We’ve had calls from landowners in Wharton, Fort Bend and Austin Counties about the Matterhorn Express Pipeline Project. In this video, Landowner Condemnation Rights Attorney Philip Hundl talks the latest information from the Texas Railroad Commission and from Whitewater Midstream LLC about the route of the pipeline and the current status of the project. Call or text 800-266-4870 for an appointment or click the button below for a no-obligation case evaluation.
Summary of the Matterhorn Express Pipeline Project Update
Hi, I’m Philip Hundl. I want to talk to you briefly today about the Matterhorn Express Pipeline Project. I’m an attorney, and I focus on representing landowners facing condemnation of their land. These condemnation projects could be for a power line, pipeline, highway expansion, or something else.
The Matterhorn Express pipeline is a very new project in its early stages. If you are a landowner, right-of-way agents may have contacted you asking for temporary access to conduct surveys on your property. These right-of-way agents come from different companies. The company we’ve dealt with in connection with this project is Norfleet.
If someone from Norfleet has contacted you, you may not understand what they’re asking from you. Norfleet is a right-of-way acquisition company.
WhiteWater Midstream, LLC is the name of the company behind this project. I’ve made a public records request to the Railroad Commission to find out more about this pipeline because there’s not a lot of information out there.
Proposed Route of the Matterhorn Express Pipeline
The Railroad Commission provided us with very few documents. WhiteWater is saying the Matterhorn Express Pipeline will be 410 miles long. The counties affected are Austin, Burnet, Concho, Fort Bend, Glasscock, Irion, Lampasas, Lee, McCulloch, Midland, Reagan, San Saba, Tom Green, Waller, Washington, Wharton, and Williamson. So, we were talking about Fort Bend County on the east side, and then on the west side, we’re talking about Midland County. It passes north of Austin.
It’s a 42-inch line in some sections. There are smaller parts of it, but the maximum diameter right now is 42-inches. Like so many pipelines from the Permian Basin, the Matterhorn Express Pipeline will run towards the east to tie into other pipelines going to the coast where the refineries are.
The Railroad Commission recently rejected their application and said it was incomplete. So right-of-way agents are out there for WhiteWater trying to get temporary access agreements to survey while it appears that the Railroad Commission hasn’t approved the T4 application. So, we’re going to monitor this, and then we’ll provide updates as we find out more.
Be Wary of Above Ground Appurtenances in the Proposed Easement Agreement
If right-of-way agents have contacted you, you should be asking about any above-ground appurtenances in the easement agreement. An above-ground appurtenance might be a valve site like the one in the image behind me. You may have the understanding everything will be underground, but if you don’t pay close attention to the easement language, you may have something on your property like the valve site. A valve site isn’t something anybody wants on their property.
So if Norfleet contacts you, ask questions and make sure that you understand what they’re asking for and understand it. To better understand your rights as a landowner, please get in touch with an attorney who handles eminent domain and condemnation matters for landowners. This person should be a lawyer who represents landowners to protect their rights.
So with that, hopefully, this helps you better understand a little bit more about this new Matterhorn Express pipeline. I plan to give updates every couple of weeks about this project as more develops. With that, good luck.
Call 800-266-4870 or text 979-320-9320 for an appointment. We can also arrange for online and telephone appointments all over Texas.