Drill-site leak shows need for master plan for Lake Arlington

In July, a small amount of water from a Fort Worth natural gas drilling site leaked

into Lake Arlington after the shutoff valve of a frac tank was apparently left open.

Arlington, which owns and controls the lake, conducted immediate and follow-up testing

to check for metals and volatile chemicals such as benzene and chlorine but found no

contamination related to the incident, Water Utilities Director Julie Hunt said.

But the spill from Quicksilver Resources' Olcott South drill site is a perfect example

of why city officials are drafting a Lake Arlington Master Plan and other ordinances

aimed at protecting the lake, which supplies drinking water to more than 500,000

people, including Arlington residents.

The City Council is considering, for example, requiring gas-drilling sites to be at

least 600 feet from the lake.

"If an event did occur on-site, you are putting a buffer between the drinking-water

reservoir and the gas-drilling sites," Hunt said. "Giving that extra distance allows

there to be less influence if there was a spill that was not contained."

On Tuesday, Hunt presented a draft of the lake master plan to the council. The

document is meant to help protect water quality, serve as a planning tool, optimize

recreational opportunities, manage the lake ecosystem and identify the potential

impact of development.

City officials have worked with their counterparts in Fort Worth, which borders the

western shoreline, as well as with the North Central Texas Council of Governments to

facilitate communication with the 10 other cities and two counties in the lake's

watershed. Part of the plan addresses ways to reduce litter and polluted runoff from

upstream.

Several natural gas sites are along the lake, mostly on the Fort Worth side. Arlington

plans to ask Fort Worth to also consider the 600-foot setback for future drill sites,

Hunt said.

After the spill, the city did detect bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, used to make

plastics, at levels above the maximum contaminates allowed for drinking-water

standards, a staff report shows. City officials attribute the results to plastic

litter in the lake, not the drilling site spill.

Quicksilver paid all costs -- just under $10,000 -- associated with the soil and water

testing and has implemented measures to prevent future lake contamination from water

runoff, according to the staff report.

After Hunt's presentation Tuesday, Councilwoman Kathryn Wilemon praised the two

cities' cooperation on the lake plan.