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Haystack Ranch residents urge board to oppose nearby Kinder Morgan compressor station, citing health and safety concerns
Summary
Multiple residents from Haystack Ranches told the board they oppose a proposed Kinder Morgan/El Paso compressor station sited adjacent to their community, raising concerns about air quality (VOCs, benzene), fire risk, noise, and inadequate procedural review by FERC and state agencies. Residents requested the board put the matter on a future agenda and act as advocates.
Dozens of residents from the Haystack Ranches area used the public‑comment period Nov. 5 to press the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors to take up the proposed Kinder Morgan/El Paso natural‑gas compressor station sited near their neighborhood.
Multiple speakers described repeated outreach to federal and state regulators and to the company, but said they felt their objections were not addressed fully. Speakers raised three interlocking concerns:
• Air quality and health: Commenters cited studies and examples of indoor VOC (volatile organic compound) concentrations near compressor stations (including benzene and other compounds) and expressed worry about chronic exposure for residents living within a mile of the installation.
• Fire and safety risk: Speakers said they lack local fire protection and that the presence of a compressor station raises risks that their volunteer fire services might be unprepared to fight; they questioned emergency response planning.
• Process and siting choices: Residents said FERC’s review relied on Kinder Morgan submissions, with limited independent field work or site visits; they asked the county to request that the station be sited at an alternative location farther from homes — they cited an alternate northern site the company had previously mentioned.
Michael Colasano and several other Haystack residents asked the board to place the matter on a future agenda so residents can present research and ask county leaders to advocate for relocation. Several speakers said state land approval changed after lobbying and that financial offers to state entities had influenced the outcome.
What happens next: Multiple residents urged the board to add the compressor station matter to a future agenda and to investigate independent air‑quality and safety analyses. Board staff did not take a formal action on the project at the meeting; residents requested follow‑up and offered to provide evidence and witnesses for a later discussion.
