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Nov 24, 2009 6:46 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Neighbors Gas Line Fight May Be Over
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
"It kind of feels a little bit like the Alamo here," said North Texas homeowner Steve Doeung.
A tiny neighborhood's stand against a giant gas company may be ending tonight with a victory.
The homeowners didn't want a natural gas pipeline to run under their homes. It's a battle they've been fighting for the past two years.
But homeowners along Carter Avenue, near Interstate-30 in East Fort Worth, are cautiously claiming victory.
"This is where my daughter and her friends play, you know?" Doeung said of his property. "And we sleep right just within a few steps from here," he said pointing.
Homeowner Arthur Garza says he regrets not making one crucial decision. "Unfortunately, when I bought this house I didn't get the mineral rights. So, I had no say-so and that's always like a thorn in my shoe."
If the pipeline wasn't put along Carter Avenue, the only other option was for Chesapeake Energy to run the line along Interstate-30 in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) right of way. That option would have forced Chesapeake to spend more money to add roads to access the pipeline.
Finally, this week TxDOT accepted the Chesapeake plan to take the more expensive I-30 route.
In a statement the company says its pipeline division and TxDOT officials will meet next week to discuss the design and operational requirements that would need to be incorporated in order to construct the pipeline.
Doeung has spent months in court, tying up an imminent domain ruling on his property.
During the process, council members and even state lawmakers have weighed in on the side of Carter Avenue homeowners. "And it really feels like an early Christmas present, for not only for the folks that I represent but I think people that are concerned about this issue all over," said Fort Worth Council Member Kathleen Hicks.
"I've been determined to hold on long enough where rescuers, or supporters, could come and help us," said Doeung. "Boy! This would be the greatest Thanksgiving for us, if it's true."
While homeowner Michael Hatcher agrees the fight has been long, he's pleased with the local unified front. "I hope from this they take that your community can band together and come together and not in a mean way. We don't hate Chesapeake. We just know that we want the safety for our kids," he said.
Carter Avenue residents are hoping their battle spurs other neighborhoods to act or even encourage legislation to require gas companies to use state right-of-way whenever they can.
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