Wilkes landowners say statement misses pipeline's negative impact
By KIP BURKE news editor

Opponents of the proposed Elba III natural gas pipeline told a Federal representative Monday night that the draft environmental impact statement fails to address the pipeline's real impact on the fragile Broad River area, and serves only to save money for big oil companies at Wilkes County's expense.

Larry Sauter, representing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), hosted the meeting at the Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School Monday night, and heard from both landowners whose family properties would be bisected by the 50-foot-wide pipeline easement, and from the landowners' legal representative.

"The draft EIS does not address the real environmental and economic impact detriment that this county is going to face," said landowner Deborah Bennett. "It's not for local industry's benefit. We're just a pass-through for other places. We don't want eminent domain to become part of our lives. Nobody gave us this land, and we don't need to let anybody take it away."

The meeting was part of the process by which the FERC evaluates the request by Southern LNG, Inc. and Elba Express Company to prepare a statement on the environmental impact a pipeline might have going through the environmentally sensitive Broad River area.

Many of the landowners from Wilkes County at Monday night's hearing are represented by F. Edwin Hallman Jr. of Atlanta, an attorney who has represented other landowners whose land is threatened by utility companies.

In his statement to the FERC, Hallman pointed out that the proposed and alternate routes discussed in the EIS fail to take into consideration two of the most promising and least damaging alternative routes, both of which would impact less total acreage than those routes which are currently being considered.

The first alternate route that was not explored in detail, he said, is the shortest distance between the Elba Express Company Terminal in Savannah and the Transco Pipeline in South Carolina. "This is the most direct route for the pipeline, yet it was not seriously considered," Hallman said.

The second and most promising route that was not considered in the EIS, he said, would follow the existing pipeline right-of-way which joins the Transco Pipeline further west. "This route would impact significantly fewer acres, and therefore fewer landowners and environmentally and culturally sensitive areas. This second alternative would also provide for better safety and security measures," Hallman said.

Bennett pointed out that the FERC is an independent Federal agency but has no Congressional or Presidential oversight. "It's funded by the energy companies that they regulate," she said.

Hallman said that profit was the driving force behind running a pipeline through Wilkes County. "The route chosen in the EIS is based almost entirely on considerations of financial benefit to the Elba Express Company. However, the route that is least expensive for the company building the pipeline should play no role in an EIS and the agency decision making process. Instead, the EIS should evaluate the best route based on many factors, not simply what is least expensive for a private company. These factors should maximize the good for the majority of Georgia citizens, as well minimize impacts to environmentally and culturally sensitive areas. The current EIS fails to do this."

The pipeline would yield no benefits at all to Wilkes County or to the state of Georgia, Hallman told the meeting, only to big energy companies. "The proposed pipeline… takes much from Georgia residents, including land and environmentally and culturally sensitive areas. However, the pipeline as depicted in the EIS would produce no benefit to any Georgia citizens. No tax revenues would be gained to benefit the general welfare in Georgia, and none of the increased distribution in natural gas would benefit those Georgia citizens impacted by the potential pipeline."

The deadline for comments on the draft EIS was May 21, but in response to delays in sending out paper copies of the statement, the deadline for comments has been extended to May 29 for those present at the meeting, FERC's Sauter said.

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