KATY AGAINST SITE:

Katy Against Gas Site:

By Mignette Y. Patrick

The Katy Times

Katy residents at the Nov. 14 Katy City Council meeting protested the underground natural gas storage reservoir Western Gas Resources proposes to refill south of Katy.

The turnout was partly in response to an anonymous advertisement run in the Katy Times newspaper, touting the alleged danger's [sic] of the reservoir.

Though Mayor Skip Conner says he did not "like the ad telling citizens to come to the meeting," he was in support of the council's 4-1 vote for a resolution opposing the facility.

"We're almost totally neutral in this thing since most residents there (in Pin Oak area south of Katy) can't vote for or against us," Conner explained.  "But if it were under my house, I'd feel very uncomfortable. 

South Katy resident Bill Bell, addressed the council, asking for its support in opposing the company's plans which include a building designed to house 10 compressors.

Councilman Don Rao, who has previously expressed interest in having the Pin Oak subdivision within Katy's Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction, was a bit more aggressive in his opposition. 

"You live in Denver," Rao told Western Gas Resources executive David Sander.  "If there's a problem (with the reservoir), you'll be out on the golf course."

Councilwoman Johnnie K. Shepard, says the meeting was conducted in poor taste, and she "did not want any part of it."

I think we went far outside of our realm of responsibility.  The ad in the paper was awful and the information did not correlate with what we (council) had received.  The atmosphere and some of the things said were distasteful," she explained. "I think it shows the worst of living in a small town and in a small community."

"The Katy school board acted appropriately in wanting to let the facts come out.  We should have done that too," says Shepard.

While the KISD trustees allowed residents to speak out against the facility at its Oct. 24 meeting, the trustees stopped short of endorsing or opposing the company's plans.

Sander, who said he had learned about the meeting from a friend, defended his company.

He specifically addressed the problems of air pollution and property devaluation.  Sander says the emissions that will escape from the compressor building are comprised primarily of methane gas, a substance lighter than air.  Such a substance cannot "fall to the ground," Sander says.

Rao had complained that chemicals emitted may not "dissipate before they fall to the ground."

Sander also explained that gas stored 7,000 feet (more than a mile) below the surface of the earth cannot cause property values above ground to devaluate.  He cited the wealthy Champions area near FM 1960 as an example.

The Champions subdivision was built over and adjacent to the Bammel Gas storage Field.  The field extends to the north and south of FM 1960, from the Hardy Toll Road on the east to Champions Forest Drive on the west.

"Though the Bammel Field was not designed with state-of-the-art equipment back in 1952, numerous housing developments have built up over there," Sander says.

Bill Duncan, owner of Bill Duncan Realty operating in the FM 1960 area, explained that property values have increased since subdivisions were constructed.

"Subdivisions have flourished within and without gas fields," Duncan says.  "Some of the homes in the Champions area are worth more than $1 million.  According to the Multi-Listing Service, they are some of the faster selling homes around.

The Multi-Listing Service is a real estate computer data network utilized by real estate agents and appraisers in determining property values in Harris County.