By Lisa Sorg
It took nearly two hours for dozens of opponents of a proposed liquified natural gas plant in Person County to explain how the project—aspects of which have been crafted in secret—would harm them, the environment and the planet.
The county commissioners took less than 20 seconds to approve it.
Over the passionate objections of more than 1,000 people who signed a petition and 350 more who attended the December public hearing, the commissioners unanimously okayed a request by Dominion Energy to rezone 485 forested acres in southeastern Person County from rural to heavy industrial, the first permitting hurdle to building the plant.
“We understand the hardest thing today is the loss of reputation of pulling out of the deal at this late stage,” Person County resident Mary Bennett told the commissioners before the vote. “We’re all learning that the potential risks are greater than first known. There’s no way to ensure protection from human error, equipment malfunction and acts of nature.”
Dominion Energy, the main corporate actor behind the defunct Atlantic Coast Pipeline, plans to build the Moriah Energy Center in the 6400 block of Helena-Moriah Road, about two miles from the Durham and Granville County lines. The facility will hold at least one, and possibly two 25-million-gallon liquified natural gas tanks. Each tank would be 160 feet tall—half the height of the Statue of Liberty—and 200 feet in diameter, roughly that of a Ferris wheel.
Gas from fracking operations outside North Carolina would arrive at the Moriah Energy Center via either of two Dominion Energy transmission pipelines, which are fed by the Transco pipeline. (The Transco pipeline ships gas from fracking operations and runs through a dozen states between Texas and Pennsylvania.) Alternately, the LNG would be shipped to the Moriah Energy Center by tanker truck.
The gas would then be chilled to 260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and stored in the tank. At peak demand times, usually during the winter, the gas would be vaporized and re-injected into the pipeline system. It’s unknown how often that would occur, although it could be as few as eight days a year.
Natural gas is composed mostly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and major driver of climate change. Facility-wide, the Moriah Energy Center could emit 65,579 tons of greenhouse gases each year, according to Dominion’s air permit application to the state. In addition, annual potential emissions include 35 tons of nitrogen oxide, 95 tons of carbon monoxide, 52.4 tons of volatile organic compounds, four tons of hazardous air pollutants and another four tons of fine particulate matter.
Dominion has assured the public that the facility will be safe and well-run. However, several developments over the last month have cast doubt on the truthfulness of those statements.
As Newsline previously reported, Dominion plans to sell Public Service of NC—its subsidiary that would operate the Moriah Energy Center—to Enbridge, pending federal approval. Enbridge is a Canadian oil and gas company that is among the largest in North America; 20 percent of natural gas that is transmitted across the continent flows through its pipelines.
“They have a tremendous amount of expertise in natural gas infrastructure,” Rusty Harris, vice president and general manager of Dominion, and president of PSNC, told the county commission.
That expertise has not translated to environmental stewardship. Enbridge has racked up $282.5 million in environmental penalties since 2000, according to the Good Jobs First violation tracker.
• In 2009, the company paid $1.1 million in a settlement with Wisconsin regulators over violations of that state’s waterway and wetland protection and storm water control laws.
• In 2016, the company paid $62 million in civil penalties for Clean Water Act violations after the company discharged more than 27,000 barrels of oil in Michigan and Ohio. As part of a federal settlement, Enbridge agreed to spend $110 million to improve its infrastructure in the Great Lakes Region.
• In April 2017, Enbridge paid a civil penalty of $33,100 over pipeline welding issues found by federal inspectors. The following year Enbridge paid another $65,500 after federal inspectors found some parts of its pipelines had corroded.
• Last year, the company also paid more than $11 million for water quality violations and aquifer breaches during construction of a pipeline in Minnesota.
“Enbridge has a terrible record of environmental violations,” Lois Brown, 84, whose land is within 500 feet of the LNG property, told the commissioners. “You’re supposed to look out for us, not sell us out.”
At an open house about the project in early November, Dominion claimed that the LNG stored at the Moriah Energy facility would serve only Dominion’s and PSNC’s North Carolina customers. Dominion spokesperson Persida Montanez told Newsline at that meeting that the fuel would not be shipped to Duke Energy when that company converts its nearby Roxboro coal-fired plant to natural gas.
However, Caroline Hansley, a senior campaigner with the Sierra Club, alerted the county commissioners Monday of filings with state regulators that appear to contradict Dominion’s statements.
In a letter dated Oct. 16—two weeks before Dominion held its open house—Duke Energy asked the N.C. Utilities Commission to approve a confidential agreement that would allow PSNC to transport natural gas to the Person County Electric Generation Facility, which is owned by Duke.
The gas would come from the Transco pipeline, also the fuel source for the Moriah Energy Center.
Under the agreement, “PSNC proposes to construct incremental facilities to provide the natural gas transportation and redelivery service” to Duke, the letter to the utilities commission reads.
“The public has no insight into what this facility could become,” Hansley said. “Or if more infrastructure could be built.”
Montanez told Newsline that “the projects are not related. The proposed Moriah Energy Center would provide a storage function that will solely serve the needs of Dominion Energy’s customers in the region when gas supplies are tighter. Because we are the regulated natural gas provider in the area, we would supply natural gas as we would with any industrial or manufacturing customer.”
Dominion and county leaders, including commission chairman Gordon Powell, met for several months about the project, according to a September 2023 announcement by the Person County Economic Development Corporation, which supports the project.
However, the public was excluded from those discussions, which were taking place behind the scenes. In fact, Powell appeared to have already made up his mind about the project, three months before the vote.
“Throughout our conversations, Dominion Energy emphasized its commitment to being a responsible and involved corporate citizen. I am excited about this public utility project and the benefits it brings to our county and region, and I am grateful to Dominion Energy for selecting this location in Person County,” Powell said in September on the Economic Development Corporation website. “This is an excellent example of property owners and industry leaders working together in a progressive manner for the benefit of Person County,”
“Once the veil of secrecy was lifted, we learned the board has been doing the bidding of Dominion,” concerned resident Don Noritzki told the county commissioners. “Dominion desperately needs this project to bail them out of debt and sell to Enbridge.”
When the time came for the commissioners to vote, they did not discuss the project: five commissioners for, none against.
“Shame, shame, shame,” cried the standing room-only crowd. “Boooo!”
Powell directed a sheriff’s deputy to escort the opponents from the room.
“I can’t believe you didn’t listen to us,” one woman said, her voice trailing off. “How do you sleep at night?”
NC Newsline Assistant Editor and Environmental Reporter Lisa Sorg helps manage newsroom operations while covering the environment, climate change, agriculture and energy.
Source: ncnewsline.com, December 5, 2023