We loved living in the country. We had deer and the coyotes would sing at night. Then, the Barnett Shale ruined everything. We were near a lake, with many open pastures of ranch land and government-protected forest areas. It went from beautiful green meadows, to ugly raised gravel beds that would soon be the foundation for huge natural gas rigs. Drilling the wells is a noisy business that goes on 24-7 for months. The end result will be small tanks in a row on the raised gravel bed. Not pretty at all. We decided we better move before one was installed close to us.
So I drove by the old place the other day and...
It wasn't across the street like we had originally feared but there is the foundation for the next gas well, just a few lots down from where we used to live. We had no knowledge that one would be installed when we sold the house. Only a fear that one would be installed.
Here's a view driving down the road. You can see the white of the gravel foundation through the trees on the left. We got out just in time. Though right after we sold, we received an offer from the Natural Gas drilling company for a signing bonus and royalties. Our loss and the new owner's gain, but that small amount of money will not make up for the destruction of beautiful hill country. Not in my opinion anyways.
