Maribel Herrera loves her spacious back yard.
It's a place where her daughter and granddaughter enjoy jumping on the trampoline. And each time they bounce up and down, they get a good look at what's across the street.
"I'm not so sure what they do," Herrera said of the big tanks surrounded by a locked fence. "I don't know anything about it."
Herrera admitted she should have asked more questions when she bought her house, but didn't.
"You're so excited to have built a new home," she recalled. "You don't think about those things and the builder keeps telling you all the wonderful things, and we'll give you this and we'll give you that. You're just in the moment."
Herrera moved in back in 2015, roughly a year after Eagleridge Energy finished drilling and fracking on a site right across the street from her house.
Her neighbor, Gene Inzer, remembered that work well. He documented everything as more and more neighbors started complaining about health issues.
"I heard about nose bleeds. I heard about a lot of coughing, all of a sudden, particularly in children," Inzer said.
Again, Herrera's house was built after the fracking was complete.
According to Denton's city ordinance, new homes, must be built at least 250 feet from an existing well.
"My gosh, I had no idea," Herrera added. "I'm the closest."
Denton City Councilman Paul Meltzer joined us as we measured the distance from Herrera's garage to the fence line that protects the well site.
"It's 73 feet," Meltzer said.
A number that's well short of the 250 feet on the books. And the well is protected by a fence that keeps us from measuring all the way to the well head.
Still, Herrera wonders why her house is so close.
Meltzer explains, Herrera's lot was platted before the well became active. That means it was grandfathered into an even older setback of just 100 feet.
"So they're playing by preexisting rules," Meltzer said. "Everyone acted within their rights. That's the way it works. You play by the rules that were in place. Would we create a situation like that today, for anything new? No."
Eagleridge Energy declined our request for an interview.
According to the Texas Railroad Commission, their permit on that site, allows them to be re-work that well whenever they want.
Meltzer is one of several council members who supports increasing the setback to at least 600 feet.
A potential change that would come too late for Herrera.
"Maybe we should have done more research to hear what other people had to say about it, " she said.
But she'll continue to enjoy her house and spacious back yard. While keeping a close eye on her neighbor.
"I just pray that thing doesn't become active again, " Herrera added. "Because it would be really bad."
