Tensions rise over proposed pipeline

Associated Press

MEDINA

Homeowners in Northeast Ohio said tensions surrounding a proposed underground pipeline are rising after a project manager informed property owners that surveyors may enter their property without permission.

The letter, signed by project manager Walton Johnson, said work on the Nexus gas-transmission pipeline must be conducted without delay, The Medina Gazette reported. The letter indicated that if property owners hadn’t granted permission for property access by May 1 in order for surveyors to provide advanced notice, Nexus may enter properties without consent to perform necessary survey activities.

The proposed pipeline would start in Columbiana County and run through nine Ohio counties. The 200-mile corridor of 42-inch-diameter pipe would be capable of transporting as much as 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day, an amount that would meet the needs of around 20,000 homes for a year. Gas from the pipeline would be made available to industry and to gas-fired power plants.

Though some have been fighting the pipeline since its introduction, some property owners say the letter has increased tensions. Paul Gierosky with the Coalition to Re-route Nexus, said people are questioning the demands of the letter and feeling threatened.

Jon Strong, also with the Coalition to Re-route Nexus and a recipient of the letter, called the pipeline fight an “ugly process.”