Friend, Permian Highway Pipeline Action Alert

Kinder Morgan Pipeline Action Alert

Today, we invite you to join us in opposition

to Kinder Morgan and its Permian Highway Pipeline

and to support the Texas Hill Country Legal Defense Fund.

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Below is the full story and all the reasons why, but in a nutshell…

They messed with the aquifer and our drinking water.

In 2017, when Kinder Morgan announced its Permian Highway Pipeline would be routed through the Texas Hill Country, citizens rose up in protest. Lawsuits were filed to protect property rights, habitat and endangered species.

That did not stop the big trucks, the stringing of pipe, nor clear cutting a half-mile wide swath to make room for hydrocarbons and money to flow from west to east. In every ruling and decision, state agencies and district courts sided with the oil and gas industry. Would nothing stop the pipeline?

Then, one day in late March 2020, Kinder Morgan and its PHP constructors attempted to bore beneath the Blanco River. Their drill bit hit a large void below the surface — a common feature in the karst subterranean landscape of the Hill Country — and more than 36 thousand gallons of drilling fluid was discharged into the Trinity Aquifer and into drinking water.

Pipelines and karst do not mix.

The PHP route passes through the Edwards and Trinity Aquifer recharge zones. Both are karst aquifers with rapid groundwater movement and direct connections with surface waters. To safeguard water resources in these karst systems, construction activity requires careful research, coordination, planning, and oversight — all lacking from the current Kinder Morgan project.

There is no room for error with our drinking water.

In less than 24 hours after the initial fluid discharge, two separate homeowners, a mile from the bore site, ended up with drinking water that looked like chocolate milk pouring from the kitchen faucet. Three days later Kinder Morgan finally halted construction activities and reported the incident to the Texas Railroad Commission.

Kinder Morgan broke the law & the public trust.

This pipeline construction fiasco was a horrific catalyst that brought Wimberley Valley Watershed Association (WVWA) and Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) together for the ultimate legal battle. This is exactly why we are both here – to respond to such threats to our groundwater and drinking water – and to guard the health and beauty of our iconic watershed.

Stop the work. Fix the problem. Pay for the damages. Move it!

On April 8, 2020, TESPA issued notices of intent to sue Kinder Morgan and the PHP project for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Clean Water Act.

This legal action was taken on behalf of the affected homeowners whose sole source of drinking water was contaminated – and on behalf of every citizen member of TESPA and WVWA.

Your support is essential to fund critical legal actions undertaken by some of the best environmental and trial attorneys in Texas who are working hard to protect our aquifers, springs, creeks, rivers – and the sole source of drinking water for thousands of people.

Thanks to a match from a generous donor who believes Kinder Morgan and its Permian Highway Pipeline do not belong in the sensitive karst landscape of the Texas Hill Country, your donation to the Texas Hill Country Legal Defense Fund will be matched dollar for dollar!

Please give as generously as you can – and as often as you are able. Find out more at www.SaveTheHillCountry.org.

Sincerely,

David Baker

WVWA

Patrick Cox, Ph.D.

TESPA

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wimberleywatershed.org

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