HOUSTON – Homeowners in the Southwest Crossing neighborhood say they aren’t giving up their fight against a CenterPoint Energy propane storage tank facility that now sits on a site just behind their properties, even though the containers have now been filled.
“I can throw a rock from my backyard and hit these tanks,” said Raye Thompson.
The neighborhood near West Orem and Hillcroft is a tight-knit community that never thought they’d have 300,000 gallons of flammable fuel in their backyard.
“If this thing explodes, it could take our whole neighborhood out,” said Kenneth Burgess.
CenterPoint Energy notified a portion of the neighborhood closest to the site in Spring 2021, but residents say everyone should have been told, and they weren’t given enough time to voice their opposition.
Houston City Councilwoman Martha Castex-Tatum says she learned about the project from one of her constituents.
“Unfortunately, TCEQ does not require companies to send the information to the city of Houston so my office was made aware of the facility from a resident who received a letter from CenterPoint. I sent a letter to TCEQ requesting an extension to provide residents time to respond and it was denied,” she said in a statement to KPRC 2 News.
Residents have held protests and sought support from city and state officials, but it hasn’t been enough to stop the project. The propane tanks were filled over Thanksgiving.
“So you choose to put a very dangerous facility in Black and brown communities,” said Marilyn Rayon.
Castex-Tatum says the city was powerless to stop that action, but says she asked the city to withhold a permit for a building on the site until after a safety meeting could be held with residents. That meeting is now scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Houston Police Southwest substation located at 13097 Nitida Street.