County negotiates BP road access
Current Pecos land contract expires in December

Jasper County commissioners voted Tuesday, Aug. 7, to authorize county attorney Brad Miller to negotiate a contract with British Petroleum for temporary access across county school lands in West Texas.

Several major players are developing the mesas in Pecos County, where Jasper still owns most of its original school land grant, for wind generation.

BP has crossed Jasper county property without an access agreement for at least 60 days. The contract to be negotiated is expected to reimburse Jasper for the previous 60 days, and allow an additional 60 days temporary road use by BP.

Jasper County is currently under contract with Pecos Renewable Energy for the purpose of exploring wind generation opportunities. That contract expires Dec. 29, unless the court grants a renewal.

"I don't have a problem with BP going forward to do their core samples for a set amount of time for road accessibility," Precinct 3 Commissioner Willie Stark said.

Exploration at this point consists of taking core samples to determine appropriate locations where large wind generators could be placed.