HOUSTON – Residents of the Southwest Crossing neighborhood near Chimney Rock Road and West Orem Drive woke up to the smell of gas permeating their neighborhood and a strange sound two days before Christmas.
“The gas smell was sickening, nauseating,” recalled resident Marilyn Rayon.
She and her husband said neighbors were running up and down the street knocking on doors to alert others.
" ‘You hear that noise? Do you smell that gas?’“ Leon Rayon recalled.
The Rayons and other longtime homeowners were already concerned about a newly filled CenterPoint storage facility just behind the neighborhood containing 300,000 gallons of propane. But the smell was coming from another nearby CenterPoint natural gas facility at West Orem and Dublin Street.
“It’s too much going on in one neighborhood, a neighborhood of color. Why don’t you take it to West U? But that’s not going to happen because they wouldn’t have that there,” said Carolyn Haley.
In statements to KPRC 2 News CenterPoint Energy wrote: “To be clear, this was not a natural gas leak. The natural gas released on Dec. 23 at the natural gas station is part of the facility’s normal operating procedures. These valves are designed to safely release pressure when needed and this standard procedure does not pose any danger to public safety. These are normal operating procedures for our city gates across the Houston area and the relief valve safely released natural gas as it was designed to do. The natural gas station in this area is physically connected to the same local natural gas distribution system the propane-air peak shaving facility is connected to, but they operate independently of each other.”
CenterPoint did not answer questions about what led to the need for the pressure release on Dec. 23 or why residents were not notified.
“How can it not be a danger? They’re releasing gas for over two hours, and they say it wasn’t a danger. See how they’re trying to play this down?” said Kenneth Burgess
Residents met with CenterPoint earlier this month to discuss a safety plan around the propane storage facility but said the information they received pertained only to the safety of the equipment, not the people in the neighborhood.
“We know CenterPoint doesn’t have a plan for us yet, our safety was not taken into consideration,” said Brittney Stredic.