Clarksville pipeline through Todd County, Ky., approved
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Federal regulators have approved plans for a Clarksville gas pipeline through Todd County, Kentucky, in a decision that is being touted as a victory by both sides in the often-heated dispute.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued the certificate recently for the Clarksville Natural Gas Interconnect Pipeline Project, with a few conditions and stipulations, including that Clarksville must allow others access to the pipeline, possibly including residents of Todd County.
"We think it's great news," said Clarksville Gas & Water Department Director Pat Hickey. "It's more or less what we'd looked for."
But Todd County Judge Executive Daryl Greenfield took the ruling as a win over Clarksville.
"The commission adopted in its decision most of the points which were made on behalf of our community and rejected the fundamental foundation of Clarksville's request," Greenfield said in a news release.
The project
Clarksville's plan is to construct a 20.8-mile, 12-inch-diameter underground pipeline across Todd County, plus another 3.2 miles in Montgomery County, Tennessee, to tie into the Texas Gas Transmission pipeline on the north side of Todd County.
Currently, Clarksville has only one line, connected to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company at a point 26 miles southeast of Clarksville. Adding the second line would increase capacity by 52,000 million cubic feet per day, but it would be used only as a backup source.
Tapping in
In trying to shut down plans for the pipeline, residents and county officials raised concerns about everything from endangered species to safety during earthquakes to the impact on the Trail of Tears.
One of their principal objections was that while the pipeline would move through their county, Todd County residents would not be able to tap into it.
"As proposed by Clarksville, the pipeline would have been a burden on the affected residents and communities with no opportunity to obtain the benefit of natural gas for those residents and communities," Greenfield said.
The FERC decision settles the matter, saying CGW must allow access to the line by others wishing to tie in and purchase the gas.
Hickey said he has no problem with that, and CGW was primarily concerned about the possibility of "full open access" to the pipeline, which was rejected. Had that been allowed, CGW would have had to post available capacity every day for buyers to bid on the purchasing gas, essentially creating a logistical nightmare.
"That would have been burdensome and costly," Hickey said.
The access that was approved will instead allow long-term contracts where buyers can tap in and be billed like any other customer.
On Wednesday, FERC will hold a conference call with CGW to give more details, including whether Clarksville will have to install "farm taps," allowing landowners to tap directly into the pipeline crossing their land.
Hickey said he isn't opposed to that if it makes the pipeline more palatable to landowners.
Greenfield encouraged residents to take advantage of the access.
"Although we recognize some in our community may bear a burden in the event Clarksville constructs the proposed pipeline, the opportunity to obtain natural gas in parts of our community where it is currently unavailable hopefully makes that burden easier to accept," he said.
There are several federal reporting regulations also included in the FERC order, but not nearly as many as Clarksville had feared.
Next steps
The next steps in the process are the completion of environmental work and the easement acquisition.
Construction should start within the next six months, with the project taking eight to 12 months to complete.
Despite the tense rhetoric from landowners and Todd County officials, Hickey said he never saw this as a fight.
"It's never been us vs. Todd County. We just want a backup natural gas line at the lowest cost to taxpayers, and that's what we've been able to accomplish."
Chris Smith, 245-0282
Senior Editor
chrissmith@theleafchronicle.com
Twitter: @csmithleaf