Friday, September 27, 2024
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently welcomed Coryell County residents to a public “scoping session” to gather information from the public about the proposed pipeline. The meeting took place at the Windmill Hill Venue.
It was announced that the primary goal of these scoping sessions is to have the public identify specific environmental issues and concerns that should be considered in the environmental document. Individual oral comments were taken on a one-on-one basis with a court reporter. This format was designed to receive the maximum amount of oral comments in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted.
James Martin, a representative of the Federal Regulatory Commission, said “What we’re doing is asking the public their input on the project – we’re evaluating the project, and we want the public to comment about the process. The stage we’re in right now is to help educate us and also educate DeLa. We’re hoping to get some comments and feedback from the people attending.”
DeLa Express plans to construct and operate an approximately 645.5-mile-long, 42-inch-diameter natural gas transportation mainline pipeline originating in Winkler County, Texas to a termination point in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The project would also consist of six lateral pipelines (totaling 139 miles). The DeLa Express Project would provide about 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas transportation from the Permian Basin in West Texas to Gulf Coast markets between Jefferson County, Texas and Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Central Texas counties that will be affected by the pipeline include Coryell, Hamilton, McLennan, and Bell. The Commission will use this environmental document in a decision-making process to determine whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity.
Public comments to the Commission in Washington, DC were accepted until Sept. 23, 2024. Comments should have focused on the potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts. Commission staff will consider all written or oral comments during the preparation of the environmental document.
An informal meeting was hosted by DeLa Express in June of this year so that residents of Coryell County could learn more about the proposed pipeline and how it might impact area properties. Some residents expressed some opposition to the proposed pipeline: They stated that it would destroy portions of their property, hurt land values and, sometimes, impede access to and from their homes.
A representative of DeLa Express said that they would file their application for the pipeline in February of 2025 and probably get the permit in the first or second quarter of 2026. The representative said that construction of the pipeline would begin about 2026 and is projected to be in operation in 2028.
The Federal Regulatory representative James Martin continued, “After the application is made (by DeLa), we go through a process of analyzing comments from people. Once we feel that we have enough information, we will proceed from there.”
Additional information about the project is available from the Federal Regulatory Commission’s Office of External Affairs at 866-208-FERC or their website www.ferc.gov
