Federal regulators will study the possible environmental impacts of a proposed $3 billion natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is in charge of interstate pipelines, plans to hold four public meetings in August in Pennsylvania counties the pipeline would go through.
The pipeline, called the Atlantic Sunrise Project, would be an expansion of the Transco Pipeline, operated by Oklahoma-based Williams Partners, and would connect Marcellus Shale gas to the East Coast and parts of the South.
Williams wants to snake about 178 miles of new pipeline through 10 counties in Central Pennsylvania: Northumberland, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Clinton, Lycoming, Columbia, Lancaster, Lebanon and Luzerne.
Residents and environmental groups have expressed concerns about the project over the past few months after a series of accidents at Williams-owned facilities. Those include a March 31 explosion at a liquified natural gas storage facility in Washington state, which injured five workers, and an April 23 explosion at a natural gas processing plant in Wyoming that led to evacuations but no injuries.
Last year, PublicSource wrote about another proposed Williams pipeline, the Bluegrass Pipeline, that would have carried natural gas liquids from Pennsylvania through Kentucky and down to the Gulf. There was an outcry from some Kentucky landowners about the safety and possible environmental impacts of that project. The project was suspended indefinitely in late April.
According to Citizens Voice, a PublicSource news partner, FERC will accept comments (they can be submitted online at www.ferc.gov) until Aug. 18 to advise its staff on what issues it should examine about the Atlantic Sunrise Project.
From Citizens Voice:
Under the National Environmental Policy Act, FERC must weigh the project’s environmental effects before approving it. The agency is drafting an environmental impact statement, which involves a more stringent review process than a simple environmental assessment.
According to StateImpact Pennsylvania, also a PublicSource partner, the dates and times of the meetings are:
All of the meetings will be from 7 to 10 p.m. (Williams representatives will available at an open house from 6-7 p.m., prior to the FERC meeting) :
Monday, August 4: Lancaster County
Millersville University
Student Memorial Center
21 South George Street
Millersville, Pennsylvania
Tuesday, August 5: Lebanon County
Lebanon Valley College
Lutz Hall
101 North College Avenue
Annville, Pennsylvania
Wednesday, August 6: Columbia County
Bloomsburg University
Haas Center for the Arts
400 East Second Street
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Thursday, August 7: Luzerne County
Lake Lehmon High School
1128 Old Route 115
Dallas, Pennsylvania
Reach Natasha Khan at 412-315-0261 or nkhan@publicsource.org.
