Worried About Safety, Texas Town Challenges Planned Cross-Border Pipeline

"Critics are calling on federal regulators to increase their scrutiny and oversight of the proposed pipeline, which would send gas from Texas to the Mexican coast for export to other countries."

"VAN HORN, Texas—When word spread this summer among residents of this small West Texas town that a 48-inch diameter natural gas pipeline—larger than others in the region—was coming their way, they saw it as a threat to their town’s tranquility and sense of security.

Van Horn resident Yolanda Carmona learned that the proposed Saguaro Connector Pipeline would run underground near a property she recently bought at the edge of town. The third-generation cattle rancher has deep family roots in Van Horn, a town that straddles Interstate 10 and sits midway between El Paso and Midland-Odessa.

Even though Carmona works for the city as an events and tourism director, she said she first heard of the pipeline this summer when the Property Rights and Pipeline Center, a national nonprofit, held an informational meeting in town.

“I really had no idea what was coming, not a single clue,” she said."

Martha Pskowski, Inside Climate News, and Alejandra Martinez, the Texas Tribune, report December 20, 2023.

Source: Inside Climate News, 12/21/2023