Forsyth advocates press commissioners to oppose Transco’s SSEP pipeline over safety and local impacts

Caroline Hansley, a campaign organizing strategist with the Sierra Club, and Jessica Mendez Rowe of the Piedmont Environmental Alliance urged the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 11 to adopt a resolution opposing the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP).

The speakers told the commissioners the project would add two new Transco pipeline segments in North Carolina and Virginia to transport about 1,600,000 dekatherms per day and that the proposal would run in places close to homes, schools and medical facilities in Forsyth County. "This proposed pipeline, in fact, is not going to bring any benefit to our local economy and, in fact, will only bring risks to our health and to our safety," Hansley said.

The nut graf: Environmental advocates said state and federal decisions are imminent and a formal county resolution could be submitted as public comment to regulators. The project is under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) review and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is taking public comment on state water quality permits that include hearings in early September.

Advocates presented…