Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Designer Landscaping or Au Naturel?

Quote from Cassie King, Urban Site Planner, Chesapeake Energy:

"The public does not know I exist, the public doesn't know that we have someone that does landscaping . . . having to put trees around a well site seems like, it's a little bit different . . .
it's about making sure that we screen it properly and that the people that are walking by it
don't even know that it's a drill site . . . it's something that melds into the surrounding environment . . . the industry has decided that we don't just need to come in and drill, that we need to be good neighbors and that we need to go above and beyond for everyone because we're going to be here for awhile. I'm Cassie King, I'm a landscape designer and I'm powering progress in the
Barnett."





RRC reporter agrees with you, Ms. King, that the public does not know you exist, as evidenced by the stark absence of "designer landscaping" around the Chesapeake Day site on Ragland Road in SE Arlington.





According to the city, Chesapeake did not comply with the landscaping and fencing requirements per the amended ordinance of November, 2011, because the wells were drilled prior to that date . . . the city claims they are attempting to get Chesapeake to comply and that masonry walls should be up in the next few months.

** Curious why gas operators are given such broad allowance for non-compliance, while general citizens are expected to follow the law and all the rules . . .

No word on the landscaping, which would be a welcome change, but no matter how beautiful the trees and shrubbery, no matter how talented the design landscapers,
no matter how high the wall - they cannot conceal the fracking truth.