A newly formed citizens group is hosting a rally near Waterville at 2 p.m. Wednesday to discuss a Bowling Green State University researcher’s claim that northwest Ohio is too quake-prone for a massive natural gas transmission pipeline to coexist with it.
The group, called United Communities for Protecting our Water and Elevating Power — or UC4POWER for short — has filed a request for a hearing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to express seismic concerns it has about the 36-inch NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline that Houston-based Spectra Energy and others are planning.
The pipeline is to transport natural gas extracted from fracked shale in southern Ohio and send it to southwest Ontario via northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.
Lisa Kochheiser, group spokesman, said UC4POWER will discuss its 20-page motion at the rally, set to be at the Roche de Boeuf parking lot of Farnsworth Metropark. Also up for discussion will be the group’s basis for the motion, a 20-page research report written by Andrew Kear, a Bowling Green State University hydrogeologist and environmental policy expert. It is part of the filing, and contends the region’s geology is not suitable.
Spectra Energy spokesman Adam Parker reiterated the company’s position that it will build a safe pipeline.
“The NEXUS pipeline system will be designed, constructed, and operated safely and in strict compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations,” Mr. Parker said.
Meanwhile, another potential complication has arisen for the $2 billion, 257-mile project — FERC Commissioner Norman Bay has stepped down. The resignation, effective Friday, leaves the five-member regulatory commission board without a quorum. Two other seats are open. NEXUS had asked for accelerated approval of its federal permit application before Feb. 3, because of Mr. Bay’s pending departure.
Error claims
UC4POWER’s request for a hearing was filed with FERC on Wednesday. In it, attorney Terry Lodge of Toledo contends the pipeline would be constructed across the Bowling Green Fault, a major seismic crack in the Earth’s crust.
The group asserts the final environmental report for the pipeline, written by FERC, erroneously claims the fault is buried 2,200 or more feet below the surface.
Mr. Kear contends it is much closer, and the region’s drinking water could become contaminated by drilling fluids and any earthquakes that could cause leakage. He describes the project as “a serious and unnecessary public health threat.”
One of the region’s outstanding features is its porous karst geology, which makes northwest Ohio vulnerable to sinkholes, the report shows.
“From a risk assessment perspective, one would be hard-pressed to pick a location that threatens public health and safety more than this location does,” Mr. Kear said.
FERC has yet to rule on the motion.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.
First Published February 6, 2017, 5:00 a.m.
