Groups to hold meeting on Bessie Heights crude oil pipeline project

Citizens and property owners interested in a proposed crude oil pipeline across Bessie Heights Marsh and under Sabine Lake will be able to discuss the project during a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21. The meeting is sponsored by environmental groups and will be at the Bridge City Senior Citizens Center, 670 West Roundbunch Road.

The Record Newspapers reported this month the project by Blue Marlin Pipeline will go from Nederland under the Neches River and then through Bessie Heights Marsh in Bridge City. After crossing the marsh, the 42-inch pipeline will be buried and cross under Sabine Lake to Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana. There a port terminal will allow the crude oil from Sunoco in Nederland to be loaded onto supertankers.

The Record reported previous hearings by government agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, were held virtually with little citizen participation.

The Thursday meeting is being sponsored by the Port Arthur Action Network and Save Sabine Lake.org. The groups, along with the local Sierra Club, are objecting to the pipeline because the corporate company, Energy Transfer Partners, has a record of pipeline leaks.

The proposed pipeline, once completed, will carry an estimated 80,000 barrels of crude oil per hour, or two million barrels a day.