Farmers tell Senate agriculture culture committee shallow burial, rising cover threaten fields near Addison pipeline

Nate and Jane Palmer told the senate agriculture culture committee that parts of the Addison Natural Gas Project were not buried to the four-foot depth required on agricultural land and that in many places cover has since risen toward the surface, creating hazards for farm equipment and long-term soil damage.

The Palmers said the route was moved off their property in 2013 so the pipeline is now about 300 feet from their house rather than within 60 feet of it. They said an agreement negotiated by the Vermont Department of Agriculture and Markets — later made part of the project permit — required a minimum 4-foot burial depth in agricultural areas. During 2016 construction they learned the pipeline was not buried to that depth in some locations and say the problem persisted when measured again in 2019 and in later reports.

"We had Dr. Heather Darby, UVM soil agronomist, testify that it could be decades, if ever, for our clay soil to recover from the assault of a pipeline installation," the Palmers said, summarizing expert testimony they presented to regulators. They described field effects including reduced compaction, lower yields, altered ripening patterns and damaged drainage tiles, and said tractors can sink or operators avoid impacted acres, reducing productive land.

The Palmers said they alerted the Department of Public Service (DPS) and PHMSA and that a Public Utility Commission (PUC) safety investigation (case number 17355O) was opened after they raised the issue. They described filings showing multiple agricultural locations where measured depth of cover is under 4 feet and, in some cases, decreased by feet between reports.

They also said the company’s response in filings was that the reduced depth-of-cover issue was not identified as one of the five "substantial changes" the PUC previously found in construction plans. The Palmers said they asked the company to self-report the depth concerns to the PUC and to notify affected landowners but that VGS declined to do so. "This is coming from a company that claims they are laser focused on safety and transparency," the Palmers told the committee.

Attorney Dumont, who said he represents the Palmers and other landowners, told the committee he filed the Palmers’ letter and VGS’s response with the clerk and explained that the depth-of-cover matters are a distinct set of violations not yet the subject of a separate PUC case. He also said an expert testified the project lacked a single Vermont-licensed engineer of record overseeing the entire project, a point the PUC has previously determined; he cited the National Transportation Safety Board’s finding that a lack of a responsible-charge engineer contributed to the Merrimack Valley pipeline explosion as background on why oversight matters.

Committee members expressed sympathy and discussed next steps, including gathering more affected landowners, seeking legal counsel, and staff checking with counsel about what the committee can request. Chair indicated Senator Heffernan would follow up. No formal motion or vote was taken during the session.

The Palmers asked the committee to request testimony from Vermont Gas Systems (VGS) and the Department of Public Service to explain why landowners and towns were not notified and what remedial steps are being taken for agricultural fields where depth is under the required four feet. The committee agreed to seek counsel and follow up with the Palmers about possible next steps.