Danger Underfoot

Don Deaver, a retired pipeline engineer and opponent of the Longhorn pipeline says in Houston, more than anywhere else, there should be acute public interest in pipeline safety.

Photo courtesy Pipeline Action.
There are more pipelines buried under Houston than any other city in the country. Nearly one fifth of the nation’s oil refining takes place within 100 miles of downtown Houston. A similar percentage of U.S. chemical manufacturing takes place in Harris, Brazoria and Galveston Counties. Though most lines are located in eastern Harris County, no area in the county is pipefree.

Crude oil pipelines run just feet below Post Oak near the Galleria and through the middle of neighborhoods like Westbury in densely populated southwest Houston.

Natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico travels through Houston on its way to northern states. Liquefied hazardous gases are piped from one chemical plant to another. At least 10 natural gas lines cross beneath U.S. 290 and through neighborhoods in northwest Harris County.

Most of the opposition to the Longhorn pipeline has come from Austin where official estimates put about 9,000 people living within 1,250 feet of the pipeline. Nearly five times as many people live that close to the pipeline in Houston, yet residents here have not taken part in the Longhorn battle.

Deaver said he was the only Houstonian in attendance at a 2000 public hearing on the pipeline, the only one held in Houston. He said public hearings in Austin and other areas inspired much higher attendance.

To become involved or to find out the latest news visit www.pipeline action.org.

-EM