Arlington council approves TotalEnergies’ Maverick drill site permit after hours of public comment

Arlington — The City Council voted to approve a specific use permit for the Maverick drill site on Tuesday, allowing TotalEnergies to establish a new gas pad and drill up to 10 wells on a 5.406-acre tract at 2020 South Watson Road.

The council closed a public hearing after nearly 30 speakers and then approved the permit on a motion by Council Member Hogg, seconded by Council Member Pham. Mayor Jim Ross presided.

The result matters because the pad is sited adjacent to an existing AC 360 well and within about one mile of multiple elementary schools and a day care center. Opponents said the new wells threaten children’s health and asked the council to block the permit; supporters emphasized jobs, mineral-owner royalties and the operator’s safety measures.

Leslie Garvis, who represented TotalEnergies at the hearing, described the parcel as “the best location to access these minerals” and said the company has owned the site “since 02/2008.” Garvis told the council the requested drill zone would be roughly 50% greater than the city’s 600-foot setback requirement and that the proposed pad would be at least 900 feet from the nearest protected use. She also said, “There are 1,700 Arlington mineral interest owners that would stand to benefit from these 10 wells at this location. 700 of them live within 1 mile of the pad.”

Opposition speakers included residents, doctors, teachers and parents who said local and peer-reviewed studies link nearby oil-and-gas operations to higher rates of childhood asthma, leukemia and other health problems. Wanda Vincent, the owner of the Mother's Heart Learning Center that serves infants through 12-year-olds, said the center is licensed for 102 children and urged the council to “vote no more, no more well.”

Public-health professionals and advocates pressed the council to use setbacks or additional monitoring. A physician in the audience suggested the council require ambient monitoring for hydrogen sulfide, methane and ozone; several speakers asked the city to pursue setbacks larger than the state-authorized baseline.

City staff reminded speakers that House Bill 40 (2015) limits municipal authority over oil-and-gas operations; staff noted the city’s jurisdiction is limited primarily to above-ground, surface activities and that air quality and well-site public-health regulation are handled by state and federal agencies, including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission. The city emphasized it could base its decision only on factors within its lawful jurisdiction.

TotalEnergies representatives summarized mitigation measures proposed for the pad: masonry screening walls, double rows of 8–9-foot trees at planting, internal containment, sound mitigation and an upgraded chip-and-seal access road to reduce dust. They also said the operator has invited council members to tour existing sites and its incident command center.

After the rebuttal period, Council Member Hogg moved to approve the SUP; Council Member Pham seconded. The clerk called the vote and the motion passed.

The council did not attach additional city-mandated ambient air monitoring or expanded setbacks to the permit during the vote. The company and staff indicated the permitted surface improvements — landscaping, walls, road upgrades and internal containment — are part of the approved site plan.

What happens next: With the city permit approved, TotalEnergies may proceed with the surface and site work described in its SUP. Because statewide law limits municipal control of many operational aspects of drilling, any future enforcement or complaints about emissions and air quality would involve the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Railroad Commission of Texas, or other state/federal regulators.

The council record shows extensive public opposition and a request from community members for more protective setbacks and monitoring. Council members who opposed the permit emphasized health and equity concerns in public remarks before the vote.