GAS RESERVOIR PLAN DEBATED:

Residents Protest

Gas Reservoir Plan Debated

by Mignette Y. Patrick

Staff Writer

The Katy Times

About 150 west Houston residents, expressing fears of potential contamination and health risks, spoke out last Friday against a proposed underground gas reservoir near Katy.

The Sept. 27 Texas Railroad Commission-sponsored hearing was the only opportunity residents had to voice their concerns locally about Western Gas Resources Storage, Inc.'s plan to store natural gas in the Fulshear Fields south of Katy.  More than 50 people spoke in opposition to the proposed facility.

TRC technical examiner Ramon Fernandez, and legal examiner Peggy Gray presided over the hearing which began at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m.

Many of those who spoke were members of the Hillebrenner Protestors [sic] (named after the Hillebrenner Sand gas storage reservoir.

The protester represent a group of landowners and residents in both Fort Bend and Harris counties with surface rights to lands in the immediate vicinity of the Hillebrenner (gas) Field.  About 600 homes are located near the proposed facility.

Most speakers cited risks to their health and possible contamination of ground and surface waters as reasons they opposed the company's plans.

"We're think [sic] the area is too populated for the project Western is proposing.  We're very concerned about the vibrations of the compressors.  What will it (vibrations) do to our foundations?"  asked Charles Grisham, a 20-year west Houston resident.

WGRS plans to install about nine compressors in the center of an 82-acre rectangular site the company purchased.  The site is located over the Hillebrenner reservoir, and the compressors will inject and retrieve natural gas from the underground reservoir.

Another resident, Victor Kittles, expressed fears about possible explosions.

"I'm concerned about what happens when leaks in the system start accumulating.  If they hit an ignition system, there will be an explosion,"  Kiddles says.

Gloria Moore, who lives near the proposed site, said WGRS never notified her of their plans.

"The gas will be pumped directly under our residence, yet, we've never received any correspondence or notices from Western.  I learned about it in May from a friend who'd been approached about leasing her land," Moore says.  "Then in the latter part of June, we received information from the Railroad Commission."

The subdivisions located closest to the site are the Pin Oak Village and Falcon Point subdivisions.

Fernandez says he and Gray would prepare a final report of the hearings and make recommendations to the three railroad commissioners.  He says five more days of hearing are scheduled in Austin for the week of Oct. 28.

Katy city administrator Charles Ehlert says the city offered the VFW Hall to the TRC for the hearing so residents would not be foreced to travel to Austin.

"This is only the third time the TRC has held a public hearing outside Austin," Ehlert says.

[Looks to me like the TRC really wanted to approve this request! MM]