Bluegrass Pipeline officials answer ‘good questions’ By Linda Ireland Tuesday, August 13, 2013 at 4:39 pm Singing nuns, an Amish couple, several of LaRue and surrounding counties’ largest landowners and an assortment of protestors made for an interesting open house Thursday with officials for the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline. Tom Fey, a representative of the Williams company, spoke with Kenton Slayton about the company’s plans to build a pipeline through LaRue County . Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners plan to construct a pipeline to carry natural gas liquids across several Kentucky counties, including LaRue. The line will start in Pennsylvania and end at the Louisiana Gulf coast. NGLs are naturally-occurring compounds found in natural gas. Among their uses are the manufacture of plastics, synthetic rubber for tires and fuel for lighters and grills. A spokesman for Partners said the company selected this area for the pipeline because they wanted to avoid Louisville and they aren’t allowed to cross Fort Knox . The pipeline will hook up with an existing line in Hardinsburg that once carried natural gas. The Partners set up five different stations Thursday at the Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown. The booths dealt with environment, safety and operations, engineering and construction, and land acquisition. Several people were heard to complain about the format used during the meeting. They expected a forum where they could ask questions and hear what others were asking. About 265 people signed in, according to a company official. Anyone who did not sign a sheet that asked for name and address was barred from entering. Several people who showed up to protest the project refused to sign in, and instead held signs of opposition outside the community center and passed out material in the lobby. The Sisters of Loretto entered the room, formed a circle in the middle of the information tables and began singing hymns. They were asked to stop singing by a company representative. Reporters were directed to speak to the Pipeline Partners’ media relations director, Tom Droege. According to Droege, “the majority of people in the open house had good questions” mainly dealing with the environment, safety and eminent domain. The Pipeline Partners say the safest method to transport NGLs is through a pipeline under pressure. Opponents point out that leaks do occur, polluting both water and soil. Droege said a “lot of misinformation” had been presented by a few people. There are thousands of miles of underground pipelines and people don’t think about them because there are seldom any problems with them. One example used by opponents is a recent leak in Parachute, Colo. , by a Williams facility. The chemical benzene contaminated a creek and tons of soil. Benzene is toxic – exposure to it can cause a variety of health issues ranging from dizziness and headaches to cancer or death. Droege said the leak occurred from a failed pressure gauge on a 4-inch pipe – while the one proposed for Kentucky is 24-inches in diameter and will be buried 3-feet-deep. “We’re taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. Kentucky ’s karst geography is another concern of pipeline opponents who fear the chemicals could make their way into drinking water through porous limestone rock, sinkholes, caves and underground rivers. Droege said the company “does have some experience building pipelines in this kind of geology” and the pipeline does “flex.” “It’s built to withstand earthquakes,” he added. He also said the karst geography is taken into account when the surveys are conducted. In a follow-up letter to The LaRue County Herald News, Droege said less than 1 percent of the Bluegrass Pipeline route will cross terrain that is close to areas with “geologically sensitive features, such as surface karst terrain.” “The pipeline route will be selected to avoid any active sinkholes or any other karst features or locations where it would not be prudent to build the pipeline. Our own surveys and extensive geological studies, along with an independent study from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will help ensure all public health, safety and the environmental concerns are met.” Droege said farmers could “crop over the pipeline” and if they needed to dig deeper than 3-feet-deep, they would need to make arrangements with the company in advance of the pipeline’s installation. The company continues to work on obtaining property easements from individuals. In other areas, they have worked with individuals, small business owners and churches without resorting to eminent domain – the power to take property for public use. The company has taken private property through eminent domain in the past, said Droege, but it is used as an “absolute last resort.” Tom FitzGerald, an environmental lawyer and director of the Kentucky Resources Council , who is advising the pipeline opponents, attended the open house. FitzGerald spoke at a recent meeting, hosted by pipeline opponents, in Hodgenville. FitzGerald said the company would probably have a hard time obtaining eminent domain rights, because the power of the state to seize private property is supposed to only be for projects that contribute to the common good. But he noted that the company has recently changed its public comments regarding the project and trying to tie the pipeline to low energy prices in Kentucky . FitzGerald said Kentucky has had low energy prices because much of it comes from burning coal. In addition, Kentucky’s eminent domain laws are not equipped to deal with such a matter as natural gas liquids. “There’s a real need to clarify,” he said. FitzGerald said the company is motivated by profit, rather than the public good of Kentuckians. He said besides a minimal amount of property taxes and some short-term construction jobs, there is little economic upside for the state and its residents. Forrest Berkshire contributed to this article. ~rt
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 13:51:28 +0000
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