It started innocently enough. Each of us received notices that Devon Energy wanted to run seismic on each of our 5 acre lots. Some neighbors complied, some did not. Then we heard that there was to be an opening to the north end of the ranch and that all the equipment, trucks, workers would run through our neighborhood. The rancher had just signed a major deal with Encana Oil and Gas to turn his beautiful ranch into a gas field.
This is a neighborhood where children actually played in the street. In the evenings, it was not deserted like most city neighborhoods. Immediately the mom instinct kicked in and I wondered about all the reasons we had moved here, and how all that was going to be wiped out, just by that one single decision by one single person, the rancher, Ed Farmer Beggs. Did he know the effect his decision would have on the 30 families that lived in the neighborhood, the conflicts that would arise between the individuals, drilling company, the pipeline company, regulatory agencies(TCEQ, EPA), county and state government, law enforcement, fire department, truck drivers, ICE? Did he even care? What makes this so difficult for our neighborhood is that there are other means to access the 3000 acre ranch from the state roads to the east, I-20 to the south.
The neighborhoods on the north and west bordering the ranch is where Rancher Beggs wanted to focus all the downsides of drilling, not near his own house. He could make his millions and not be bothered with the drilling at all. Never mind what hardships he inflicted on the families in the neighborhoods: increasing property values for houses that could never be sold, increase in the crime rate(2 burglaries in the last 2 months), dust, noise, 60-100 trucks per day, proximity to a site that can blow up.
This is a neighborhood where children actually played in the street. In the evenings, it was not deserted like most city neighborhoods. Immediately the mom instinct kicked in and I wondered about all the reasons we had moved here, and how all that was going to be wiped out, just by that one single decision by one single person, the rancher, Ed Farmer Beggs. Did he know the effect his decision would have on the 30 families that lived in the neighborhood, the conflicts that would arise between the individuals, drilling company, the pipeline company, regulatory agencies(TCEQ, EPA), county and state government, law enforcement, fire department, truck drivers, ICE? Did he even care? What makes this so difficult for our neighborhood is that there are other means to access the 3000 acre ranch from the state roads to the east, I-20 to the south.
The neighborhoods on the north and west bordering the ranch is where Rancher Beggs wanted to focus all the downsides of drilling, not near his own house. He could make his millions and not be bothered with the drilling at all. Never mind what hardships he inflicted on the families in the neighborhoods: increasing property values for houses that could never be sold, increase in the crime rate(2 burglaries in the last 2 months), dust, noise, 60-100 trucks per day, proximity to a site that can blow up.
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Very soon, our neighborhood would become an Industrial Zone with the Ed Farmer Beggs Memorial Rig Road running right through the middle of it!
Whatever happened to the golden rule? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I have no problem with someone making a profit, but he is making that profit at my neighborhood's expense. Rancher Beggs is committed to turning his beautiful ranch into an industrial zone. Why doesn't he move, then move the road out of our neighborhood and accept the responsibility for the drilling downsides, rather than inflict it all on his neighbors?
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Most might consider that the RIGHT thing to do.
Most might consider SCREWING your neighbors and profiting from it, the WRONG thing to do. Decent folk don't behave that way.
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"We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
- John Adams(1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US PresidentSource: Oct. 11, 1798
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20 comments:
In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt
This nieghborhood need to be private and gated, forcing EnCana to come off the state highway 3325. The increase in home values and security will more than make up for streat maintenance costs.
EnCana has a history of doing this kind of thing to nieghborhoods. Greedy foreign companys and non caring land owners like the Beggs are a problem. I am embarrassed that Texas and its representatives allow this to happen.
We defiantly wouldn’t want the Beggs to destroy their ranch with a road thorough the middle of it from FM 3325 when they can destroy the lives of there neighbors on the north end in route to their millions.
Loser Ed Beggs is just waiting to move in to the Big House. Flips burgers at his gas station to make himself appear less ratlike. Still stinks just the same...
Ed Farmer Beggs is not a bad man! He is a very kind man who just happened to be born into a family with money and land. Even though he has money, he does "flip burgers" at the gas station. He also works the cattle on his land. Think about it, he could pay someone to do all of his jobs, but he still gets out there like the rest of us and works.
Have you considered what you would do if the tables were turned. Let's say you had his ranch. Where would you place the road? Close to your house? I know that no matter what amount of land I had - be it 10 acres or 3,000 - I would place the road as far away from my house as possible... as would any other person.
There is nothing we can do about the placement of the road. This is the Beggs family land, not ours. Do we have to like it? No. Is it an eye sore? Yes. Do we like continually cleaning dust from our houses? No. Can we tolerate this and show the Beggs how to be good neighbors? Yes.
I have considered many times what I would do if the tables were turned. I would never wreck an entire neighborhood when there is a common sense option like State Hwy 3325.Ed Farmer Beggs is a bad person for doing this to Chisholm Heights and we can and will do something about it!
Ed Beggs is obviously a self centered person of weak character to do a horrible thing like this to his neighbors.
