FAR WEST TEXAS — Energy Transfer LP, the company that built the Trans-Pecos Pipeline, is planning an extension of its network of natural gas pipelines. The proposed new pipeline would sprawl west and north of El Paso and end near Phoenix, Arizona.
The news spurred Far West Texas activists to be ready for another fight after efforts to stop the Trans-Pecos pipeline failed. That pipeline, which began operations in 2017, runs from north Pecos County to Presidio and crosses the border into Ojinaga and was controversial in the Big Bend area. “After that pipeline, I said, ‘Wow.’ I wasn’t thinking there would be more,’” said Bill Addington, an environmental and community activist in Sierra Blanca, Texas.
Addington said the opposite is happening with more and more proposals to build pipelines to supply energy to foreign markets. “There’s a feeding frenzy going on,” he said.
For environmentalists and residents along pipeline paths, the infrastructure poses a variety of concerns over gas leaks, explosions, harmful emissions, destruction of archaeological sites, disturbance of wildlife habitat, and impacts to marginalized communities from possible harmful emissions. Industry proponents counter that America’s 2.6 million miles of gas and petroleum pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective way to transport fuel.
Energy Transfer manages 140,000 miles of pipeline. Its August 6 release outlines some specifics of what it calls “The Desert Southwest Pipeline.” The project “consists of 516 miles of 42-inch pipeline and nine compressor stations in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The design capacity of the pipeline is 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). The project is expected to be in-service by the fourth quarter of 2029 and … is expected to cost approximately $5.3 billion.” Energy Transfer did not return a request for comment on the project.
For comparison, the 143-mile Trans-Pecos Pipeline can carry 1.4 Bcf/d, although in its history it has carried considerably less, hitting a low of .2 Bcf/d in 2020, according to 2021 statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency said it did not have newer statistics.
As of Tuesday, Energy Transfer had not filed anything with The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) — an independent agency that regulates energy pipelines — with more details on the project.
In limbo of sorts is the Saguaro Pipeline — owned by Mexico Pacific and to be managed by ONEOK, an Oklahoma energy company. That pipeline would route gas from the Permian Basin west near Interstate 10 to within a mile of Van Horn before crossing the border in Hudspeth County and heading all the way to a Pacific port for export as liquified natural gas (LNG) to Asia and South America.
Many Van Horn residents have opposed the pipeline over safety and pollution concerns. The Sierra Club and Public Citizen filed a lawsuit against the FERC arguing the agency improperly allowed permitting of the project. On August 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected an appeal from the plaintiffs trying to stop the pipeline. A Big Bend Conservation Alliance lawsuit against FERC for the Trans-Pecos Pipeline with similar arguments met the same fate in 2018.
Efforts to stop pipeline construction are even more spirited in Mexico, where numerous lawsuits and community opposition have stifled plans to build the facility needed to convert natural gas to LNG for export. “This pipeline is in trouble,” Addington said. “The opposition in Mexico is 20 times that of what we have in Texas. It’s massive.” Part of the cross-border concern is about security –– opponents worry that the project could be manipulated by the Sinaloa Cartel.
Addington said he and fellow activists are currently forming a new organization — the Texas Rural Project — to work on stopping, or at least mitigating the negative impacts, of energy projects.