Last night I posted the first half of a letter I sent to Sen. John Yudichak, replying to his letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that praised the proposed PennEast/UGI pipeline. Tonight I am posting the remainder of my letter. As I noted yesterday, this is a very long post, but I think it is important. To refresh your memory, I was explaining the downsides of the pipeline.
• Environmental destruction
The environmental problems created by the pipeline are significant. Again, speaking only for Carbon County, the line will cause forest fragmentation, steam silting, and erosion. It will cross wetlands. It will cross sensitive areas where both endangered plants and animals make their homes. In other areas where pipelines were built, they become corridors for invasive species.
• The compressor station
A compressor station is slated for construction in Kidder Township. The station will be noisy and emit toxic gases, including methane, benzine, and formaldehyde. The company isn’t even following recommended best practices, which include building electrical compressor stations that would significantly reduce emissions.
• The human cost
The pipeline will cross approximately 125 properties in Carbon County. Some of these properties are one acre lots with sand mounds and wells, that will be rendered uninhabitable. Some are properties in which parents hoped to have their children and grandchildren inherit.
Where the pipeline crosses fields, the heat from the line will melt the snow above it. Soils will be disturbed, which means lower crop yields.
Note that the pipeline company does not compensate for reduced property values, nor does it pay taxes on the pipeline as it does in New Jersey.
• Eminent domain for private profit
I have personal experience with eminent domain takings. The 460 acre Christman farm was reduced to 29 acres by the Army Corps’ Beltzville project. That farm is now part of Beltzville State Park, enjoyed by thousands of visitors every year. The benefit is for the public.
The eminent domain rights granted to interstate pipeline companies are for private profit to an already wealthy company. I know that Donald Trump defends eminent domain for private profit, and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld it, but that does not justify it on moral grounds.
• Employment
The employment benefits of the pipeline are overrated. I am aware that almost all construction jobs are short-lived, but most construction projects result in some long-term employment or public benefit. This pipeline will not do that. In addition, if the fracking fields are any guide, many if not most of the jobs will go to out of state workers.
Finally, Carbon County depends heavily on tourism. This pipeline will hurt the tourism industry in the County for years.
• Gas price reductions
Ironically, one reason natural gas prices are fairly low in PA is because the gas isn’t shipped overseas. Has the company guaranteed that prices will drop once this pipeline is built? If not, why not?
• The arrogance of PennEast/UGI
When the land agent for the company came to our house to negotiate an easement, he told us we might as well sign since we would not get a better offer. He did not tell us that the contract gave the company the right to install a second pipeline next to the first line with no additional compensation. The contract gave the company the right to come on our land with no warning.
Throughout this entire process, the company “open houses,” the FERC hearing, and the company’s dealing with the public has been high-handed and arrogant. The attitude seems to be, since they expect to use eminent domain rights, they don’t have to be concerned about the public or the environment.
• Long term effects
When the pipeline is completed, it will leave a 100-foot treeless right-of-way. In addition, pipelines do leak. Although the pipeline companies downplay this, they do occasionally explode. If the U.S., under pressure for global climate change, does move to renewable energy, will the pipe be removed?
Finally, I have read Governor Wolf’s draft Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force report. That report contained over 100 recommendations relating to pipeline construction, some opposed by the gas companies, but all of them reasonable and thoughtful. At this stage they are simply recommendations. I look forward to the time when the Pennsylvania legislature begins to rein an arrogant industry interested in one thing only, and that is to make money.
Sincerely,
Roy Christman, Ph.D.
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