By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Residents feeling blindsided by the Will-Power pipeline plan came to a Plain Township meeting Monday evening with questions. They left with few answers … at least few that they liked.
Four representatives of the Williams Company, which is installing the natural gas Apollo South Pipeline to the Meta data center in Middleton Township, attended the township meeting to quell concerns. The Plain Township Trustees scheduled the special meeting for residents whose homes will soon have a 20-inch high pressure pipeline bordering their properties.
Many of the 15 residents of Liberty and Plain townships who attended expressed frustration over the late notice about the pipeline route and a hotline for landowner concerns that went unanswered for two months.
The Plain Township Trustees shared their own concerns about the rushed nature of the project, with pipeline officials pushing for agreements to be signed involving the roads to be used for hauling heavy construction loads, and specific details about boring under roads and ditches.
The Apollo South pipeline project hooks up with the Rover pipeline in southern Wood County, just north of Cygnet Road. It will travel through Henry Township, Liberty Township, Plain Township and Middleton Township on its way to fuel the power plant being built on Mercer Road, just to the east of the Meta data center. The sole user of power from the plant will be Meta.
The pipeline officials at Monday’s meeting acknowledged that they are under a tight timeline to get the route details approved so construction can begin in September.
Williams representatives Joe Snodgrass, Mike Hopkins and Tara Meek were apologetic about the company’s citizen hotline not functioning after letters were sent out to residents suggesting they call that number with questions or concerns. The technical glitch went unnoticed by the company for two months.
But their apologies fell flat for Justin Instone, whose home on Mermill Road sits right next to the pipeline route.
“You put us off two months, and now it’s too late to change things,” Instone said.
Liberty Township neighbor Jen Longenberger, who lives on Wingston Road, shared the frustration of not being kept informed by Williams Company. The pipeline company had time to negotiate with owners of farmland, but failed to communicate with homeowners who will be living next to the pipelines, she said.
“They’re getting compensated, and we’re not,” Longenberger said.
Other landowners in Plain Township voiced frustration that they didn’t receive notification of their homes bordering the pipeline until last week. The initial map sent to Jeff and Barbara Miner was so miniscule, it was impossible to see which properties were being dissected.
The Miners, who live on West Poe Road, asked why the lines run on the edges of farmland, when they could be installed further onto farmland so they aren’t so close to homes.
Snodgrass, the project manager, said farmers prefer it that way. But the Miners said they had spoken with their neighboring farmer, who said the line could be moved further into his fields.
“He said he wants to be a good neighbor,” Barbara Miner said.
But Snodgrass said the environmental and cultural studies had already been completed on the proposed route. Jeff Miner asked if it could be rerouted so it’s not so close to their home – given that the farmer doesn’t mind.
“There’s a legality, and there’s a right and wrong,” Jeff Miner said. “As a company, wouldn’t you want to do better than that?”
Though Snodgrass didn’t say it couldn’t be done, he gave no hope that any changes would be made. “We’re already so far into the process,” he said.
Questions were raised about the risks of living so close to a high pressure natural gas pipeline. Barbara Miner was disappointed that the only guidance she had received from Williams Company was a safety brochure with little information.
“What do we do other than not going up to it with lit matches,” she asked, referencing a safety tip from the brochure.
“Pipelines leak. That’s the bottom line,” she said. “We will be the recipients of the failures.”
Barbara Miner asked for the rate of pipeline failures for Williams Company, which has been in business since 1908. None of the company representatives had that information, but said they would get it to her.
Miner also inquired about the effect of pipelines on the property values of neighboring residences. Snodgrass said he had no idea of an impact to neighbors.
“Some people see it as a negative and some people don’t,” he said.
Hopkins said he has never been told that a pipeline would lower neighboring property values. He said the pipelines actually increase property values for neighbors, since they add to the value of the farmland next door.
It’s just like a utility, Snodgrass said.
Except, “it’s just going to a private business,” just to serve the data center, not the public, Jeff Miner responded.
Instone asked how much the pipeline company was paying farmers whose land would be used. The Williams representatives refused to say.
“It would have been nice to get a heads up” about the route, one woman said. “You’ve already been negotiating with all these farmers.”
Both Snodgrass and Hopkins said neighboring residents will not be affected by the pipeline.
Hopkins, who works with the landowners for Williams Company, said the intention of the pipeline company is not to rush people.
“We’re not trying to strong arm anybody,” he said. “But we need to deliver in a certain period of time.”
But the time crunch for the pipeline company is not a valid reason for the township to rush through its approval process, said Plain Township Trustee Jim Rossow.
“Now you sound like a car salesman, and you’re trying to pressure us,” he said.
Plain Township Trustee Barney Bechstein voiced similar concerns.
“These people are the people we will deal with for the rest of our terms,” Bechstein said of the township residents. “You’re going back to Pittsburgh,” but the township will be stuck with pipeline concerns that arise after the gas is flowing, he said.
Allan Berenbrok, a roadway and permitting engineer for Williams Company, said he has met with township officials about possible impacts to roads, ditches and culverts, with each entity required to approve “haul maps.”
But Plain Township officials said they are not ready to sign off on the plan, and Dan Zeigler, of the Bowling Green Public Works Department, said the city had not been contacted even though the plan calls for some city roads to be used for hauling equipment and pipeline materials.
Berenbrok said the company has provided training for most of the volunteer fire departments along the pipeline route, some with the assistance of Homeland Security. But Barney Bechstein, who also serves as chief of the Central Joint Fire Division, said no such training has been offered to his department.
When a resident asked if training could be provided for people who live next to the lines, Meek said such training isn’t typical, but they can offer something.
Rossow explained his reservations with approving the pipeline road bore permit since it includes errors like requiring just three feet of cover when it should be six feet.
“That’s a perfect example of why all of us are freaked out,” Barbara Miner said.
Rossow warned the pipeline representatives that Plain Township has no intention of approving some of the “haul roads” identified by Williams Company. He also questioned a portion of the agreement that states Williams Company can walk away and leave the township stuck with repairs. Berenbrok suggested the township talk with the county prosecutor’s office about that detail.
Berenbrok was asked if the hauling trucks will comply with road load limits. He said they “should be,” adding that the haulers are responsible.
