Altar Valley ranchers believe gas pipeline will destroy a way of life

Sasabe residents in the Altar Valley are nervously watching as construction crews bulldoze land just across the Mexican border. They believe, or more accurately fear, the corridor the size of a football field being carved into the Mexican desert is evidence that approval of a proposed 59-mile Kinder-Morgan pipeline through their area is little more than a formality. With a decision from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the actual route of the pipeline not expected until next year, Altar Valley residents are left to wonder how the 36-inch natural-gas-pipeline extension expected to cut through a path through their ranches and sensitive wildlife corridors will affect their lives. Sarah King can trace her husband’s ranching roots in the Altar Valley back to 1895. Fences crisscross the 55,000 acres her herd of roughly 300 cows graze on. Her worries focus on smugglers who might use the north-south path of the pipeline to bring drugs into the county. History, she says, has taught her that criminals use the path of least resistance, cutting a fence even if there is a gate 20 feet away. A cut fence might not seem like a big deal, she said, but it impacts her bottom line every time a cow escapes. Kinder Morgan, she said, has told her that it won’t be responsible if an increase in smuggling leads to problems on her ranch. King said it is impossible to know how much the pipeline will threaten her family’s century-old ranch...more