BOSTON — A Texas energy company behind a controversial gas Pipeline wants the state to force hundreds of homeowners to allow workers on their property to conduct pre-construction surveys.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company LLC, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, is asking the state Department of Public Utilities to compel 450 homeowners along the pipeline route — including dozens in the Merrimack Valley and North Shore — to allow access for land surveys and environmental and archaeological studies.
Documents filed with the state agency list 408 properties it must access for civil and archaeological surveys, 23 for drilling to test soil consistency, and another 18 where it needs to study the project’s impact on endangered species and wetlands where they live, such as vernal pools.
Company officials say the surveys are required as part of a review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and homeowners on the list are refusing to allow its workers onto their land.
“Tennessee has in good faith made efforts to obtain survey permission ... including sending at least two letters requesting permission and attempting to discuss the request in person or via telephone,” the company wrote to officials in the Department of Public Utilities.
The company’s request for help from the state has sparked outrage from pipeline opponents, who view it as a precursor to eminent domain proceedings.
“This move by Kinder Morgan is entirely out of line, not just with respect to landowner rights. It’s about corporate greed rather than public safety, respect for the environment and real public need,” said Cathy Kristofferson, a member of the Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network, a coalition of regional groups that oppose the project.
Hundreds of land owners in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have told the company and federal regulators they won’t allow workers onto their land for surveys and other testing for the $5 billion, 421-mile pipeline project.
“I don’t want them on my property,” said Thomas O’Brien, one of dozens of Andover homeowners who’ve refused to allow access. “I’m concerned about the impact on the environment and my property values. And the recent studies have shown that we don’t need more natural gas. I think the company is resorting to heavy-handed tactics.”
Read the entire Salem News article here.
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