Williams Won’t Answer Beauregard. Why?

Beauregard Residents Demand Answers — Williams Won’t Even Pick Up the Phone

By Co2 Chronicles

In Louisiana, we have a saying, “To have better neighbors, ya gotta be a better neighbor.” Apparently, Williams has not heard it yet.

Over the last several months, Beauregard Parish residents — especially those living along Gaytine Road have repeatedly sought a clear answer. They’ve offered to meet in small groups, with as few as four to six people, so they would not feel intimidated or threatened. They’ve asked local officials to schedule community briefings. They’ve sent emails and left voicemails. That outreach has been met with silence.

At the same time, Williams has quietly been moving a massive new piece of infrastructure through southwest Louisiana: the Louisiana Energy Gateway (LEG), a 1.8 Bcf/d natural-gas gathering system the company has been advancing through the Haynesville and into Beauregard Parish. Williams publicly describes LEG as critical pipeline infrastructure to serve Gulf Coast LNG demand, and it has been cleared through court battles and began commercial service this year. East Daley Analytics+1

But the public reality on the ground is different: residents say the only publicly visible filing they can find tied to Williams’ presence in the area is an electrical or utility permit — nothing that explains the full scope of what Williams is building, how it will operate, or how it may intersect with planned carbon capture or other projects. Neighbors report unanswered calls and ignored emails. Local representative Brett Geymann — who has pushed legislation to protect private property rights from single-use CO₂ pipelines — says he has exhausted his options trying to get Williams to meet with constituents. “I am out of answers for my constituents,” Rep. Geymann told constituents while working to schedule community meetings; he has been vocal about the need for transparency and local input. Louisiana Illuminator+1

This is not a minor communications lapse. It is a pattern with consequences.

Why silence matters

Louisiana is now the epicenter of a national carbon-capture buildout. Large CO₂ storage hubs and pipelines are being planned across dozens of parishes; dozens of Class VI injection well applications are moving through state files. These projects carry serious questions about property rights, water safety, emergency response, and long-term land use — questions that demand public participation before companies erect permanent infrastructure. When companies hide behind sparse notices, out-of-region newspaper ads, or technical filings buried in state databases, the public cannot meaningfully weigh risks or hold decision-makers accountable.

Williams’ responsibility — and failure

Williams is not a small start-up. It is a major midstream company that has pursued LEG aggressively, litigated crossings, and pushed the pipeline forward despite legal wrangling with competitors. That scale means Williams can and should do basic due diligence with the communities it affects: host local town halls, respond to elected officials, publish clear project maps, and make a public point of explaining how any future CCS tie-ins will affect land, water, and public safety. Instead, residents say Williams has refused meeting requests, ignored multiple outreach attempts, and left parish officials scrambling for basic facts. The result is fear, confusion, and the very real perception that industry — backed by state-level permissions and political cover — is being allowed to run roughshod over local rights. Williams Companies+1

What we’re demanding

CO2 Chronicles will continue to press for answers. Specifically:

• Williams must immediately publish — in plain language and with maps — the full scope of its LEG route and any associated facilities in Beauregard Parish (compressor stations, power hookups, staging yards, and any planned CO₂ capture tie-ins).
 • Williams must meet, in person, with affected residents in small, local groups, not in Baton Rouge or via a single large press conference. Elected officials must be included and given advance notice.
 • The Office of Conservation / DENR must require clearer, local notification for any project that could impact private property or community safety — not just notices in distant newspapers.
 • If Williams refuses, local officials and citizens should use every regulatory tool available — petitions, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to DENR, public records demands to Williams, and coordinated public forums — to compel transparency.

The CO₂ Chronicles will pull the curtain back

We intend to go deeper. Our upcoming CO₂ Chronicles exposé will document the public record, share residents’ firsthand accounts, and publish the correspondence and meeting requests that Williams ignored. We will show where Williams’ LEG route crosses parish lines, which officials were notified (and which were not), and whether the company complied with both the letter and the spirit of Louisiana’s public-notice rules. This is about more than a single pipeline — it’s about whether big energy companies will be allowed to keep building while the public remains in the dark. We ask, what bills can be put in place in the 2026 legislative session that will demand companies like Williams to be transparent with their project.

Williams: Answer the phone. Come to the table. Tell the people of Gaytine Road and Beauregard Parish what you’re building and why. If you won’t, we will. Louisiana deserves better neighbors — and better answers.

— Co2 Chronicles