As pipeline moves forward, public meetings set to educate landowners

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is moving forward with a series of open houses in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia throughout January, though opposition from advocacy groups remains vocal.

The pipeline is in its planning and proposal stage, with the proposed 550-mile route — ending in Robeson County, N.C. — to be submitted by summer 2015.

Frank Mack, a spokesperson for Dominion, said the open houses help affected landowners and interested parties better understand what is going on with the project. They can also see the latest state, county and city maps and have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Dominion experts.

Mack said by law in North Carolina, the company does not have to ask landowners for permission to survey, but Dominion has been trying to go above and beyond to communicate with landowners in advance.

He said the response has been favorable, with 75 percent of landowners giving permission to survey and an even higher 85 to 88 percent in favor of giving permission to survey in North Carolina.

Around a half dozen landowners in North Carolina steadfastly said no, he said, and Dominion decided to take them to court.

Dave Rogers, field director of Environment North Carolina, said their organization will continue to oppose the pipeline.

“Our biggest reservation is that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline builds infrastructure that keeps our addiction to natural gas and tends to tilt the scale for the next ten or 20 years to continue using fossil fuels,” he said.

Rogers said he’d like to see the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which makes decisions for the pipeline construction, offer more opportunities for public commentary.

Cary Rodgers, community organizer at Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said that he went to two of the open houses and that there were booths related to various aspects of the pipeline such as agriculture or environment.

He said one major reason the Defense League does not support the pipeline is because it supports hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking.

Rodgers said landowners are negatively affected because property values decrease and compensation for rights is a one-time payment, so landowners do not get benefits thereafter.

"The idea that jobs are being created is misleading, as it is short-term and after building the pipeline, few people will be needed to maintain it," he said.

Rodgers also stressed that they are not hiring people locally and need skilled workers such as welders, so it won’t bring jobs to North Carolina communities.

“They should be straight with it and not tell flowery words,” Rodgers said.

But Mack said he sees a huge need for natural energy in North Carolina, and Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas have a huge demand to meet current and growing natural gas.

Property owners are going to benefit from the pipeline, Mack said, because they will be less reliant on coal, and the pipeline will lead to cleaner air, more jobs and more energy reliability.

He said it takes time to build renewable energy, and wind and sun are not always reliable.

“From the amount of growth we are having, we need it right now.”

state@dailytarheel.com