OPINION:
As one of the “good people down at Bartholet Home Furnishings” mentioned in Michael McKenna’s recent op-ed, “Conroe’s natural gas pipeline lawsuit delivers national consequences” (Web, Sept. 21), I’d like to respond to some of the contentions made in the piece.
Anyone who did even a speck of research would know that the issue facing my family and the residents of Conroe, Texas, is not a NIMBY problem, as Mr. McKenna suggests. Instead, it’s a deeper, more troubling issue of disregard for Texas property law.
To understand the self-inflicted plight of the Blackfin Pipeline and the battle of my family and a determined group of Conroe resident are waging, a little background is required on the land directly south of the Blackfin pipeline in Conroe.
Bartholet Home Furnishings is a small family business that has served Conroe for 60 years. In 2011, we decided to build a new store. My father, Todd Bartholet, understanding the importance of protecting our family’s investment and livelihood, created a land use restrictive covenant with the property owner. This ensured that we would be insulated from developments that could cause us harm or nuisance.
For the past 13 years, we sat in the center of this large, undeveloped parcel of land with no neighbors. That changed two years ago when American Furniture Warehouse built directly to the south of us off Interstate 45. The land to the north of us had also looked prepped for construction, and we wondered what would complete the stretch of I-45 commercial real estate we had nicknamed “Furniture Row.”
We were aware that Blackfin was laying a 48-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline along an easement north of the undeveloped land next to our business, but when excavators and cranes began construction directly next to our building, we started asking questions. When we asked a worker what was being built, we were told: a Blackfin Conroe compressor station.
At that moment, we realized that we were in for a fight. No pipeline company builds a natural gas compressor station without months of planning, due diligence and engineering. Under this assumption, we knew Blackfin was proceeding with its plans to build a compressor station despite the land use covenant tied to the property. On July 23, we filed a lawsuit in Texas’ 457th District Court to enforce our rights.
When we say “next to our business,” we mean just 150 feet from the north wall of our store. My preschool-age children also play in an apartment and play area behind our showroom, about 10 feet from where Blackfin proposed to install an electrical transformer pad.
In his op-ed, Mr. McKenna compares the potential compressor station’s noise to that of I-45 traffic, but this is not a fair comparison. Noise from compressor station “blowdowns” can rise to more than 90 to 100 decibels, equivalent to power tools or a helicopter. When Blackfin conducted hydrostatic tests further into construction of its block valve, it failed to notify us. The noise was so deafening that we had to cover our ears and call 911.
The safety of our family, staff and our customers is our top concern. We respect the need for energy transfer and infrastructure, and we understand its economic benefits. Mr. McKenna’s implication that we don’t is false. We recognize that infrastructure is important, but safety is paramount. If a catastrophic failure occurred at this site, the compressor station’s proximity could jeopardize not only my family and neighbors but also a vital piece of Texas infrastructure: Interstate 45.
For perspective, other Blackfin compressors are located on rural parcels of 20 to 30 acres with buffer zones and water reservoirs. This Conroe site is 6.9 acres without either safety feature.
We are not alone in voicing our concerns against the location of this site, as Mr. McKenna implies. There are more than 1,500 petition signatures from concerned neighbors, a great number of whom are retired oil and gas executives and engineers. We also have support from state and local government officials, including Rep. Morgan Luttrell, Texas state Sens. Brandon Creighton and Lois Kolkhorst, Texas state Reps. Cecil Bell Jr., Will Metcalf and Steve Toth, all four Montgomery County, Texas, commissioners, County Judge Mark Keough and the Conroe City Council. Letters have been sent to the regulatory agencies on our behalf.
We recently won our temporary injunction against Blackfin, with our final hearing for a permanent injunction scheduled for May 26. This is a victory not just for our family but also for all Texas landowners and the laws that protect them. We challenged a company that sought to build a natural gas compressor station in a location that violated land use covenants, endangered property values and exposed families and businesses to unnecessary risks.
Our lawsuit has been mischaracterized as a battle against energy infrastructure. In truth, it is a family enforcing common sense.
• Emily Bartholet is an interior designer at Bartholet Home Furnishings in Conroe, Texas. When she is not designing homes, she enjoys life as a mom and golfing.
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