series of town meetings with representatives from that plant led to a noise study and some abatement measures earlier this year. 

Noise levels from the original compression plant have dropped near his own home, Tillman said. But residents of the Chisholm Trail subdivision, which sits next to the plant, still complain.

They look to the town for ongoing help.

“One told me she put every dime she had into buying her place in the country, and she didn’t have any more money for attorneys,” Tillman said.

But several residents have sued operators of the plant, including Jim and Judy Caplinger, who live on Tim Donald Road.

The couple filed suit in July, alleging that Atmos, Energy Transfer and Enbridge have trespassed on their property and that the noise has affected their property values.

Overall, home values in Dish are among the lowest in the county. But there are many $200,000 homes in the area, too, Tillman said. 

“[These] homes have working people in them, people who’ve put their life savings into it,” Tillman said.

Crosstex’s new plant would likely be one of the smaller ones in the area, McMillan said. The company plans on installing one 600-horsepower compression unit for its pipeline.

“We’re submitting plans on what it will look like and what kind of noise abatement it will have,” McMillan said. 

According to county maps of the area, at least five major pipelines that gather natural gas mined from the Barnett Shale already converge in Dish.

Crosstex is building its second major line in the area. The company has assigned 2 acres of land from Chesapeake Energy to add its own compression plant.

Chesapeake itself requested a permit to build another compression plant that would increase capacity for those pipelines.

Chesapeake representative Justin Bond told Dish officials that the new plant would be built between the current plant and Tim Donald Road, on a 5 1/2-acre site the company leased from a Dallas couple.

Chesapeake plans to cover the compression engines with a metal building of acoustical panels that can be painted and adorned with a few architectural details to help it fit into the neighborhood, Bond said.

At 300 feet away from the plant, the acoustical panels would reduce noise to no more than 5 decibels above background during the day or 3 decibels at night.

“We’ll be following the same guidelines as Fort Worth’s noise ordinance,” Bond said. 

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.

HOW LOUD IS IT?

Chesapeake Energy has pledged that, at 300 feet away from its new compression plant, the noise will be no louder than 5 decibels during the day and 3 decibels at night. Here are some decibel measurements for some common noises:

Ticking watch — 20 dB

Quiet whisper — 30 dB

Refrigerator hum — 40 dB

Rainfall — 50 dB

Sewing machine — 60 dB

Washing machine — 70 dB

Alarm clock — 80 dB at 2 feet

Average traffic — 85 dB

Blow dryer; subway — 100 dB

Mower; chainsaw — 105 dB

Screaming child — 110 dB

Rock concert; thunder — 120 dB

Jackhammer; jet engine — 130 dB at 100 feet away 

Experts recommend earplugs to protect people from hearing loss when exposed to levels 85 dB and above.

SOURCE: American Tinnitus Association