Affected landowners studied maps at a meeting to discuss a proposed gas pipeline in Wilkes County. More than 60 Wilkes County landowners met together Monday night to learn what they could about a new natural gas pipeline that, if built as planned, will cut a 300-foot wide swath across their properties by 2009.

The landowners who gathered at the VFW hall had all received letters from the Southern Natural Gas Company of Birmingham, announcing that their property would be along the proposed path of the new Elba Express Pipeline, if approved by the Federal Regulatory Commission. If constructed, the 191-mile buried gas pipeline would, by 2010, move more than a billion cubic feet of gas a day from the Savannah area, through Wilkes County, to Anderson County, S.C.

The pipeline right-of-way would be a 300-foot-wide easement clear cut and largely unusable for the landowners.

The letter asked landowners for an opportunity to talk with them about the plans. Lewis Brown, speaking to the assembled landowners Monday night, said that a representative from the pipeline company had visited him recently, and he described at length the conversation.

The representative asked Brown for permission to survey his property, he said, as they will each affected landowner. Southern’s agent would have three surveys conducted: a preliminary civil survey to locate the proposed centerline of the right-of-way, then an environmental survey to locate wetlands and other sensitive environmental reNext an archeological survey would be conducted to identify the location of cultural and historic resources.

The pipeline company told him they would be holding a public meeting here late in February, Brown said. “They’ll have all their people here for a public meeting.”

After Brown spoke and answered questions, Mitch Overend rose to address the actions that landowners might take concerning the pipeline.

After speaking with a lawyer in Atlanta who is experienced in utility rights-of-way issues, Overend told his neighbors that there were three approaches that they could take. First, he said, was for the landowners to organize as a group. “You’ll have a lot more impact as a group than as individuals.”

Second, landowners should contact their local, state, and national representatives. “They’ve got to get approval from the Wilkes County Commission to run the pipeline through Wilkes County,” he said.

The third option was to come against the pipeline from an environmental angle. “They’ll have to meet every environmental regulation, and show the environmental impact on every area from Chatham County, Georgia, to Anderson County, South Carolina.”

But, Overend stressed, if the government approves the pipeline, it will come, and there’s not much anyone can do about it. “If this thing gets Federal approval, there’s not any way to stop it,” he said. “But if you organize as a group of landowners, and you’re well represented by your county people, your state and congressional representatives, you can ensure that you get everything that is available if it does cross your property.”

At the public meeting in February, Wilkes County commissioner Donna Hardy said she plans to ask some hard questions. “I’ve got lots of questions. They say that the pipeline will ‘attract new and expanded industries,’ but they don’t offer a lick of proof.”

She and the other commissioners

RTheNeepwos-are gathering more information on the proposed pipeline and will make that information available to landowners. “And we’ll be seeking landowner input so that we can represent them when we’re talking to the pipeline company, so we can do what’s best for the county. That’s the bottom line.”