The $2 billion, 255-mile long pressurized natural gas transmission pipeline would deliver 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day (Bcf/d) from the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in Appalachia across northern Ohio and into Michigan and Canada.
The pipeline, a partnership between Houston-based Spectra Energy and Detroit’s DTE Energy, would carry gas to customers in Ohio and Michigan and to the Dawn Hub, a massive underground storage and gas trading facility Spectra owns in Ontario, Canada.
Spectra Energy and Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Energy have set up a merger deal worth $28 million that is expected to be completed early in 2017. The combined companies would have headquarters in Calgary.
At the end of November, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the pipeline project and its environmental impact statement, even though there were “some adverse environmental impacts,” according to the Cleveland Scene.
Northeastern Ohio residents are particularly concerned about the route of the 36-inch pipeline, reports the Bristol Herald Courier, because it will be routed through some fairly dense and heavily populated nearly suburban parts of Stark, Summit, Medina, and Lorain counties.
Another concern is surveyors coming onto resident’s property. A number of Ohio statutes are on the books that favor landowners’ rights when it comes to private surveyors entering private property, and they have been upheld in the courts.
Ohio residents opposing the pipeline say they will not allow surveys or sell easements unless ordered to do so by the courts, reports the Associated Press.
“I will stand my ground, as everyone else is standing until all of our resources and options are exhausted,” said Medina County resident Jon Strong, who has helped lead the effort to reroute the pipeline the last 2 ½ years.
Some surveyors have entered private property, including a few accompanied by armed officers from the county sheriff’s office. The Cleveland Scene referenced a YouTube video that allegedly showed intimidation tactics used by surveyors in Medina County on October 26, 2016.
