A federal energy agency is reviewing a proposed transnational pipeline that would cross the Big Bend, one of the few regions of Texas without oil and gas activity.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is evaluating the 143-mile pipeline, even though only the 1,000-foot border crossing is under federal jurisdiction. The rest is regulated by the Texas Railroad Commission, which has already issued a permit to a Dallas-based company with a contract with Mexico's federal electricity commission to operate the pipeline.
Activists heralded the agency's involvement as an early success in their campaign to keep out of the region the pipeline that would export gas into Mexico.
In a statement, Big Bend Conservation Alliance member Coyne Gibson said Friday the federal oversight shows the pipeline "is not a done deal."
