Raymond Crawford

Gas Drilling Activists Send Council's Task Force a Letter and Their Top Five "Proposed Rules"

Photo by Patrick MichelsBack in April, Raymond Crawford and other local environmentalists brought to City Hall the 21-foot-long petition that helped spark the formation of the Gas Drilling Task Force.​When first formed back in June, the city council-appointed Gas Drilling Task Force had hoped to t ... More >>

Gas Drillers' Reps to Task Force: 1,000-Foot Set-Back Rule Would Be a "Deal-Killer"

​After a few weeks off, the city's Gas Drilling Task Force gets back at it today at 2. The agenda's short and sweet -- "Develop Recommendations for Gas Drilling and Production Regulations" -- but the process has been anything but; initially, you may recall, the group was to turn in its recommendat ... More >>

"Frack is Whack" and Other Highlights From Gas Drilling Task Force's Public Hearing

Photos by Leslie MinoraAnti-drilling activists show their support for one of the public speakers.​At last night's Gas Drilling Task Force public hearing at Dallas City, citizens' outcries ranged from polite thank-yous to pleas for tighter restrictions all the way to full-on verbal assaults tha ... More >>

With the Mayor, Celebrating 60 Years of Kiestwood, Where No Change is Good Change

Photo by Leslie MinoraRaymond Crawford presents Mayor Rawlings with a big hairy portfolio of ideas from the community.​The Kiestwood neighborhood in southeast Dallas turns 60 this month, and in Texas years, that's old. Raymond Crawford, who lives in the home where he grew up, hosted a well-attende ... More >>

City's Gas Drilling Task Force Received a Public Education at Last Night's Hearing

Photos by Leslie MinoraJeffrey Jacoby, the Program Director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment, gave the task force a passionate three minutes, emphasizing their responsibility to protect Dallas citizens.​In the end, council members Delia Jasso, Dwaine Caraway and Scott Griggs skipped M ... More >>

Dallas's Gas Drilling Task Force Navigates, Sort Of, the Labyrinth of Fracking Regulations

Photo by Leslie MinoraTask force chair Lois Finkelman and members Terry Welch and Cherelle Blazer mull over fracking regulations at yesterday's meeting.​The city's gas drilling task force slurped down a hearty helping of alphabet soup last night, with visits from representatives of the EPA (En ... More >>

Mayor Mike's Dinner With Council Conflicts With Gas Drilling Task Force Public Hearing

Photo by Mark Graham​Mayor Mike Rawlings's office confirms: From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on August 2 he's throwing a dinner for the city council -- a sort-of get-to-know-me BBQ-flavored wingding in advance of the council getting back to work. Problem is, that conflicts with one of only two public hearin ... More >>

City's Gas Drilling Task Force Makes Its Official Bow With Vow to Protect Citizens of Dallas

Photos by Leslie MinoraLois Finkelman and task force member David Sterling at today's introductory meeting​Today's first meeting of the city's gas drilling task force meeting played out like the pilot episode of a new TV series: It laid out the basic plot line without giving away too much. Which i ... More >>

The Day Before Council's Gas Drilling Task Force Begins Meeting, Watch Mayor's Promise

​While Mike Rawlings is off in France, Rudy has a pay-walled piece in the morning's paper recapping the to-do list offered when he was a candidate and the we'll-see-about-that realities facing him as mayor: "Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings must find a way to deliver on promises." Speaking of: As Leslie ... More >>

A Few Council Members Take in Gasland, But Not Before Mayor Mike Makes a Promise to City

Photos by Leslie MinoraAngela Hunt was asked whether it's likely Dallas will be sued by gas drillers awaiting their SUPs.​Mayor Mike Rawlings took the mic before last night's Observer co-sponsored Gasland screening and told the audience of council members, activists and concerned locals, "I wi ... More >>

Fracking Chemical Disclosure Bill Blasts Through Texas House, Enviros Unimpressed

From the rapidly spreading "Fracking Song" from ProPublica and Studio 20 NYU.​In these final days of the 82nd Texas Legislature, lawmakers in Austin are throwing support behind Eastlake Rep. Jim Keffer's bill that'd require drillers to report the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing at each of t ... More >>

Activists Hail Dallas County Commissioners Court For Demanding State, Feds Clear the Air

​Anti-gas drilling activist Raymond Crawford sends word this morning: Moments ago the Dallas County Commissioners Court voted to adopt a resolution demanding the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency do something about cleaning up Dallas's air. Long ... More >>

Activists Ask West to Kill Bill That Would Gut Cities' Ability to Regulate Gas Drilling

Photo by Patrick MichelsRaymond Crawford and his 21-foot-long scroll of signatures unfurled at Dallas City Hall on April 20​Dallas anti-gas drilling activist Raymond Crawford just copied us on a letter he's sending to state Sen. Royce West today, asking him to "personally get involved [and] do wha ... More >>

New Study From Gas Drilling Activists Gathers Decade of Industrial Woes in the Barnett Shale

​Natural gas activist and blogger Sharon Wilson was among the environmentalists out at Earth Day last weekend -- not far from the EPA's six-foot cardboard Al Armendariz -- and she was passing out copies of a new report she'd helped produce on gas drilling in the Barnett Shale. Produced by the Fort ... More >>

Raymond Crawford, Actual Citizen, Fought the City on Fracking -- and Won

When Dallas' drilling rules get tougher, you'll have a professional needlepointer to thank.

