Update: Here's the map of the proposed alternate route.
The old route down Carter Avenue is the east-west line at the bottom of the map. The proposed new route would cross I-30 to the north of both gas sites, then travel east-west, partly in the freeway right of way and partly on private land. The dotted sections show where the pipeline would be trenched; the solid lines show where it would be bored.
By the way, those purple lines on the north side of the freeway are existing high-pressure pipelines.
Negotiations are still going on to move a proposed natural gas pipeline out of an East Side neighborhood; but three politicians who represent the area said there are still unresolved questions about what happens when pipelines collide with existing neighborhoods.
“The greater, broader issue is how we get pipelines through our communities,” said Lon Burnam, a Democratic state representative, said at a meeting Wednesday to discuss the new plan for the Carter Avenue pipeline.
Chesapeake Energy’s pipeline division has been working for about 18 months to connect two natural gas well sites near Interstate 30 and Beach Street. The company’s original plan would have run beneath the front yards of more than 30 homes on Carter Avenue, and Chesapeake filed condemnation suits against six owners.
After months of negotiations, Chesapeake and the Texas Department of Transportation agreed in principal to allow the line to run in the right-of-way parallel to Interstate 30. A route presented at a meeting last night would travel along the north side of the freeway and cross through a church parking lot in the northwest corner of Beach and I-30.
The route would still require Chesapeake to acquire private property, but far fewer plots than the Carter Avenue route, said Rick Trice, with the city’s gas well inspection department.
“The devil is in the details,” he said.
City Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks and State Sen. Wendy Davis said it might take changes in state law to make the process fairer. Hicks delayed a vote on allowing the pipeline to cross Beach Street while the negotiations continued, but it wasn’t clear if the city could actually halt the construction.
“That’s another reason why we have to work with the state on a number of these issues,” Hicks said.
Davis said the state needs to clarify how much authority natural gas companies have to take private land for gathering lines. Also, a bill that died in the last legislative session would have required companies to provide more detailed plans about drill sites, pipelines and other infrastructure before drilling in cities, Davis said.
Also unresolved is what happens to the right-of-way that Chesapeake paid for. Some of the residents are concerned that it could be sold or used for a different pipeline.
-- Mike Lee
