STATE RECOMMENDS OK FOR PROPOSED GAS FIELD:

The Houston Chronicle

By Karen Zurawski

This Week

May 1991

Texas Railroad Commission examiners recommend a Denver company be allowed to proceed with a proposed controversial gas storage field south of Katy.

The Proposal for Decision and recommended Final Order were issued May 7.  Exceptions can be filed within 15 days of the proposal and replies to the exceptions within an additional 10-day period.  The documents would come before commissioners in June for possible action.

The recommendation wins criticism from a member of the Hillebrenner protestors, a group of residents opposed to the project, and praise from a member of Western Gas Resources, Storage Inc. Western officials want to use the former gas field to inject and store natural gas and filed their project applications in June and September 1991.

Both the Katy City Council and Fort Bend County commissioners court have passed resolutions opposing the project.

But the state examiners wrote in part "Western presented a sound technical and legal case to show that the subject field is ideally suited for gas storage.  The Protestors did not present any evidence to discredit Western's case and have not shown that the subject applications should be denied.  Western has met its burden of proof.

According to the document, the commission has authority over "well completions and their possible relationship to pollution of groundwater; abandoned and improperly plugged wells, well completions for wells producing from above or below the Fulshear field and safety considerations due to the close proximity of the proposed location to a populated area."

"Other matters not within the call of this hearing are lowered property values, future home financing compensation for homes, noise levels and air pollution because these are not within the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission."  They were concerns however of residents who spoke at hearings.  Hearings were held Sept. 27, 1991, in Katy and Dec. 2-6, 1991, in Austin.

Bill Bell, a Hillebrenner protester, said, "They've done what we've expected them to do.  We're meeting on an ongoing basis with other attorneys and examining options." He said the commission is concerned with conservation of gas and oil reserves and not with the life expectancy of voters.

Ron Wirth, Western's treasures and director of investor relations said, "We're obviously very pleased that an independent group of experts having reviewed the project and Western's proposal and so forth is coming out as favorable both toward the project and what we're doing and how we're going about it.  The recommendation is only that (a recommendation)," he added.

[Interestingly, the Chronicle chose to place this article in the suburban Katy This Week issue of their paper, and did not place it in the regular Chronicle. MM]