By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
Whether for or against the Rover natural gas pipeline the message was the same Wednesday evening at the Kehoe Center in Shelby: it is coming so be prepared.
“I don’t think there’s any question but that this is going forward,” said eminent domain attorney Michael Braunstein.
Braunstein and his partner, William Goldman, held the informational meeting for affected landowners of the proposed pipeline. They discussed eminent domain and the rights of the people that this pipeline would affect.
The ET Rover pipeline that will pump natural gas from West Virginia to Canada is looking more and more like a certainty for construction. The natural gas is being produced from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. Originally the plans were for a 42-inch pipeline. But now the project has been amended to include a second 42-inch line to be constructed after the first is completed.
As the pipeline as a whole has moved toward certainty, the route it would take has become much more concrete in its specifics. As that route had become clearer, the properties and people that would be affected have also come into sharper focus.
In Crawford County, from east to west, it is expected to run from just south of Shelby into the county near Tiro and proceed south of New Washington and north of Chatfield. It will enter into Seneca County north of Lykens. In addition, there will be a compressor station for the pipeline along Albaugh Road.
The crux of the presentation was the importance of legal representation in the upcoming matter. As stated previously, this project is set to go through, and the route it will take had been all but guaranteed. What’s left is for the people who are involved to negotiate compensation.
According to Goldman, shovels will likely be in the ground first quarter of 2016.