Environmentalists, NAACP Unite To Ask Council For Strong Gas Drilling Task Force

Photos by Patrick MichelsRaymond Crawford unfurls a 21-foot scroll of signatures from folks concerned with gas drilling in Dallas during this morning's press conference..​It's The Big Day today for gas drilling activists here at City Hall, and as Robert mentioned yesterday, the environmentalist se ... More >>

Liveblogging City Council's Look at Gas Drilling Task Force. Or: The Return of Lois Finkelman!

Welcome back to City Hall, where the council's settling back into their seats in the briefing room after a much-needed break for lunch. Word was that the council was going to treat us to its gas drilling update in the morning -- but after taking an extra-long executive session to work out just who' ... More >>

As Council Tackles Fracking, Groups Marshal Forces Against City's Natural Gas Policies

Photo by Patrick Michels​As Patrick mentioned yesterday, the city council will at long last debate that gas-drilling task force Angela Hunt pitched only after Dave Neumann promised but failed to deliver his own proposal. In advance of The Big Day, several groups -- Downwinders at Risk, Dallas Area ... More >>

Maybe City Council Should Have Asked Some Questions Before Taking Drillers' Money.

At City Plan Commission: Food Trucks Drive to Council, But Gas Drilling Stays Parked For Now

Robert WilonskyThe Hot Box parked on Flora Street back on October 31​I'd been all ready to settle in for a lengthy City Plan Commission meeting this afternoon, conditioned by months of long waits before commissioners got to talking about the things I'd come for -- old favorites like gas drilling o ... More >>

Once More Into the Frack: Council Considers Changes for Disposal Well at DFW Airport

Chesapeake EnergyA diagram from "Ask Chesapeake" shows a disposal well for spent fracking fluid, down into the Ellenburger Formation underneath the Barnett Shale.​If you thought you'd heard the last from the City Council on gas drilling for a while, well, think again.Originally, the council was go ... More >>

Don't Expect Fireworks When the City Council Takes Up Gas Drilling Proposals Tomorrow

Patrick MichelsCouncilman Dave Neumann says his plans to postpone a decision on XTO's gas drilling permits tomorrow are still set. "Honestly, I think it'll be anticlimactic," he says.​Robert already alerted us to that item on tomorrow's council agenda regarding XTO Energy's proposal to drill at tw ... More >>

Gas Drilling Variances Denied Near Grapevine Lake, While A Pair of Federal Suits Allege Water Contamination from Barnett Shale Fracking

​Worries about groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing around the Barnett Shale got a fresh wave of attention yesterday -- first with a pair of federal suits filed in Dallas, and then with the Town of Flower Mound's denial of a request to drill near to Grapevine Lake. Keystone Energy w ... More >>

Council's Look at XTO Gas Drilling Application May Be Delayed at Residents' Request

All those energy companies with gas drilling permits before the Dallas City Council on December 8, take one step forward. Not so fast, XTO. The Fort Worth-based energy company had been slated to bring its appeal of the City Plan Commission's specific use permit denial before the council a week from ... More >>

Once More, With Fracking: Plan Commission Considers a Second XTO Gas Drilling Site

XTO Energy wants to drill on Joe Pool Lake, but will it effect your ability to kick back with a cold beer on the deck at The Oasis? The answer may surprise you.​If you're not sitting down here in the Council Chambers at City Hall right now, then you're missing one of the fine ways to spend a Thurs ... More >>

At Friday's Screening of Gasland, Rallying the Troops to Keep Gas Drilling Out of Dallas

Photos by Patrick MichelsAfter the movie, director Josh Fox, center, stuck around for a Q&A joined by the Sierra Club's Peter Wilson, Dallas drilling activist Raymond Crawford, DISH mayor Calvin Tillman and drilling activist Sharon Wilson.​Gas drilling opponents from around North Texas rallied ... More >>

Liveblogging's A Gas at City Hall, As Plan Commission Denies XTO's Drill Site Application

Flickr user Schlüsselbein2007Mountain Creek Lake in far western Oak Cliff, which could be the site of Dallas's first gas drilling operation.​[Update at 6:45: To spare you the trouble of reading all the way through, here's the news. With a 7-6 vote, the commission denied XTO Energy's application f ... More >>

At Dave Neumann's Invitation, XTO Energy Briefs Neighbors on Hensley Field Drilling Plans

Photos by Patrick MichelsCouncilman Dave Neumann uses his hands to clear up confusion over XTO's gas drilling plans at Hensley Field along the Grand Prairie border. Never one to let an unwelcome neighbor move in unannounced, Councilman Dave Neumann invited residents around far west Oak Cliff's Hensl ... More >>

As Natural Gas Drilling Spreads East Into Dallas, A New Activist Group Is Born

Patrick MichelsNo word yet on whether this guy'll turn up again at tonight's meeting.The natural gas industry's slow creep toward Dallas over the Barnett Shale has launched a small army of activists in Fort Worth's exurbs, from small-town mayors to goat fromagers -- a well-organized crew that's gott ... More >>