Atlas Twp.- Bryan and Tammy Merkel purchased a 3.5 acre parcel of land on Gale Road south of Horton Road in June, with plans to begin building their dream home this fall.
But it appears ET Rover has plans for their property, too? a natural gas pipeline that a newly released route map shows running straight down the center of the Merkel property, rendering it unbuildable.
‘If they wanted the property, I wish they would have bought it,? said Tammy Merkel on Wednesday. ‘We’re planning on building a 2,700 square foot home. We want to stay in Goodrich, wanted a piece of property that kept us here. There was a reason we looked for a 3-acre parcel of land and those reasons don’t include a pipeline.?
ET Rover announced plans earlier this year for an 800 mile pipeline ranging in size from 36 to 42 inches in diameter, transporting up to 3.25 million cubic feet of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale production areas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The original proposed route, submitted as part of the pre-filing application process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (which will ultimately approve or deny the pipeline), has changed in recent weeks. The route had been slated to go through Brandon Township, but after a great deal of opposition, new maps filed by ET Rover shift the route to the north, affecting Atlas Township.
At their Sept. 15 meeting, the Atlas Township Board unanimously approved two resolutions opposing the ET Rover pipeline, citing many of the same objections in the resolutions passed by both Brandon and Groveland townships? including safety and environmental concerns; a decrease in property values; lack of benefit to Michigan residents; and lack of necessity for the pipeline based on abandonment of another pipeline just seven months prior to applying for a new one (the old one was sold to Enbridge for a petroleum pipeline).
One of the resolutions opposes the pipeline in its entirety, while the other requests a reroute farther north to the I-69 corridor or for Rover to repurchase the line it sold to Enbridge and convert it back to natural gas. Both will be filed with FERC. Comments opposing Rover’s proposed pipeline can be filed at ferc.org, search docket PF14-14.
Tammy Merkel notes that there is also a pipeline owned by Buckeye behind the property they have purchased and her understanding is that the Rover pipeline would cross it.
‘You worry about how dangerous that is,? she said. ‘Besides our personal safety and plans for our home, is there really a need for another pipeline??
Trying to get answers to questions like these has been difficult, Merkel and Supervisor Shirley Kautman-Jones agree. Both attended what was called ‘an informational meeting? hosted by ET Rover at the Spring Meadows Country Club in Linden, and each reached the same conclusion? the venue was too small, with too little information.
Kautman-Jones estimated there were roughly 300 people squeezed in to the facility, with the crowd comprised of residents from not only Genesee County, but other counties affected by the pipeline, with most appearing to be opposed.
‘It was a well-orchestrated disaster,? said Kautman-Jones of the Rover meeting. ‘It was overcrowded and another thing I found really ridiculous is they had one table with a set of maps for each county. Of course, everyone wants to look at the Genesee County map, and you had to stand in line… They met the pre-filing application requirement of having a public meeting, but it definitely was not for the benefit of the public. They were just doing what was required.?
Kautman-Jones was also upset by Rover representatives she said were alluding to the idea that they had authority to do land surveys without property owners? permission, which she called untrue.
Merkel said ET Rover representatives have requested permission to survey their vacant Gale Road property and they have been denied permission.
‘It’s hard to trust a company that is not being as forthcoming with information as you wish they would be,? she said. ‘We told them we are consulting with our attorney and would get back with them on information they requested. We are hoping to get answers in a decent timeframe. There is a lot of risk to putting a house on a piece of property when we don’t know where the pipeline will be. We can’t risk that much money on a new build without a full understanding of what might impact it.?