I can honestly say that I would not have done what the Beggs have done. I am astounded that one of my neighbors could condone such, unless of course, they were a party to it. Ed Beggs sense of self importance and entitlement does not impress me and certainly does not make it okay to capitalize on others' losses AND ENJOY IT! This is your health and land value too! Sounds like you've already rolled over and played dead.
Its amazing to think that anyone could call Ed Farmer Beggs "kind". What the Beggs family and EnCana are doing to Chisholm Heights is very wrong. No! Iwould not do what their doing if the tables were turned. You should "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". The Beggs "for profit" situation and their lack of consideration for their neighbors has ruined Chisholm Heights. Health,security,home values and lifestyle are worth fighting for and thats what were going to do.
Where's lawdog when you need him?
Did you say dust? It's called hazardous industrial waste. Exposure causes irrepairable upper airway disease. Just take a look at your vacuum filter. Your lungs are having to filter the same thing. Blown your nose lately? Heard any wheezing in your breathing that you never had before? Nosebleed anyone? Thank the kind guy.
maybe i missed something but you people sound like the bunch who moved out by the chicken coops and then complained that they smelled bad. The chickens were there first. They smelled bad when you came and looked. THis is TEXAS... we drill for oil. Beggs was there first and can do what he likes.. sounds like sour grapes to me.
For the record, Most of these homes have been here 10+ years. I have lived here for 12 years and suddenly have 100+ 18 wheelers everyday in my backyard when there is a common sense alternative,you are missing something, it didn't smell when we got here and this is
alot worse than a chicken coop.
I wonder who is this "anonymous" person defending this insanity-- are you related to the Beggs? I don't believe you live here! We bought our 5 acres in 1995, and lived in paradise here until our greedy self-centered neighbor chose to move the filth and dust and noise into our homes! There is nothing "kind" about profiting by trashing your neighbors! I agree w/Stephanie about the hazardous industrial waste we are breathing! There IS another route--PLEASE do the right thing!
Many in Chisholm Heights are pro drilling. We understand the economic implications. We have no problem with the Beggs making a lot of money. More power to them, it is their good fortune. You need to understand that there are several MILES of ingress along 3325 and if an agreement was made with the Dean Ranch there are miles of ingress along the service road of I-20. No houses, no neighborhoods, no people, no water wells. Just wide open ranch land. Yet they chose to use our neighborhood for ingress. There are about 30 families in this neighborhood. Destroying our neighborhood is not necessary, it is a choice, a choice made so the ranchers would not have to suffer the downsides of drilling. How much theft, hazardous industrial waste, noise, etc. will we have to put up with before Ed Farmer Beggs decides he cares about his fellow man and assumes the responsibility for his decision of not using wide open ranch land for ingress, rather than our neighborhood? There are no laws to force him to do this. We have to depend on him to be a good neighbor. He is not a good neighbor at this point. He may be a nice man. I don't know him. I do know that he has made a choice that hurts other people. I've lived in Texas my whole life, (since the 1950's) and yes, we are an ENERGY state, but your freedom ends where mine begins. Who doesn't understand that? And I have had a chicken coop in my back yard. And I never offended my neighbors with it.
In my opinion Ed Farmer Beggs isn’t a man at all. He’s nothing more than a coward and a homegrown terrorist who doesn’t mind disrupting others lives and devaluing there property in route to his millions. With the amount of land that the Beggs own they could have entered his property from many different locations and not affected anyone including themselves. If I owned the Beggs ranch I would also be drilling but I can honestly say that I would have never been so stupid, callas and disrespectful to my fellow man and neighbors as he has by putting the road where they did. This was a pure and spiteful act on his and the Beggs families part. I personally don’t care if he’s flips burgers and works his own cattle this must be what it takes to make him feel like a man.
There is something that can be done about the Beggs family putting the road behind the houses. We can standup like men and women that also have our god given rights and continue the good fight with the support of our local government officials as we have been doing all along. My freedom ends with no man or woman including Anonymous bloggers. If you wish to put your head in the sand and watch the rest of us fight for your rights then that’s fine with me, just sit back and enjoy ride.
Ditto on that last blog!
Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom."
Patrick Henry
Congratulations Chisholm Heights, we have survived approximately 109500 commercial 18 wheel trucks (100 trucks per day x 365 days a year x 3 years) through our residential neighborhood and no traffic fatalities to this point! There have many near misses with speeding water trucks, especially during morning and afternoon traffic, as school busses and home owners try to negotiate the neighborhood streets. Our roads show all the scars from this traffic; as they were never expected to take this kind of abuse. All efforts to control the speeding truck traffic have failed, (humps, bumps ect.) as nothing can survive this kind of abuse. I pray for the health of families that have been forced to live in this hazardous environment. The long term health effects from diesel, dust, NORM (natural occurring radio active material) has yet to be determined. Gas well leaks and truck spills are a common problem in our neighborhood. The good news is there is a group of us that will fight this to our dying day. This incredible and unnecessary injustice will be exposed so that others will see what greedy, calloused, uncaring land owners have done to our neighborhood and the families who live in it. Hang in there Chisholm Heights there will be justice!
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