Proposed natural gas pipeline in Madison County draws opposition

When a developer proposed a $2.1 billion, 190-mile-long high-voltage power line through Oneida,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Madison and Chenango counties six years ago, residents banded together to fight the line in a protracted battle that ended with project not being built.

Now, a new utility project is in the works for the area: a multi-million dollar, 75-mile natural gas pipeline that would begin in Morrisville in Madison County and end in Broome County. It would connect Madison County and other areas along the way with the Millenium Pipeline, a major line that transports natural gas from the Southern Tier to Rockland County and ties into other national distribution lines.

The proposed 16- to 24-inch diameter steel pipeline would run underground along the same route as an existing plastic pipeline. It would allow more natural gas to be moved from local wells.

The project is already drawing opposition those fighting the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas in Central New York, with concerned residents passing petitions in neighboring Madison County townships calling for moratoriums on natural gas development.

Construction of the pipeline is dependent on the state’s approval of the controversial drilling technique known as “hydrofracking,” which injects millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals into wells to crack the subterranean shale rock formations and free the gas.

State officials have been studying the process since 2008. A health review is currently underway, but no date has been set for a decision on whether to allow hydrofracking.

Lebanon Supervisor Jim Goldstein said the pipeline developer – Emkey Gathering of Erie, Pa. - is preparing for the eventual approval of hydraulic fracturing and told residents that they would be exploring not only the Marcellus Shale,We specialize in howo concrete mixer, but the Utica Shale rock formations, which are more plentiful in Madison County. Survey crews are currently taking measurements along the proposed route; Emkey officials say they may submit an application to the state Public Service Commission as early as the first quarter of 2013.

A presentation by Emkey representatives in early November brought a standing room only crowd of residents, who peppered the developer with questions for well over two hours, Goldstein said.

“There will be a lot of impact here without getting much benefit locally,” Goldstein said.

The town is home to more than 60 producing gas wells and has had its share of positive and negative experiences with the natural gas industry over the past 15 years. Developers began approaching landowners in southern townships in the late 1990s, armed with lease offers and promises of royalty payments for access to the gas beneath their properties.

Today, gas companies lease more than 2,000 parcels encompassing 85,000 acres of the rural landscape, said Madison County Planning Director Scott Ingmire. The wells are largely in the county’s most southern towns, he said.

Lebanon resident Lyle Warren was one of the first residents to sign a lease with a natural gas developer. Ten years ago, work crews installed the first well on his 195-acre property on Lebanon Hill Road, building a mile-long access road through his mostly wooded lot to bring their heavy equipment to the drill site.

Five years ago, Warren approved the construction of a second well on his property. Both conventional wells go down about 1,200 to 1,500 feet; hydraulically fractured wells go thousands of feet deeper.

The proposed pipeline would cut through his property; about two miles of the existing pipeline already crisscross his rural hills.

“You wouldn’t even know that it was here,” said Warren, who at one point worked for the developer keeping track of local wells.

Warren said he sees the wells as another way to harvest the area’s natural resources. He grew up on an adjacent dairy farm that had been in his family since the early 1900s. Each year, he harvests sap to make maple syrup, candies and pies that he sells at local farmers’ markets, and works with local contractors to log ash, cherry and maple trees.This document provides a guide to using the ventilation system in your house to provide adequate fresh air to residents.

Warren hasn’t had many disagreements with the natural gas developers, who have changed hands over the past decade. At one point, one company got behind on sending landowners their royalty payments. Warren said he threatened to shut down his well; he said they sent him a check within a week.

Last year, Norse Energy backed off on a plan to terminate a provision in its contracts allowing the landowners to use the natural gas from company wells to heat their homes and barns. (Norse sold its holdings to Emkey; Norse declared bankruptcy this month.)

Warren said each time a well was drilled, developers offered to restore trees that had been cut down and make other landscaping improvements.

Last month, Warren called to report a problem with the line that supplies natural gas to heat and power to his home. Help was onsite within 24 hours, he said.

His royalty payments have been smaller since the price of natural gas has dropped. But he remained optimistic about the future of the resource, and said he would welcome any additional development on his property, even if that meant deeper wells.

Warren said that he gets frustrated when out-of-town activists protest the development of natural gas.

But opponents of the development of natural gas in the area say it can cause problems. Two explosions near the Madison and Chenango county line in 2009 raised questions about how prepared local first responders are for fires and other emergencies. In 2007, testing by a natural gas company disrupted water wells in North Brookfield, leaving homeowners without drinking water for weeks.

Goldstein said he considers himself neutral on the issue, but has been an outspoken voice in the debate on the impact to local roads and bridges as well as health and safety concerns.

The town of Eaton, where the pipeline would begin and 9,000 acres of land are already leased to gas companies, recently passed a one-year moratorium on drilling and hydrofracking in order to address its zoning regulations.Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. Town leaders appointed a committee to review the local code last month; the moratorium would not stop the pipeline, but could delay drilling of more wells in the area.

The opposition is reminiscent of the area’s fight against New York Regional Interconnect, the developer that wanted to build the high-voltage power line to transport electricity from Utica to Orange County to supply Downstate consumers.

But some local residents say the comparison isn’t appropriate. The NYRI project necessitated the use of eminent domain to take land for the powerline; rights of way for the natural gas pipeline have already been acquired by the developer.

The powerline also provided no benefits to local residents, said Hamilton Town Board member Peter Darby. The pipeline, on the other hand, would enable the transportation and use of natural gas derived from local wells to users locally.

A pipeline also could support a municipal gas utility that was approved in April by voters in the village of Hamilton. Village officials plan to design, build and operate a system to distribute natural gas to business and residential customers.

Hamilton Supervisor Eve Ann Shwartz said the community learned a lot of lessons from the fight against the power line that are coming into play with the development of natural gas.High quality stone mosaic tiles.

“We agreed that we want to protect our community, and that’s where we start,” said Shwartz, who spearheaded much of the local NYRI opposition. “We saw the value of people working together, across party and ideological lines.”