A tip led us to a storage yard holding hundreds of pipeline segments in Blanco. The segments will become the Permian Highway Pipeline. The group fighting the pipeline is concerned the anti-corrosion coating on the pipes has been outside, uncovered for far too long. Kinder Morgan — the pipeline owner — tells KXAN its handling of the pipeline construction will “meet or exceed state and federal requirements.” Our investigation found there are no regulations to determine how long is too long before UV radiation begins to degrade the pipe coating.
Read Part Two: UV degradation inspections set for Permian Highway Pipeline stock yards
If you stand along Lindeman Lane anywhere near the 90-degree bend in the road and wait, you’ll quickly get a visit from the Blanco Police Department. They’re protecting one of Kinder Morgan’s five pipeline stockyards across the state.
Sometime in mid-2019, a lake of turquoise-colored pipe began taking over that empty field off Ranch Road 32 near Blanco. Within a few months, the lake became a raging ocean of hundreds of pieces of pipe.
Read the full article from Jody Barr with KXAN here.