OK, I'm possibly rehashing old territory here. I know pipeline right of way issues have been discussed MANY times here, and maybe my search capabilities are lacking, being an old. But a slightly different issue - my son has been approached by Enterprise Gas about putting in two gates on his property near Inez. There is an existing pipeline across one corner of his land and they want to put a gate on each of his fences so that they can access the pipeline for service in the future. Currently there are barbed wire fences on each side where the pipeline enters and exits his property, and they propose gates at each point, where they will put their locks for access. They also want to widen the right of way by bringing in mulching equipment to trim back the brush around the existing pipeline area. Question is, should there be compensation for this? This pipeline has probably been in place for 30 years or so, long before he owned it. Any advice?

what does the easement say?

If the overgrowth has encroached into the ROW, then they can trim it back to the ROW limits.

As for the gates, it is typical to have gates at the point where the PL intersects the fence.

I've got a pipeline that transects my property. There's a gate on the pipeline in both places where it crosses my property, with their lock and mine. The vegetation has encroached, and I know they'll be in someday to clear it back to the ROW.

Yes. They can write you another check. It won't be huge, but they will pay another 15k per gate just to grease the skids.

They always show up with a check book.

My biggest suggestion, go take the circumference and type of every tree near their proposed road that you care about. Sometimes they cut trees down that aren't in the ROW. They can be careless when someone isn't constantly watching them. Our place is north of Victoria and we actually took one company to court over some trees and won. Trees are a big deal.

We have a pipeline through our place and we have gates on both sides. A couple years ago we ran up the chain at Kinder Morgan as the gates were all busted up and had them do some replacements.

I believe this to be the correct answer.

I don't understand why someone is always looking for a handout when a utility company exercises its rights as defined by a legally binding document.

If the company goes beyond those rights, that's a different matter.

As mentioned, what can, and cannot, be done, would be in the original easement agreement.

This won't help your son, but for any future landowners facing the situation, the link is a great information source, to do the best you can, private pipelines, and in an eminent domain situation.
Pipeline easement negotiations-- Tx Agrilife

I don't know whether your son's fences are in good condition or whether they are used to contains animals.

But, you will probably want to put it in writing exactly how the fence/gate contractor is to brace and re-tension the wire where it plans to cut the fence.

Most companies do a good job with this on their own, and have good quality specs for how they want this constructed by the the fence crews.

But, there's a big difference between an 'H' brace with a 4' horizontal and an 'H' brace with an 8' horizontal and a kicker. With the former, they may get that wire tight at first, but when those braces start moving it all goes to hell. Also, depth below ground is important.

Normally, companies don't need to have their hands held on this type of thing, but just last year a pipeline company had to do work on my place that required a small amount of restoration work and the pipe boss called me and plainly said he was having trouble finding contractors to do those small jobs and asked if I could take care of it for him and send him the bill.

We took care of it, but I never sent him a bill. It took us about a half a day. It was a slow day. No big deal.

The point is -- if ABC Fence Co. is not available for the pipeline company and they scrape the bottom of the barrel and use XYZ Fence Co. who is not so good with specs and cuts corners (not always visible either), you don't want to have to deal with it down the road.

We have one on our property and it runs under the steepest and hilliest part where they have to bring in specialty equipment just to cut the grass. It cuts in the back corner so it works out well for us.

Last year they asked about adding another pipeline. We asked for maps of where it would go and it would go through one of the houses on the property and cut through the main road. They scrapped the plans for that one real quick, just be sure to get as much information up front and have a lawyer read over everything before you sign

You should always avoid an adversarial relationship. Demanding things up front automatically puts the pipeline company on the defensive. They know they have every right provided them in the contract. Stating that you understand what they need to do and asking what flexibility they have for the project will put you in a better light and they may be more willing to work with you.

Don't think just about immediate needs. If the relationship is good, a few years down the line IF something comes up, they will be more willing to work with you. We had a river crossing blow out due to severe flooding. It was one they use for access to pipeline. Even though they had recently cleared the ROW and had no need to come back out for a couple of years, when we called and told them about it, they made it a priority to come fix the crossing.

Instead of bringing up anything about monetary compensation, why not ask if they would do some mulching/clearing of other area(s) in exchange since they are going to be out there anyway Of course, this assumes your son needs other areas cleared.

I had EPIC pipeline come through in 2021, installed by Wyatt.

A pipeline gate will cause you grief. Make them pay in advance.

Gate they put in on my brand new property line fence are the cheapest POS they could buy.
H braces were rusty, painted white, and already are rusting through the paint.
I had to wire the gate shut because the chain is a weak piece of junk.
SOBs left my Highway gate open unattended- with cows nearby !

My advice. They pay $10K to install one 16 foot gate.
Specify a 2" galvanized Ranger Brand gate and welded H braces that are galvanized and concreted in.

Create access terms to use the gate.
For non emergency access they have to provide 72 hour written notice.
Gate to be locked using 1/4 galvanized chain at all times except during actual movement of vehicles.
Gate will have a dedicated attendant if open.
Any violations of access notice will be considered trespass and reported to LEO. Violators will be permanently banned from access.
Maintenance of ROW to use mechanical mowing & trimming only. No herbicides.

When I was a pipeline contractor, we would get the landowner requirements when we went to do replacements or other maintenance work.

I've seen written instructions like the last poster had regarding brand name gate etc. I've also seen drawings and specs for an install.

In my opinion, take a cash option and then get with the welders that are on the job. They can build something that you want and cheaper.

I don't know if I'm supposed to tell landowners this when I'm dealing with them, but I do.

Make sure that you the landowner have final say on which contractor that you want to do the gate. (You can do this during negotiations)

Then get to work finding one. Some are better than others obviously so ask around, Ask other ranchers that have
solid steel corner posts and steel posts every 5-6 T-post. That was a good fence contractor.

The one that used galvanized steel for a high fence, is not.

(The old man had a fence contracting business in addition to guiding, which is how he got so much land to hunt on, he would make deals with the landowners, is how I know the fence side of this)

Some.......I say again......Some, landowners get a new gate & braces on a pipeline and its the best portion of the fence that they own. ....but that's none of my business.