Gas pipelines coming; questions should come first
Pipelines are coming. That’s a simple matter of practicality and economics. Drilling companies now tapping the Marcellus Shale reserves in north central and western Pennsylvania need a way to get natural gas to market.
Gas pipelines are the most cost-effective way to move a large volume of that gas long distances. And, that means pipelines are coming.
Currently being explored is the proposal to build a 30-inch natural gas transmission line, the Commonwealth Pipeline, from Lycoming County through Berks and into the vicinity of Eagle in Chester County. The pipeline would run through French Creek State Park, Hopewell Big Woods, Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines and across at least four “exceptional value streams,” including two branches of French Creek.
The proposal is moving along, and despite the questions at a crowded Warwick Township meeting last month, there seem to be few regulatory forces in the way.
Warwick Supervisors’ Chairman Charles Jacob said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the primary agency responsible for approving pipelines, has little interest in the concerns of local residents or governments. “Their main goal is to make pipelines happen,” he said.
State Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist., told his constituents at the Dec. 12 meeting that pipelines are definitely coming. It’s just a matter of how many and how quickly,
The need for pipelines to carry the gas being acquired in Pennsylvania is a given. The questions, however, are the routes the pipelines take and the oversight after they are built.
The importance of oversight was made apparent with a recent pipeline explosion in West Virginia that sent flames hundreds of feet skyward and spread to destroy four homes. Fortunately, there were no deaths or injuries.
Reports after the explosion revealed more than 30 minutes passed between the time the leak occurred and the control room became aware of it, keeping gas flowing and greatly increasing the amount of fuel that ignited.
According to an analysis of pipeline regulation by ProPublica, the bulk of monitoring and enforcement is handled by a small agency within the Department of Transportation. Some say the government lacks the resources to monitor the ever-increasing miles of pipeline in the U.S, and the Commonwealth Pipeline would be among that ever-increasing volume.
Coming first on the timeline of concerns, however, is the environmental aspect of construction.
Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum was among the speakers at the Warwick meeting to urge residents to join forces with those already engaged in the fight. Her group is working to have the Delaware River Basin Commission assert its authority over new pipelines.
“They are the only agency that is empowered to look at the cumulative impact the drilling and these pipelines have on streams and drinking water supplies in the watershed,” van Rossum told the Warwick crowd.
The effect of a pipeline on the fragile ecosystems of Berks and northern Chester County needs to be examined and taken into account before backhoes start digging. Afterward is too late to save treasures like French and Pickering creeks and the Big Woods section of the Highlands national preservation area. Pipelines are coming. The questions should not focus on how much and how soon but on what’s being done to protect the environment and the safety of residents.