Commissioners table Clean Eagle RNG rezoning after presentations on landfill gas plan

A proposal to rezone 22.45 acres at 4212 Roy Parks Road for a natural gas injection facility was tabled by the Hall County Board of Commissioners to the April 8 voting meeting after presentations from the applicant and utility representatives and questions from commissioners.

The rezoning application from Clean Eagle RNG LLC would change the parcel from Agricultural Residential 4 and Highway Business to a planned industrial development to allow a small injection facility and associated infrastructure, county planning staff said. Beth (Hall County planning staff) told the board the item had been tabled at the Feb. 27 voting meeting and needed to be removed from the table for a public hearing before consideration tonight.

Steve Gilliam, attorney for the applicant, told commissioners the project would bring methane recovered at a Forsyth County landfill to the Gainesville distribution network by truck, then inject that gas into a pipeline at a roughly 6-acre operated pad while leaving about 15.7 acres wooded. “This is not a waste-related recovery facility. There’s no processing, no combustion,” Gilliam said, adding trucks would bring processed landfill gas to the injection site.

Clint Cox, representing Liberty Utilities, said the utility had asked 31 industrial customers to be prepared for curtailment during cold weather because local demand had approached available supply this winter. Cox said Liberty is planning pipeline upgrades over about three years, including replacing an interstate transmission segment from the quarry toward Bogart, Georgia, and increasing distribution capacity in the city. He said the project would dedicate about 1,400,000,000 cubic feet of gas to Gainesville customers—“about a quarter of the total annual consumption”—and help avoid higher commodity costs if the utility had to buy additional interstate capacity.

Project contractor representatives described operations and routing. Ryan Albaachon, project manager for Arkea Energy, said the firm’s traffic study estimated roughly a 0.51% average increase in traffic along the proposed route and that the operator had offered blackout hours that avoid school bus times and Sunday church services. The applicant’s operations summary said the facility would need approximately 13 loaded truck trips per day for regular injection activity, with an option to run more trucks for broader emergency support.

Commissioners asked for documents and comparisons. One commissioner requested copies of the letters Liberty sent to the 31 customers and the email distribution list. The applicant said they would provide the letter. County staff noted they had received a set of 13 proffered conditions from the applicant but recommended additional time to address remaining questions.

After public hearing presentations and no speakers in opposition, a commissioner moved to table the item to April 8 so the board and staff could review the South Dakota facility the applicant cited and follow up on outstanding questions. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The tabling preserves the county’s current zoning while staff and applicants prepare additional information requested by commissioners.

Ending — Additional details and documents requested by commissioners include the Liberty Utilities customer letters, the applicant’s proposed conditions (already submitted), truck routing proposals, the traffic study, and a comparison tour of an operational facility the applicant identified in Brookings, South Dakota. The applicant asked for the continuance and agreed to work with county staff on the requested materials.