Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 10333 |
| Work Detail | Fears that dozens of Waterville-Whitehouse area residents expressed at a March 16 public hearing have come true: The state of Ohio has given Houston-based Spectra Energy authorization to build a highly controversial compressor station to move natural gas along its upcoming NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline. The permit was one of five the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced for the NEXUS project moments before the agency closed its doors for business late Friday afternoon. The Waterville station is to be built along Moosman Drive south of Neapolis-Waterville Road, about halfway between the two communities. Residents from each expressed outrage at the public hearing, claiming it will change the character of their communities with potentially noxious fumes and an explosion risk. Officials behind the NEXUS project have said their fears are unwarranted. It is one of two NEXUS compressor stations approved for northwest Ohio: The Ohio EPA also issued a permit for one to be built in the Sandusky County city of Clyde, east of Pickle Street and south of I-90. In addition, the agency issued permits for two Columbiana County locations, in Hanoverton, Ohio, and Salineville, Ohio, and in one Medina County location, in Wadsworth/?Guilford Township. The Ohio EPA’s jurisdiction is limited only to air pollution that will be generated by the compressor stations, not the pipeline itself. The agency released few details about the decision, other than to say it reviewed the company’s application to ensure that emissions would comply with federal and state air pollution control standards, laws, and regulations. Terry Lodge, an attorney representing several property owners, said he expects to file an appeal within days. The Ohio EPA noted in its release it gave residents an opportunity to comment. Yet the agency didn’t originally plan to hold a hearing in Waterville. After determining there was enough public interest, the agency had one at the Waterville Primary Community Room. The event drew a boisterous crowd of nearly 600 people, one of the largest public hearings in northwest Ohio in years. All 450 seats were taken and well over 100 people stood in the back and along the sides. Nearly all available street parking within a half-mile was taken. The hearing’s moderator, Mike Settles, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency public involvement coordinator, told the crowd the agency was “kind of pushing the comfort of the fire marshal with the large crowd we have tonight.” Someone later asked for a show of hands if anyone was in favor of the compressor station. Nobody raised their hand, and nobody testified in favor. The first to testify, Jim Fritz, Anthony Wayne Schools superintendent, told state and local regulators the Waterville site is unacceptably close to five of the district’s six buildings, 4,000 students, and 300 staff members. He and others cited complaints of burning lungs, nausea, headaches, sore throats, chronic dizziness, body pain, cancer, and other health problems associated with residents who live near compressor stations. They also expressed concerns about the potential for explosions. Several speakers said they are worried about exposure to formaldehyde, benzene, methane, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants they expect to become airborne in the Waterville-Whitehouse area if the compressor station is built at the proposed location. NEXUS officials want to build the compressor station to help move natural gas along a 255-mile pipeline it wants to build. Plans call for ultimately sending natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus Shale regions of eastern Ohio and West Virginia to markets in Ohio, Michigan, and Canada. So many residents wanted to speak that Mr. Settles said he wasn’t sure if the Ohio EPA could get them all in during its allotted 3½ hours. A nearby teacher’s lounge was opened as an auxiliary site for residents to give testimony. |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Oil & Gas |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2016/09/10/Ohio-EPA-OKs-gas-pipeline-station.html |
