In a letter sent to the city attorney for Conroe Wednesday morning, Blackfin Pipeline said that, following discussions with its primary shipper, it has agreed to move the location of a compressor station in the city that was challenged in a lawsuit filed last month.
Montgomery County District Judge Vincenzo Santini in mid-September had granted a temporary injunction to family-run Bartholet Properties, a luxury home furnishings store that’s next door to the compressor station for the natural gas pipeline. The Bartholet’s lawyer, Houston solo practitioner Seth Rubinson, told The Texas Lawbook he views the letter as a “complete victory” for his clients.
“Blackfin’s relocation of the compressor station confirms exactly what we proved in court, that the project never belonged next to their business,” he said. “Persistence and truth prevailed.”
The Bartholet’s argued the compressor station violated a restrictive covenant they entered into with the prior owner of the adjacent tract of land, where the parties agreed to “not use or permit the use of their respective tracts or any portion thereof for any purpose which is a public or private nuisance; which may be offensive by reason of odor, fumes, smoke, vision, pollution or refuse; which produces noxious, toxic, caustic or corrosive quantities; which produces fire, explosive or other damaging or dangerous hazard including the storage, display or sale of explosives, not including fireworks; any smelting, slaughterhouse, tannery, junkyards of any kind, salvage facilities of any kind or purpose, stockyards, massage parlours, adult entertainment or other sexually oriented businesses.”
Counsel for Blackfin, David J. Beck and Geoff Gannaway of Beck Redden, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Cody McGregor, a spokesman for the pipeline. Blackfin filed notice Sept. 29 that it would appeal Judge Santini’s temporary injunction ruling to the Ninth Court of Appeals.
The 193-mile long Blackfin Pipeline is intended to ship gas from Colorado County, just west of Houston along Interstate 10, to Jasper County, just north of Beaumont.
Four natural gas compressor stations are planned to be built along the route, including the one in Conroe. The Conroe facility, according to court records, is expected to operate at about 100 decibels, roughly twice the noise level of traffic zooming down Interstate 45 in front of the Bartholets’ store.
In addition to that constant noise, the operators told the court they expected as many as 144 “blowdowns” a year at the facility, which occur either during routine maintenance or in response to an emergency when pressure is released from the pipeline. The blowdown lasts about 15 minutes and causes a “sonic boom” that is “loud enough to be felt.”
The four-paragraph letter sent Wednesday indicated Blackfin decided to move the location of the compressor station based on its primary shipper’s “consideration of the community’s concerns.”
“While the original proposed siting for the compression station complies with all applicable laws, regulations, ordinances and covenants, Blackfin has agreed to relocate it to an alternative site in light of the unique circumstances,” the letter reads. “We will keep the Council and appropriate stakeholders informed during this process.”
The pipeline company also thanked the city officials “who reviewed and approved construction drawings and issued site preparation permits and easements necessary for construction.”
Rubinson told The Lawbook it’s not clear where the new location of the compressor station will be and that the decision to move the compressor station seemingly does not address the other above-ground facilities on the property that the Bartholets also contend violate the restrictive covenant.
The operation of additional structures, including a “block valve,” Rubinson said, would still result in the loud “blowdowns” that Judge Santini referenced in his ruling issuing the injunction.
Judge Santini wrote that the compressor station “will emit a constant noise as loud as a siren rising to the level of a substantial interference,” making the operation of a business next door “definitely offensive, seriously annoying, or intolerable.”
“In addition to the constant roar from the compressors, the Bartholets would have to contend with the even louder blowdowns that would occur on a regular basis,” he wrote. “Although it may not be the defendants’ desire to build the Conroe compressor station with the specific intent to cause harm, they are building with knowledge of the noise levels that will emanate from normal business operations. The Court finds defendants have breached the restrictive covenants by engaging in an intentional nuisance.”
The Montgomery County case number is 25-07-11774. The Ninth Court of Appeals case number is 09-25-00352-CV.