Southern FW Residents Told to Boil Drinking Water

A power outage at two City of Fort Worth pump stations has caused the city to issue an alert urging residents in the southern part of the city to boil their drinking water. The affected area is the southwestern part of the city, south of Interstate 20, from Granbury to Crowley roads.

The power outage means that the city's water supply may contain bacteria and other microbes that are not suitable for consumption. To make sure the water is safe for drinking and other home use, residents in the area should bring the water to a rolling boil and then boil it for two minutes.

For those that can't or won't boil their water, the city will have bottled water available at the following locations:

• Blue Raider Field, 4300 Altamesa Blvd.
• Goodwill, at the intersection of Bryant Irvin and Dirks roads.
• North Crowley High School, 9100 S. Hulen St.

The city hasn't mentioned how long this situation will continue.

Renewable, But Not So Reliable

We are scolded and told that it is imperative that we generate more of our energy from "renewable" resources. The dirty little secret the Al Goreans don't tell us is this: "Renewable" energy is not very reliable. The Startlegram reports today that a sudden drop in West Texas wind Tuesday caused the Lone Star State to narrowly avoid statewide rolling blackouts:

Operators of the state power grid scrambled Tuesday night to keep the lights on after a sudden drop in West Texas wind threatened to cause rolling blackouts, officials confirmed Wednesday.

At about 6:41 p.m. Tuesday, grid operators ordered a shutoff of power to so-called interruptible customers, which are industrial electric users who have agreed previously to forgo power in times of crisis. The move ensured continued stability of the grid after power dropped unexpectedly.

Dottie Roark, a spokeswoman for the power grid, said a sudden uptick in electricity use coupled with other factors and a sudden drop in wind power caused the unexpected dip. As a result, grid officials immediately went to the second stage of its emergency blackout prevention plan.

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Kent Saathoff, vice president for system operations at ERCOT [Electric Reliability Council of Texas], said Tuesday's event illustrates the inherent challenges associated with using wind power. Because the wind sometimes stops blowing without a moment's notice, engineers at ERCOT must remain nimble enough to respond to resulting instability on the grid, he said.

Yesterday's event shows that so-called renewable energy is not suitable as a source of energy for a large heavily populated state like Texas. It is inconceivable that an energy-rich state such as ours should have to even consider the possibility of blackouts. Increasing our reliance on wind power will lead Texas backwards to the status of a third-world county.

Via Blowing Our Tax Dollars on Wind Farms.

Raider Run

If all the talk about last week's Cowtown Marathon has inspired you to hit the track, consider joining me in the Raider Run. The 5k race takes place this Saturday (March 1) at Foster Park in southwest Fort Worth.

Besides the 5k race there will be a 1 mile run for the kids (12 and under). Awards will be given out for the top 3 finishers by age groups but the real reward is that proceeds benefit Mirage, a drug free, alcohol free alternative to senior celebrations at Southwest High School.

Some Cold Facts About a Hot Topic

The subject of natural gas pipeline safety has become rather heated lately with various local bloggers posting scary pictures that would seem to indicate that our fair city is about to become a scene from Dante's Inferno. So let's leave the fear-mongering to others and like our old pal Sgt. Joe Friday deal with some facts, shall we?

The following facts come from the Office of Pipeline Safety, a part of the federal Department of Transportation:

The Lone Star State has about 198,708 miles of natural gas transmission, distribution and gathering pipelines. To put that in perspective, that is enough gas pipe to circle the Earth almost eight times.

From 1997 to 2006, these pipelines caused injuries to 65 people in Texas which which required hospitalization. That's an average of about 7 injured people per year. For the same ten-year period there were a total of 17 deaths from pipelines, an average of a little less than 2 deaths per year. Now lets get the obligatory feel-good statement out of the way. Yes, it is tragic that those 17 people lost their lives and this is not meant to minimize the loss of life.

Now let's put that in perspective. During that same ten-year period, 36,480 Texans died in automobile accidents. If my math is correct, that's an average of 3,648 traffic deaths per year. Have you caught the flu bug that's been going around? On average, about 3,550 Texans die every year from the flu and pneumonia. Own a pool? The Centers for Disease Control reports that on average 379 people in Texas accidentally drown each year.

Some bloggers insist that the city should ban natural gas pipelines in order to insure our "safety". But using that logic the city could make us even safer by banning swimming pools. Yes, on rare occasions natural gas pipelines are ruptured. When that happens it makes for some compelling pictures. But scary pictures are not the same as cold, hard facts. The facts show that transporting natural gas underground is safe.

I'll have more later.

XTO Reports Record Earnings

All those gas wells you see around Cowtown are pumping money into the pockets of Fort Worth-based XTO Energy. The company released its financials for the 4th quarter of last year, announcing record production and cash flow.

XTO said the for last quarter daily production was up 30% from the fourth quarter of 2006. Total revenues for the fourth quarter were $1,590,000,000.00, a new record, and a 33% increase from 2006. Quarterly earnings for the 4th quarter were $464 million, an 8% increase from fourth quarter 2006. Operating income for the quarter was $813 million, a 15% increase from fourth quarter 2006.

For the quarter daily gas production averaged 1.67 billion cubic feet (Bcf), up 36% from fourth quarter 2006 daily production of 1.23 Bcf. Bob R. Simpson, Chairman and CEO attributed the record numbers to new acquisitions stating, "These producing properties and leasehold acquisitions, totaling about $4 billion during 2007, added immediate growth impact and even more important, expansive upsides for future growth."

T & P Warehouse Listed as Endangered

The Texas & Pacific Warehouse located on the south side of downtown has been listed as one of the state's "Most Endangered Places" for 2008 by Preservation Texas. The building was built in 1931 as part of a three building complex that includes the Texas & Pacific Railway Terminal and the United States Post Office. The buildings were all designed by noted Fort Worth architect Wyatt C. Hedrick. While attractive, the eight-story building is a simpler version of the more elaborate terminal building.

The preservation group notes:

The Texas & Pacific Warehouse is endangered due to neglect and lack of maintenance. Currently the basement is filled with several feet of water. Previous owners had started renovations to the building and left the building open to damage from water. If the building is not maintained, the integrity of the reinforced concrete structure will eventually be compromised by the infiltration of water.

The building would seem ready for a renovation. The city is finishing up its beautification of Lancaster Avenue and the old terminal building has already been converted to loft apartments. Mayor Mike has set his eyes on buying and renovating the old post office for a new city hall as well. It remains to be seen if someone can orchestrate a successful renovation in time to the save it.

DFW Growth to Continue

The rapid growth of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is expected to continue unabated for the next five years are so. That's according to a new article in Forbes. Gross metropolitan product growth, is projected to increase 20.51% from 2007-2012. That number places the region in sixth place among large metro areas. Austin, which ranked first among metropolitan area's projected growth was the only Texas city ahead of the metroplex. Houston came in 8th.

If you are looking for that small town feel, but still desire an area with increasing opportunities, you might consider Texarkana. The area, which ranked second in projected growth among smaller metro areas is expected to grow by 28.57% over the same period.