JIM WELLS COUNTY, Texas — State Rep. J.M. Lozano is putting Kinder Morgan and one of its contractors on notice after touring a South Texas property where the landowner says continuing ground subsidence along a natural gas pipeline right-of-way has created dangerous conditions for workers, livestock and farm equipment.
Lozano, who represents District 43, joined landowners and others for a field tour of the Knolle property, where the group inspected sinkholes, depressions and areas where participants said the ground was hollow beneath their feet. During the tour, participants used physical probes and referenced earlier ground-penetrating radar surveys that they said showed low-density soil and underground voids in some areas. At one location, a probe was pushed roughly five to six feet into what participants described as hollow or soft ground.
"Kinder Morgan needs to rectify this problem very quick, um, preferably before next session starts, um, and PUMPCO needs to revise. Their operations, and next session I'm gonna be requesting a list from those two companies of every employee that worked on this property in my district. I'm gonna make sure that if they have any certification with the state of Texas that they're up for review. I'm gonna make sure that those companies themselves are up for review in the state of Texas," Lozano said.
Lozano also said he wants Kinder Morgan leadership to see the conditions firsthand.
"I understand that the, uh, vice president of Kinder Morgan is interested now in what's going on. I don't want him interested. I want him on a plane flying down here to look at this firsthand and to snap a finger and get it solved," Lozano said.
Lozano warned that the issue could become a legislative matter if it remains unresolved.
"And it's gonna be a rude awakening for them if this problem is not solved by the time next session begins," Lozano said.
Lozano said his office has already been in contact with the companies but believes the problem has gone unresolved for too long.
"My office has been writing them letters, has been contacting them, and they still haven't solved this problem, so we're gonna solve it for them if they don't," Lozano said.
Lozano characterized himself as strongly supportive of the oil and gas industry but said that support does not mean companies should escape accountability when landowners are harmed.
"I'm the most pro-oil and gas representative in the Texas House of Representatives. I've served on the Energy Resources Committee, which oversees the Railroad Commission. I've served as chairman of the Environmental Regulation Committee, which oversees TCEQ, and we've done great things in Texas, but we're not going to do great things for companies that are doing bad things to Texans," Lozano said.
Landowner describes safety and agricultural impact
The landowner says the problems extend beyond visible holes in the ground.
During the tour, the landowner described an incident in which a worker operating a self-propelled windrower while harvesting sorghum silage hit a hidden depression. According to the account given during the tour, the machine dropped into the unstable ground and the operator later required emergency room treatment for a neck injury.
A second piece of harvesting equipment traveling along the same path also encountered unstable ground, damaging its header, the landowner said.
The farm has also restricted access to several hundred acres of grazing land because of concerns about livestock encountering the collapsed areas. The landowner said cattle have fallen into some of the holes and been injured.
Several of the problem areas shown during the tour were close to farm roads, gates and fence lines. The landowner also alleges shifting soils and sand have affected water infrastructure on the property, including well pumps, plumbing fixtures and valves.
Questions over how the pipeline trench was filled
At the center of the dispute is how the pipeline trench was backfilled.
The landowner claims soils that should have been separated and replaced in layers were instead mixed together during construction. He pointed to drone thermal imaging that he says documented crews mixing wet soils while backfilling the trench, and maintains that practice contributed to the voids now developing underground.
The property has undergone multiple rounds of backfilling and spot repairs over the past several years, according to the landowner, but he says the subsidence has continued.
During the field tour, participants demonstrated how easily probes could penetrate the ground at some locations.
"It feels hollow to about 6 ft down, so eventually," one participant said while examining an area along the right-of-way.
At another location, participants could feel the ground move beneath their feet.
"I can feel every step I take my goodness," one person said during the inspection.
The group also pointed to smut grass growing along portions of the disturbed right-of-way, saying the invasive grass has spread rapidly and could create additional fire concerns as vegetation dries during the winter.
Regulatory questions remain
The landowners also expressed frustration with the regulatory response.
According to participants on the tour, Texas Railroad Commission pipeline safety inspectors previously spent several hours reviewing roughly three miles of the property but characterized the subsidence dispute as a civil matter.
The landowners are now seeking additional avenues for review and enforcement while continuing to document the property through photographs, video, ground-penetrating radar and physical inspections.
Lozano said he also intends to examine condemnation and special commissioner hearing records to compare representations made during the pipeline process with what ultimately occurred on the property.
For the landowner, the immediate concern remains the safety of the farmland as more depressions appear. For Lozano, the message to the companies is direct: fix the property before lawmakers return to Austin, or expect greater scrutiny from the state.
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KRIS 6 reached out to Kinder Morgan on Friday, but at the time this article was published, we had not heard from company representatives.
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