Williams Partners to present plans for its controversial natural gas pipeline through Lebanon County June 10

June 4:

A spokesman for Williams Partners, the company that wants to build a natural gas pipeline through Lebanon County, said the pipeline will help distribute the riches of the Marcellus Shale, lower the cost of the gas, and help the United States become energy independent.

Some residents, however, have an opposing view. They fear environmental degradation, leaks, explosions, sinkholes, sinking property values and eminent domain. They have formed a group called Lebanon Pipeline Awareness, and have teamed up with a similar group in Lancaster County.

Residents can hear about the plans directly from Williams Partners engineers, permitting experts, project managers, land managers and environmental experts from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, at the Annville-Cleona High School.

Williams Partners spokesman Chris Stockton said the purpose of the open house is to hear residents' concerns as well as provide information.

"We're in the data gathering stage," he said.

Company representatives want to hear about environmentally sensitive areas, wetlands, buildings that might be in the way and other concerns in order to modify the planned route, he said.

"We want feedback to develop a route that minimizes the impact on people and the environment," he said.

About half the planned route through Lebanon County is along other utility easements, such as those for power lines or other gas lines, he said.

Surveyors have been contacting about 200 landowners along a proposed 600 foot wide corridor that runs through South Londonderry Township, South Annville Township, North Annville Township, East Hanover Township and Union Township. It will connect to Lancaster County on the south and Schuylkill County on the north.

The 27 mile section proposed through Lebanon County is part of the Atlantic Sunrise Project, a $3 billion expansion of the company's Transco Pipeline. The Transco Pipeline transports 10 percent of the country's natural gas.

The expansion will not only extend the reach of the natural gas distribution, it will allow it to flow south, from the Marcellus Shale, instead of north from the Gulf of Mexico.

"Pennsylvania has overtaken the Gulf of Mexico as the major gas supplier for the world," Stockton said. "Now they can't get some of that production to market. There's a lot of production but they can't get it out of the state."

While much of the shale gas is destined for export and other parts of the country, facilities in Pennsylvania will be allowed to tap into it, Stockton said. Some of the pipeline opponents are angry that the state will not benefit much from the line.

Getting a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is a three year project, Stockton said. The company is now in its "pre-filing" stage and will be developing a proposal over the next year in order to file an application. There will be environmental and biological surveys and meetings in communities as the company refines its route, Stockton said.

The energy agency will also gather information from other federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Stockton said the company tries to adhere to local zoning laws, but does not have to.

Some of the pipeline's opponents believe that is no longer true, following the December decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declaring parts of Act 13 unconstitutional. Before that decision, the act allowed oil and gas operations in any zone, despite a community's wishes.

Stockton said the company usually is able to negotiate easements with landowners at a fair price that is over the assessed value. Historically, about five percent go through eminent domain to be decided by a judge, he said. For the entire Atlantic Sunrise project, the company will be negotiating for more than 1,000 tracts.

He said the company is trying to allay safety concerns by surpassing legal requirements, for instance by using a thicker walled pipe, X-raying every weld and pressure testing the pipes.

That does not allay the fears of some of the opponents, who say an explosion from a 1,500 psi, 42 inch pipe would be devastating. That is the largest and highest pressure pipelines the industry uses, according to the American Gas Association.

"We've heard a lot of the concerns, mostly environmental," Stockton said.

Some of the people who came to the Lebanon Pipeline Awareness meetings also had general concerns about Marcellus Shale and the fracking process which produces the gas.

Ann Pinca, one of the leaders of the group, has property in Sullivan County and has said she knows people who no longer have water and who are losing their homes. She said the pipeline will be "an enabler" for more drilling.

Stockton said Williams Partners' pipeline is purely a distribution method, like a railroad, and has nothing to do with producing natural gas. He said be believes gas extraction can be done safely, and "a lot of operators are showing they can do that."

Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/06/williams_partners_to_present_p.html?