New gas drilling set to begin in Arlington; city says its hands are tied
A French energy company will begin drilling 10 gas wells near homes and schools in east Arlington on Saturday, May 10.
The city said it couldn’t do anything to stop TotalEnergies from expanding its operations.
Fifty-eight people spoke against the plans during a City Council meeting in January; the one person who spoke in favor is an economist with the Texas Oil and Gas Association.
Mayor Jim Ross told the audience that state law had the city’s hands tied in regards to the project. Passed in 2015, House Bill 40 limits local regulation of oil and gas operations. The standing Arlington Gas Well Ordinance requires a 600-foot buffer from protected uses, such as schools and residences.
“The legislation substantially limits municipal authority as it relates to oil and gas operation,” Ross said. “The city of Arlington’s regulatory authority is limited to the above ground surface activity. The state of Texas has granted sole jurisdiction over air quality and public health issues to state and federal agencies.”
Leslie Garvis, a representative from TotalEnergies, said the company has owned the 2020 S. Watson Road plot since 2008. She said the 5.4 acres are the “best location” to access the minerals.
The Maverick Drill Site is 911 feet from the nearest house and 853 feet from the nearest apartment building. The closest day care, Mother’s Hearth Learning Center, is 1,063 feet from the wells.
Three elementary schools are within a mile from the site: Johns Elementary, Adams Elementary and Thornton Elementary. The East Library and Recreation Center is 3,300 feet away.
When the site was approved by the City Council on Feb. 25, three people were in support of the project, but did not speak at the meeting: a couple who live three miles from the site and a Farmers Branch resident. Of the 28 opposed, 14 spoke against the project. They were primarily concerned with the negative effects on health, air quality and children’s well-being.
Stacy Melo, an east Arlington resident, told the City Council that she was left heartbroken and shocked the last time TotalEnergies came before council.
“There was a family of four who came before y’all to speak, and you all looked them in the face as you voted to approve a new fracking site for TotalEnergies,” Melo said. “I left wondering: Who is the City Council elected to serve? Is it Total Energies’s pocketbook? Or is it the people of Arlington?”
Melo said the City Council should have the courage to go against the state law and be sued by Texas instead of allowing Total Energies until Arlington “is nothing more than a toxic wasteland.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 4:15 PM.