These same pipes seen in Blanco, Texas on June 13, 2019, are still baking in the sun. Nan Hanus / Blanco Stop the Pipeline
The builder of a controversial pipeline in Texas may be improperly storing pipes meant to be used in construction and potentially causing safety risks, a KXAN investigation found.
KXAN reports Kinder Morgan, which is constructing the 428-mile Permian Highway Pipeline to carry shale gas across Texas, has been storing piping outside since last May, exposing the pipes to sunlight, even though the manufacturer of the anti-corrosive coating used on the pipe recommends they not be kept outside for more than a year to avoid degradation.
The Permian Highway Pipeline has been tied up in court battles for months.
AT 10 @KXAN_News: We investigate whether anti-corrosion coatings on a 428-mile pipeline's segments have sat in the Texas sun too long-compromising the protective coating and putting the public at risk.
Our surveillance of 2 storage sites show coating dates more than a year old. pic.twitter.com/HgZQyieMPz
— Jody Barr (@JodyBarrKXAN) April 27, 2020
“I’ve seen enough problems with failures of pipeline systems to know that [failures due to pipeline coating] do happen,” Nathan Phillips, an environmental science professor at Boston University who examined photos of the pipes, told KXAN.
“…Why they didn’t cover up those pipes in the stockyard to begin with? Is that an onerous type of thing to do just to [err] on the side of safety?”
