Residents urge Oak Ridge Town Council to oppose Williams Transco pipeline expansion, deliver petition and resolution

Dozens of residents of Oak Ridge urged the Town of Oak Ridge Town Council to adopt a formal resolution opposing the Williams Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project and asked council to vote on a resolution at its next meeting.

Speakers at the public-comment period said the proposed pipeline expansion would run through or adjacent to neighborhoods, parks, churches and schools and raised safety, water contamination, property-value and historic-preservation concerns. Claire Spear, an organizer and advocacy professional from Hillsborough, presented a draft resolution and a 17-page petition of signatures she said were gathered locally and asked council to place the resolution on next month’s agenda. Spear read a core paragraph of the draft: "Now, therefore, be it hereby resolved by the Oak Ridge Town Council that in consideration of the concerns shared above, that the Oak Ridge Town Council is recorded as being opposed to the Southeast supply enhancement project entering and…