In Parker County, Enclave Quiet at Last

April 2, 2009

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Elizabeth Campbell

Bobby Pickard and Lisa Kelly can once again enjoy the birds and watch their children play while sitting on their porches.

Two years ago, that wasn’t possible. Pickard, Kelly and others in the eastern Parker County subdivision of Chisholm Heights were battling an energy company over gas trucks roaring through their neighborhood to drilling sites.

The view from their front porches was speeding trucks and clouds of dust.

But that ended last month when EnCana Oil and Gas found an alternative truck route away from Chisholm Heights.

And the furor over the high number of trucks also led to proposed legislation that would prohibit gas trucks from driving through unincorporated subdivisions and would place other restrictions on drilling companies.

Pickard and Kelly testified Wednesday in Austin in hearings on the proposed legislation.

“We had all this privacy with nothing but cows, and then we had hundreds of guys driving by and looking into our living rooms,” Lisa Kelly said.