AXis @ USACE

On 7 July 2020 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Public Notice announcing that Axis Midstream Holdings LLC had applied for a permit (SWG-2018-00789) "to construct a series of facilities and pipelines to store, transport, and load crude oil into marine transport vessels. " The scope is huge:  "The proposed project is located in several towns, waterways, and counties including Taft, Gregory, Ingleside, and Aransas Pass, in San Patricio County, Texas; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW); Redfish Bay; the Corpus Christi Ship Channel (CCSC); and terminates on Harbor Island in Port Aransas, Nueces County Texas. "

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:  The applicant (Axis Midstream Holdings, LLC) proposes to construct a series of facilities and pipelines to store, transport, and load crude oil into  marine transport vessels.  The proposed project components are composed of:   

      a. The Midway Tank Farm (Midway Facility) located south of the City of Taft, Texas. 

      b. The Aransas Pass Staging Facility (Aransas Facility) located west of the 

           City of Aransas Pass. 

      c. A pipeline bundle that would connect the Aransas and Midway Facilities.  

          This pipeline bundle would consist of 

            i. one (1) 2-inch fiber optic;

            ii. one (1) 6-inch gas supply (last mile); and

            iii. two (2) 36-inch crude oil pipelines.

      d. Harbor Island Loading Terminal (Harbor Island Terminal) located on the 

           west side of the CCSC on Harbor Island in Port Aransas, Texas.

      e. A pipeline bundle that would connect the Aransas and Harbor Island Facilities. This pipeline bundle would consist of:

     i. one (1) 2-inch fiber optic;

     ii. one (1) 6-inch gas supply;

     iii. one (1) 16-inch intermix return; and 

     iv. two (2) 42-inch crude oil pipelines.  

The installation of the proposed Midway to Aransas pipeline bundle would result in 13.94 acres of temporary trench and fill impacts in waters of the US, including wetlands.  

The construction of the proposed Aransas Facility would total 16.8 acres of permanent fill impacts to waters of the US, specifically estuarine wetlands manly comprised of Distichlis spicata (saltgrass), and fringed with Borrichia frutescens (sea oxeye daisy). 

The installation of the proposed Aransas to Harbor Island pipeline bundle would result in 18.58 acres of temporary trench and fill impacts to waters of the US; specifically, 7.81 acres to submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) mainly comprised of Halodule wrightii (shoal grass), 0.002 acres to small stands of Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass), 10.65 acres are to unvegetated tidal sand flats, 0.41 acres are to black mangrove (Avicennia geminans), and 0.11 acres to estuarine wetlands mainly consisting of salt grass and sea oxeye daisy.

This project and PCCA/Lone Star's Harbor Island Marine Terminal would result in massive commercialization of Harbor Island, resulting in massive damage to the ecology and economy of Port Aransas so that PCCA and the Berry Brothers can get rich. Don't let it happen!