Keeping Texas water clean
Continued fight against the Hill Country Pipeline leaves community exhausted
By Emily Wadley
emilykwadley@gmail.com
Activist groups and individuals throughout Texas have been fighting against the
construction of a 427-mile natural gas pipeline since Kinder Morgan announced the route in the fall of 2018.
From the beginning, there has been a push from communities across Texas to reevaluate the environmental impact and safety of placing this pipeline, especially in regards to its effect on the Edwards Aquifer and Blanco River.
David Baker, executive director of the Wimberley Watershed Association, shared his experience
David Baker has been familiarizing himself with this project and working against the route since the watershed association first heard of the pipeline’s construction plans.
“Our first message to them was that we know oil is a huge industry, but this is just not the right place because of the geology, and the risk that the construction, much less the pipeline itself, would cause damages to water quality and private landowners,” Baker said.
There have been several complications with the building process of the pipeline that have threatened the environment, and there was a spill while drilling under the Blanco River in March that contaminated drinking water in some homes.
“The long-term risk of spills contaminating water is high. As we see if even the building has caused damage, this is not the right place for this type of infrastructure,” Baker said.
There are multiple lawsuits against Kinder Morgan, however, since no Texas judges have upheld injunctions, the pipeline can continue while a decision is being reached.
“This lawsuit is ongoing and could last up to three years. The good news is we got them to stop using the carcinogenic drilling additive,” Baker said.
This clay-based additive, known as bentonite, is used to drill into the ground to place the pipeline and is controversial as it can contain several chemicals that are toxic to humans. After the leak when drilling under the Blanco River, Baker and his team went out and took samples from citizen’s well water and found at least six trace metals containing carcinogenic materials. Because of this, Kinder Morgan finally agreed to reroute part of the pipeline and use dry boring to drill as opposed to bentonite.
David Baker
Photo courtesy of Baker
Perspective from an environmental expert
Neil Kucera
Photo courtesy of Kucera
Neil Kucera, environmental law professor at Texas State University, has been keeping up with the ongoing pipeline battle and legal issues surrounding it.
Though oil and gas pipelines have to complete an environmental impact assessment, it is not as strenuous as a full environmental impact statement and there are several ways to expedite these assessments and have them approved without doing thorough examination.
Almost all of these environmental assessments just go through and the judge allows them, Kucera said. "They’re not required under NEPA (National Environmental Protections Agency) to avoid building these systems; they just have to assess all the potential environmental impacts."
Kucera said that Kinder Morgan chose the easiest and cheapest route, with little consideration for the potential damages to water systems. By providing insufficient regulation, the Railroad Commission has encouraged this and set a standard that the oil and gas pipelines can really build wherever they choose, Kucera said.
“One of the biggest things in building any pipeline is protecting your water, especially your underground sources. This is all about routing and could they have chosen a different route other than going through major and minor aquifers,” Kucera said.
Kinder Morgan declined to comment on the environmental impacts of the project or the rerouting pathway decision.
The goal of this pipeline is to transport the natural gas released when drilling for oil instead of venting, or flaring (burning) the gas straight into the atmosphere. Kinder Morgan argues that the pipeline is an environmentally safer option than either of those.
Kinder Morgan is currently being sued in several separate cases involving the eminent domain used to drill under private property, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Water Act. However, by the time any of these cases reach trial, the pipeline will be completed.
“There are a number of ways to sue a pipeline, but if you don’t get that initial injunction, it’s going to be built while the lawsuit is pending anyways,” Kucera said.
Inspiring activism taken by the community
Nikkye Re’Anne, business owner of Daughter of the Wild and community activist, heard news of the pipeline’s route long before construction ever began. She began going to open houses hosted by Kinder Morgan and meetings with other concerned community members around September of 2018.
“We didn’t hear many people talking about this at first, so a couple of friends and I took it upon ourselves to be a few of those people,” Re’Anne said.
A big influence for Re’Anne was that pieces of the pipeline were being delivered to a construction site that was right across the street from her house.
“Seeing the pipes right there in front of my face everyday made the problem feel unavoidable to me,” Re’Anne said.
Re’Anne said that what we have been seeing as far as court hearings and injunctions failing to stick is very symptomatic of the broken system in place.
“I have noticed a pattern of legal loopholes for these companies, and that’s why I can’t count on the system to keep them accountable. But, it’s still worth it to try,” Nikkye said.
When Kinder Morgan rerouted the pipeline after the Blanco spill, they had to make a 90- degree angle with the pipes to make the reroute path viable. Pipeline reroutes are not always better or environmentally safer, and are often routed towards poorer communities.
“One of the biggest things we want people to understand is that Texas is a very complicated place and from an Indigenous perspective, rerouting the pipeline isn’t a sustainable solution. The reroute will always be directed towards lower income communities that don’t have as many resources to fight against it,” Re’Anne said.
Nikkye Re'Anne
Photo courtesy of Re'Anne
State of the pipeline fight today
The community has become exhausted from such a long legal battle with Kinder Morgan that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, especially as the pipeline is continuing to be built everyday despite this.
Baker said that three areas that need serious reforms surrounding the pipeline industry are Routing, Safety, and Eminent Domain.
“It’s going to take an ongoing effort and voting from the community to take on the gas lobbyists,” Baker said.
Construction on the pipeline is set to finish in early 2021.
All photos by Emily Wadley
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