A resolution opposing the Permian Highway Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline set to run through a portion of Hays County, passed unanimously in commissioners court Tuesday morning, though the county has invited representatives from the pipeline company to speak to commissioners court next week.
“This isn’t an attack on oil and gas,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon Shell said. “… But this is just not what’s best for Hays County.”
Members of the public, including representatives from environmental groups, spoke to the court and expressed their concerns about water quality, economic impact, safety, property rights and other issues tied to the proposed routing of the pipeline through the Wimberley Valley. Kinder Morgan, the company building the pipeline from Fort Stockton to refineries near the coast, said in an interview with the Daily Record that it will be a pipeline in “a 9-foot trench” and that the firm will not build anything unsafe.
“Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for stepping up on this pipeline issue,” Dianne Wassenich with the San Marcos River Foundation told the commissioners. “... I think a lot of people, including the pipeline folks … I don’t think they understand that when you cut even a shallow trench in the recharge zone, you are affecting recharge features. … And if we affect the recharge zone by digging long trenches, then for generations to come … there will be new, long recharge features the entire length of the pipeline … that will accept pollution of any kind.”
Wassenich said that runoff from roadways and parking lots and other forms of pollution can find their way into the aquifer and, subsequently, into the springs in the area.
“You cannot clean up our karst aquifers once they are polluted,” she said. “And I think that’s something that everybody needs to understand.”
Ashley Waymouth of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association also spoke to the commissioners about potential effects on the Edwards Aquifer.
“The Blanco River Watershed … not only supplies flow to Barton Springs during times of drought, it also supplies flow to the San Marcos springs during normal flow activity,” she said.
Waymouth also noted the proximity of the planned route to Jacob’s Well and the effects the pipeline construction could have to the aesthetics of the Hill Country.
“We recognize that this is a very tourist-driven place,” she said. “People come to the Hill Country to get away from the city … and with this massive line coming through and clearing a 125-foot right of way … it will be absolutely decimating.”
Waymouth also said that allowing the pipeline to go through would set a “dangerous precedent” that could lead other oil and gas companies to see the Hill Country as a “highway” for pipelines “and possibly lay waste to our entire region.”
‘There is no benefit for us’
Several property owners also expressed their concerns about the proposed pipeline route and the acquisition of land for the pipeline and its easement. Lucy Johnson from Kyle, whose family owns the Halifax and 6F ranches, said that Kinder Morgan plans to put 3 miles of pipeline through her family’s property even though the family has said they are uninterested.
Johnson said that her family has dedicated the ranch to “cattle, wildlife management, land preservation and the occasional Christmas party” and cannot be convinced that the pipeline is safe and will have no environmental effects.
“Any construction … really does affect the aquifer,” she said. “... There is no benefit for us, for Kyle, for the county.”
Wimberley landowner Larry Becker said the pipeline route moved off of his property but is still very close, and he is concerned about its effects on the water supply and the trees in the Hill Country.
“We know if they go through and put the line in, it definitely will impact our water table, our aquifers, and we need to be very cognizant of what is to come if they proceed with their plans,” he said.
Becker also said that he didn’t believe the residents of Hays County want to bring the pipeline and the oil and gas industry into the Hill Country. Noting that he used to live in Brazoria county, he said, “I left that area to get away from that.”
John Price said that Kinder Morgan’s status as a “common carrier,” which gives it the right of eminent domain, can be obtained by checking a box on a form from the Texas Railroad Commission and renders the company “capable of interrupting the lives of millions of people.”
Price noted the number of accidents along natural gas pipelines in Texas and encouraged the commissioners and other audience members to look up the incidents and whether any kind of settlements had been reached.
“I didn’t see any resolution on all of these,” he said, referring to incidents involving oil and gas pipelines. “... There’s been 3,200 serious accidents since ‘89 … and only one of those had any reference to any kind of settlement.”
Price also argued that the Kinder Morgan pipeline is not in the best interest of the public.
“This pipeline is totally private interest all the way,” he said.
John Scull, a resident of Guadalupe County, said he has no property in the Hill Country, but, “I do have some knowledge of how these things work.”
Scull spoke against the pipeline, calling it a “scar,” and said, “We live on top of the most impressive aquifer in the United States.”
‘What’s good in Odessa …’
Shell spoke about the pipeline issue and the outreach that both the county and Kinder Morgan have done, including a series of open houses Kinder Morgan has hosted in Hays and neighboring counties.
“I think we’re fairly up to speed on what we’re talking about,” he said.
He then expressed some of his biggest concerns about the pipeline, including the environmental effects. He acknowledged that the oil and gas industry is very important to the Texas economy.
“We say this often — Texas is very diverse … but what’s good in Odessa or what’s good in Galveston or Corpus Christi might not be best for the Hill Country.”
Shell also said he is concerned about private property rights.
“We take eminent domain extremely seriously,” he said.
Shell said that representatives from Kinder Morgan have expressed willingness to come to commissioners court and discuss the project.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe said she has not heard any support from the public for the pipeline.
“I have not had one person come to tell me that they support this pipeline,” she said, noting that hundreds of people have contacted the commissioners about the issue.
“We’ve talked a lot about the economic impact of the area … and I totally agree,” she said. “Our water resources are of the utmost importance. But I would also say that we have a very important resource on the east side, which are our residents. … I can think of four highly populated subdivisions in close proximity to this pipeline.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith expressed concerns about the county’s economic situation and the effect the pipeline could have on property values and the tax base. He also said that there are no companies in the county that could use the pipeline to transport energy products.
“We don’t have production here … that could use this pipeline that could actually benefit from it in any other way than watch it cut across our county,” he said.
County Judge Ruben Becerra spoke, saying that he opposes the pipeline and that while state officials talk about the importance of local government, the imposes regulations that make it difficult to govern ourselves..
“No one knows the resources of our community like we do,” he said.
However, Becerra said he had concerns about the costs of litigation and how any new legislation would — or would not — affect the Kinder Morgan project.
“If our new, responsive state legislature made changes to the law today, would this project be grandfathered in?” he asked. “They have already started the permitting processes.”
Becerra spoke in favor of negotiations with Kinder Morgan and asking the company to pay for hydrology and environmental impact studies, performed with local oversight, as well as emergency responses and a mitigation plan. He also mentioned rerouting as an option.
“I am against the pipeline. I don’t want to mince words,” he said. “But I’m here to negotiate in the interests of the citizens of Hays County within the confines of the law.”
Becerra said he has asked Kinder Morgan representatives to attend next week’s commissioners court meeting to “answer some questions that are very important to all of us in Hays County.”
Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones reminded the public that he and Ingalsbe will be hosting a town hall on the Permian Highway Pipeline project at Hays High School at 6 p.m. on March 6.
