Here is the story I found:
Gas wells inundate Praireview Dairy
Not a surprise to many, north central Texas is literally buzzing with oil and gas rigs and all the paraphernalia that goes with them. The increasing exploration of fracturing the Barnett Shale in the past four years has quickly become a widespread practice by oil and gas companies who are trying to capture the valuable gas energy source.
But, beware. They may suddenly appear on your doorstep to begin drilling right in the middle of your livelihood.
David Lloyd, owner of Prairieview Dairy, LLC, in Godley, Texas, is suddenly inundated with gas wells, pipelines, and trucks that are seriously hindering his rights as a property and business owner. So far, there are six wells, with three more in the workings. His 350-acre dairy is fast becoming a ‘‘city of lights’’ all of its own and for all the wrong reasons.
Nevermind the fact that Lloyd is trying to tend to his 550 cow milking herd during all the disregard and disruption by the oil company. Nevermind the fact that he was going to install an irrigation system on the very spot that was taken up by a gas well. Nevermind the fact that he had already been approved for EQUIP money by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and ended up losing it.
Lloyd’s dairy is located in Johnson County, situated on one of the hottest drilling spots in central Texas.
The property is leased by the former landowner to a notable oil and gas company that has popped up, along with others, all over the state.
The upshot to all this is if you’re a property owner with mineral rights, and the oil company discovers natural gas, you can make a lot of money. But, if you’re a surface owner with no mineral rights, like Lloyd, you can only sit back and watch your land value plummet while the company invades your property.
The constant disturbance and nuisance by the oil and gas mongers became so overwhelming to Lloyd that he sought the legal help of Fort Worth attorney Jim Bradbury, who is bound and determined to set things right.
‘‘This is not just about the lost Equip money,’’ Bradbury said. ‘‘It’s much bigger than that.’’
Bradbury said the lawsuit is about the oil company’s failure to reasonably accommodate Lloyd’s surface rights. ‘‘Minerals could be extracted with a lot less damage to his property,’’ he said.
Bradbury said so far, there’s no Texas law that protects surface owners from these tragic cases. ‘‘But, we’re hoping to change that.’’
Lloyd grew up in the dairy business near Stephenville and developed a genuine affection for the business over the years. When the trend for dairymen was to go west or to the Panhandle awhile back, Lloyd knew he didn’t want to move to either of those areas. He made a conscious decision to figure out a way to stay in the central Texas area. His reasoning had to do with the quality of life he and his wife Erin, a kindergarten teacher, were accustomed to, and being close to his family members.
Lloyd said his dream was to own a dairy. He and Erin saved as much money as they could and applied for a Young Farmer's loan, which they didn’t get. ‘‘I worked for Monsanto and also on a dairy in Godley for Mr. O’Dowd. When he decided to sell it, I jumped at the chance.’’
Lloyd enlisted the help of his mother and stepfather to form Prairiview Dairy, LLC.
‘‘Without their help, and at my age, I wouldn’t have been able to buy a 750-cow freestall dairy.’’
Little did he know, however, that an oil company would soon come knocking.
‘‘The dairy has been doing great, but I don’t know that it was such a good investment for my family once these wells started being drilled’’ Lloyd said.
‘‘One of the worst things is this oil and gas company ruined my opportunity to build an irrigation system which was why I applied for the EQUIP money.’’ Lloyd said the gas well is too close to where he was going to put in a center pivot system.
‘‘I told them about the irrigation system I planned, but they didn’t care, and they put their well right there anyway. The pivot would only go around about halfway. It just wouldn’t work right and because of that, I lost the EQUIP money.’’
Lloyd said he had to use a different system that includes a $30,000 out-of-pocket hard reel hose. He added that each time he has to change any plans on the dairy, he has to hire an engineer to make sure the TCEQ will accept it.
‘‘All of this has cost money but they really don’t care.’’
Lloyd said the gas wells require a little over an acre of land each. Tons of gravel are moved in for the well pad and pipelines are necessary to transport the gas. Roads are built all over the property for the trucks to get in and out on a daily basis.
‘‘The truck traffic alone is a hazard, creating noise, and keeping the dust and dirt stirred at all times,’’ Lloyd said. ‘‘The peace and quiet is totally disrupted at all hours by a transfer pumping station located nearby.’’
Lloyd said he is compensated $5,000 for each well and also any damage to the property. ‘‘But, that’s only a one-time payment and it’s not near enough.
‘‘When I bought this place, I intended to dairy for another 30 years. But, I don’t know what will happen if they continue to drill these wells.’’
Since the invent of horizontal drilling and ‘‘fracing’’ the Barnett Shale, oil and gas companies have appeared in droves to tap into the available energy source.
The Barnett Shale is possibly the largest onshore natural gas field in the U.S. with 2.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and estimated to contain as much as 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources. Oil has also been found in lesser quantities but with high oil prices, it is thought to have sufficient commercial value.
The Barnett Shale is a geological formation estimated in Texas to stretch from Dallas west covering 5,000 square miles and at least 17 counties. It is the second largest oil field in the U.S.
The Barnett Shale is a ‘‘tight gas’’ reservoir where gas is not easily extracted. The shale is very hard and was impossible to produce gas in commercial quantities until recent improvements were made in hydrofracture technology.
Hydraulic fracturing consists of pumping into the formation very large volumes of fresh water that generally has been treated with a friction reducer, biocides, scale inhibitor, and surfactants and contains sand as the propping agent. The water treating fluid maximizes the horizontal length of the fracture while minimizing the vertical fracture height.
The fractures, which are held open by the sand, result in increased surface area, which further results in increases in the desorption of the gas from the shale and increases in the mobility of the gas. The result is more efficient recovery of a larger volume of the gas-in-place.
Currently, counties that either have active drilling or the potential, include: Bosque (potential), Comanche (potential), Cooke (active), Denton (active), Ellis (potential), Erath (active), Hamilton (potential), Hill (active), Hood (active), Jack (potential), Johnson (active), Montague (potential), Palo Pinto (active), Parker (active), Somervell (potential), Tarrant (active), Wise (active).
Oil operators such as EOG Resources and Devon Energy estimate that one-third to one-half of the land in these counties will get wells.
"YOu can't stop progress.."- :cowboy: 
