Fight to reroute pipeline out of Wimberley begins

A coalition of local landowners is beginning to form in opposition to the route of the Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline that is planned to run through the Wimberley Valley with the hope of having the pipeline re-routed out of the Wimberley Valley.

Calling themselves “Concerned Citizens and Landowners of the Wimberley Valley” the group has recently begun circulating a letter about reasons local citizens should oppose the route of the pipeline, though they made it clear they weren’t against the pipeline itself.

“The community needs to know that this pipeline will create a significant environmental and economic impact to the Wimberley Valley residents,” the letter said. “These can be classified as loss of property values, loss of county taxes, major threats to the water quality and our aquifers, threats to our oak forest, and increased noise and light pollution.”

Many of the potentially-impacted residents who joined the group were hesitant to put their name on the letter fearing that it may hurt their chances of working with Kinder Morgan. However, David Baker, with the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, said he would sign on to the letter and allow for his name and organization to be associated with it publicly.

“The concern is that the pipeline is coming through primarily karst aquifer systems with lots of sink holes, caves and fault lines,” Baker said. “The construction of the pipeline could cause irreparable damage to these features. Should something happen in the future it could cause damage to our beloved springs in the Hill Country like Jacob’s Well.”

The letter also states that landowners and the association have “been working with eminent domain attor-

neys” and are “meeting regularly to build a compelling case for Kinder Morgan to reroute the pipeline away from the Texas Hill Country.”

The group’s argument is that the unique features of the Wimberley Valley make the environmental impact of the potential pipe line too significant to continue.

“Massive disturbance to our limestone laden valley will alter our hundreds of streams, creeks, and springs in a way we have no way of fully knowing,” the letter said. “Flow impact and increased silt will be some of the clear outcomes. Clear cutting a 125-footwide (ROW) right of way path will cause significant loss of oak trees and will potentially spread oak wilt in its path. Compressor and valving stages will add significant noise and light pollution to the immediate and surrounding properties.”

The letter also said that the primary concern is to get Kinder Morgan to find a “smarter” route for the pipeline as opposed to trying to stop the pipeline.

“From our estimated projection of the pipeline it seems the pipeline will have to bore underneath the Blanco River three times as it makes its way across the Hill Country,” Baker said. “The Blanco River is a major river system for the region so we aren’t sure what the impacts of boring under the river three times will be but given that the Blanco is spring fed there could be some long lasting effects from that kind of activity.”

The Wimberley View previously spoke with Allen Fore, Vice President of Kinder Morgan, in which Fore stated that his company is intent on working with landowners as much as possible. He also said the company was still having environmental professionals review local information when deciding the pathway of the pipeline.

A public meeting is expected to be held on the topic, but a date has not yet been finalized.