Residents Push Back Against Compressor Plan
By Jon Stewart, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
Jun. 18–MIDDLETOWN — About 100 people grilled U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a federal energy official and power company officials over options for supplying more natural gas to Loudoun County, Va.
Bartlett, the 6th District Republican congressman, hosted an informal meeting Monday evening at Middletown Middle School to discuss Dominion Transmission’s plans to increase natural gas capacity in Middletown Valley. Dominion, based in Clarksburg, W.Va., operates a natural gas pipeline from its underground storage site in Tioga, Pa., to Virginia, about 160 miles.
The firm has proposed nine locations for a $55 million compressor station to increase natural gas production to Virginia: three in Myersville, one in Middletown, one in Jefferson, two in Point of Rocks, one at Eastalco and one that features two smaller power stations at Fort Ritchie in Washington County and the Dickerson power plant in Montgomery County. Dominion plans construction of the compressor station for 2012 with the station online by 2014.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has scheduled a tour 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday of Option 5, the proposed Jefferson site. A meeting will follow at the Jefferson Ruritan Center at Lander Road and Md. 340. The energy regulatory commission is an independent agency that regulates interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, electricity and hydropower projects.
Monday’s attendees were angry on a number of issues but focused on two: that natural gas is needed in Loudoun County, Va., not in Middletown; and that the compressor station option is unacceptable. Dominion officials admit that the increased natural gas is for Loudoun County. Dominion needs the extra capacity because the firm must plan for a situation in which every customer along the pipeline calls in their contracts all at once.
“We need a way to push more natural gas through the pipeline,” said Dan Fowler, Dominion’s director of wholesale pipeline business development.
Under normal usage, Dominion can supply customers, he said.
But Bartlett, who represents the area in Congress, doesn’t know if a new compressor station is needed. If a station is needed, Bartlett wants residents to identify and prioritize the least worst sites. Dominion must prove to the regulatory commission that the compressor station, located near the current pipeline, is necessary, said Lisa Wright, Bartlett’s spokeswoman.
Doug Sipe, the commission’s coordinator for natural gas projects, stressed that the process is in the pre-filing stage, which means the commission is taking comments from both the public and Dominion to be included in a final decision.
Sipe urged attendees to go to the commission website to express their opinions. The regulatory commission evaluates future natural gas needs nationwide, he said.
Audience members were critical of the proposal.
“Dominion is taking a very narrow approach and not pursuing other options,” said Ned Hallein, a retired Department of Energy engineer who owns two farms, one part of the South Mountain Battlefield.
“Once the natural gas expansion is in the door, then the excess gas will be inviting to other utilities who will want to come into the valley,” Hallein said.
A compressor station also will have a big negative effect on the value of nearby properties, he said.
James Beall, a retired federal toxicologist, said that there is a need for more gas for communities to the south, but doesn’t believe a pumping station is the only answer.
“A larger diameter pipe, running parallel to the entire length of the current pipe, would supply more natural gas than a compressor station,” Beall said.
Dean Considine, who owns a 150-acre Middletown farm, said Dominion hasn’t proved to him that a compressor station is needed. However, Considine believes that he must accept Dominion’s proposal that more natural gas is needed.
“This issue shouldn’t be decided by novices in this region,” he said, “because the technical aspects of such a decision are too detailed for residents.”
The compressor station has a capacity of 14,000 horsepower, and it would require a 200-foot thick buffer of trees to drown out the noise, Hallein said.
The claim that the station at a Marker Road location would only be one story is misleading because the building would be 40 feet high and an eyesore that could be seen from miles around, he said. There are alternatives to a compressor station, such as a 40-mile pipeline loop or smaller compressor stations or a combination of both, Hallein said.
Fowler said that the Marker Road location is the most economical for Dominion and takes into consideration environmental issues, wetlands, air permit and archeological preservation.
A 40-mile loop of natural gas pipe is an expensive option, he said.
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