Texas day care gets reprieve after drilling plan is rejected
Parents who send their children to a day care center in Arlington, Texas, will be able to breathe easier after the city refused to let a major energy company drill more gas wells a few hundred feet from the center’s playground.
The Arlington City Council voted 5-4 on Jan. 4 to reject the request by Total Energies to drill additional gas wells, reversing a preliminary decision by the council in November to allow the wells to go forward.
The vote marked a setback for Total and a surprise victory for community members who wanted to halt the drilling because they feared it could harm the children’s and neighboring residents’ health. The Associated Press reported on the dispute in November, with a look at people affected along the natural gas supply chain. A statistical analysis of the locations of Totals wells in Arlington found a higher density of them in neighborhoods that many people of color call home.
Living close to fracking sites has been linked to health risks, including asthma, neurological and developmental disorders.
“I am elated! Relieved. It was totally unexpected,” said Rosalia Tejeda, who lives a few blocks from the site with her three children. “I hope this means that the health and welfare of our children should come above anything else because they are the future, our future workforce, our future leaders.”
Total Energies said it was reviewing its options in the wake of the council vote.
The struggle between Total, a French energy giant, and Mother’s Heart Learning Center, a family-owned day care that serves predominantly Black and Latino children, has persisted for more than a year. Total pumps gas from two active wells on the property, which were drilled by a prior owner, Chesapeake, about a decade ago. When Total originally sought approval to drill new gas wells at the site in 2020, its request was denied.
But oil and gas companies in Arlington are allowed to reapply for a permit every year, so Total applied again. In November, the council gave preliminary approval to Total’s plan to expand the drilling zone, which would have paved the way for several new rigs near the day care. But in the late-night vote last week, it reversed that decision.
Several council members had feared a lawsuit from Total if they denied the request. A Texas law makes it nearly impossible for local governments to obstruct oil and gas development.
During the council meeting, Wanda Vincent, who owns Mother’s Heart, described two incidents in December in which she said she and others at the day care were overwhelmed and sickened by fumes that she believes came from the site. Vincent’s daughter Mariah, who teaches at the day care, said she heard a screeching sound and then smelled a strong odor and felt nauseous after going outside to investigate.
“What we experienced is proof that there is a problem,” Wanda Vincent said.