Setting things straight about pipeline project
At Kinder Morgan, our 11,000 hardworking colleagues are dedicated to keeping homes cool, water hot and the lights on as we continue to work through this pandemic. We never shut down, keeping factories, power plants, homes and businesses supplied with affordable and reliable energy.
Pipelines are the safest way of transporting the energy we all need to sustain our economy and way of life. Unlike roads, rail lines and power lines, pipelines move this energy underground with the ground above restored following construction. The 810 miles of pipelines already operating in the Hill Country today include Kinder Morgan’s Hill Country Pipeline, which has operated safely for decades. Actually, we’d argue that the pipelines in the Hill Country are safer than some of the roads Texans travel routinely.
The Permian Highway Pipeline has provided more than 2,000 well-paying jobs. It will reduce wasteful and environmentally destructive flaring in West Texas and will benefit countless people in Texas and elsewhere. We have chosen the route carefully and paid landowners handsomely for the easements. We will restore the land when construction is complete and have secured significant additional lands for endangered species habitat. Shutting down the pipeline, as some have demanded, denies these benefits and sends over 2,000 workers home months ahead of the project’s anticipated completion early next year.
Putting all of these benefits aside for a moment, let me shed some light on the event that is the basis of much recent criticism about our project. At the end of March, the Permian Highway Project experienced an underground drilling fluid loss during a drilling operation in Blanco County, Texas. We deeply regret that this happened, and we started working to make it right with the affected community immediately after it occurred. Drilling activities at the river have been permanently canceled.
Testing shows there is no well-water contamination today from the drilling fluid used by PHP. That’s not surprising, given that the drilling fluid is certified for use in drilling water wells by the international standards authority NSF International.
We have conducted extensive outreach, which included five public meetings to discuss the project as well as hundreds of additional meetings with individual landowners. We made over 150 individual adjustments to our proposed route based on feedback from landowners and the community, as well as to avoid sensitive environmental and geological features.
Moreover, we have worked directly with the handful of landowners impacted by the Blanco River incident. We provided bottled water, fulfilled individual food orders, delivered cleaning supplies and offered alternative housing accommodations. We also provided funds to pay for additional items like 2,500-gallon temporary water tanks, potable water deliveries, plumbing and well repairs. All of our actions to date demonstrate our commitment to making it right. We will continue to work until this goal is achieved.
To that end, we are making further adjustments as we finish constructing this project. In consultation with local officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas Railroad Commission, we carefully evaluated several alternative construction methods for crossing the Blanco River. We have decided that rerouting around the Blanco River is the best option.
This reroute will result in two additional miles of pipeline and does not include any deep drilling. Especially in times like these, it is important to focus on facts and not fear. Those facts bear out what we all know: Landowners in Texas and across America have long lived in safe proximity to pipelines, enjoying the benefits of both affordable energy and a clean environment.