{"id":2945,"date":"2017-08-02T17:22:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T21:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=2945"},"modified":"2017-08-03T13:30:14","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T17:30:14","slug":"in-berkeley-springs-morgan-county-commission-hears-opponents-of-mountaineer-gas-pipeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=2945","title":{"rendered":"In Berkeley Springs Morgan County Commission Hears Opponents of Mountaineer Gas Pipeline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Morgan County Courthouse in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia was packed this morning with more than 45 opponents of the IGS Mountaineer Gas pipeline. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oaYuRb1t6_g\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They were there to urge Morgan County Commissioners Bob Ford, Joel Tuttle and Ken Reed \u2013 all proponents of the pipeline &#8212; to reverse their position and come out against the pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First up was Morgan County farmer and landowner Patricia Kesecker. IGS Mountaineer Gas has sued the Keseckers under eminent domain in an effort to cut through the middle of their farm. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last month, Morgan County Circuit Court Judge Laura Faircloth rubber stamped the gas pipeline company\u2019s requ<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">est to take the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kesecker farm for their pipeline. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe felt like we were being led like sheep to slaughter,\u201d Kesecker told the Commissioners this morning. \u201cIt was very disturbing what we were going through that morning. She not only robbed us, she robbed our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of all the work and blood, sweat and tears that we put on this farm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAt this time our family has decided on the advice of our attorney that an appeal of Judge Faircloth\u2019s decision would most likely not be productive,\u201d the family said in a statement read by Patricia Kesecker to the Commission. \u201cUnfortunately, over the last several decades, we the people of West Virginia have put politicians into local, state and federal government that do not support our rights as independent landowners. Instead, they represent the corporations that want to damage and take our family farms and livelihoods. Our elected officials in Morgan County alone haven\u2019t held or attended public meetings about the project. Instead, they told our family to just go ahead and sign and try to get a good deal. They even wanted us to go behind closed doors to work out something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAt the federal level, our own Senator Joe Manchin this past September was talking with local business leaders about the Mountaineer Gas project. He told the group that \u2018If the state becomes involved, it\u2019s a public project with eminent domain and you can move on it when you need to.\u2019 In the same speech, he warned local landowners who may not want \u2018the inconvenience of a pipeline\u2019 on their property that \u2018you all are going to get pushback.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s definitely time to change the eminent domain culture that is alive and well in West Virginia,\u201d Kesecker said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kesecker said that Bob Ford called her to set up a meeting with Mountaineer Gas to discuss terms of an agreement between the Keseckers and the company. Kesecker said that Bob Ford insisted that no reporters be present at the meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ford admitted that he told Kesecker that there would be no reporters allowed at the meeting between the Keseckers and the pipeline company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese kind of spectacles don\u2019t accomplish anything,\u201d Ford said. \u201cI know that the people in the room think it does. But it doesn\u2019t matter. I wanted you to get the best deal. That could be done through a contract. I would not invite the media. These spectacles don\u2019t accomplish anything. All it does is drive the cost of the project higher and higher and gives them less money to negotiate the contracts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pointing to the room full of opponents of the pipeline, Ford said \u2013 \u201cthese people aren\u2019t going to tell you that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese people live in a fantasyland,\u201d Ford said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls pointed out to Ford that it was the \u201cspectacle\u201d and \u201cfantasyland\u201d of people showing up at meeting after meeting throughout Maryland that pressured the Republican Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, to sign a bill banning fracking in Maryland. Walls said that a similar campaign is now being built to pressure Hogan to block the TransCanada pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Morgan County land owner Shari Kerns-Smith reminded the Commissioners that they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.psc.state.wv.us\/scripts\/WebDocket\/ViewDocument.cfm?CaseActivityID=451478&amp;NotType=%27WebDocket%27\">supported the pipeline in a letter to the West Virginia Public Service Commission<\/a> more than a year ago \u2013 before the public ha<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">d informatio<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">n about the pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerns-Smith wrote her own letter to the Public Service Commission in opposition to the pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerns-Smith said that Mountaineer Gas provided inaccurate maps, didn&#8217;t listen when corrected about property lines and ownership, they provided inconsistent informati<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on on a planned\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">route, on the dates that they would be on the property, on the size of line, on the c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">onstruction\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">zone and size, on the liability of the landowners, and on the future negotiating of large equipment across the easement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey gave a dollar figure for easement and damages to my husband and I &#8212; stating they were \u2018locked in on it,\u2019\u201d Kerns-Smith said. \u201cSeveral months later the co<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mpany denied that amount. The amount was down to the 38 cents. But they said they never made that offer. Apparently we were lying and just making it up. They stated that once they got the easement, which they said there was no doubt they would get, no doubt about that, they could \u2018repair, alter, up size or replace\u2019 the lines as they desired with no negotiations with the landowner. They said they could also change the line from a distribution line to \u2018pump, transport, whatever\u2019 and that they could run \u2018chocolate milk, fiber optics, or oil\u2019 through the easement if they wanted to. They could also lay other lines besides the initial line. They could take the old line out or they could offset the other line and decommission it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerns-Smith said that months after those comments were made, the company said they didn\u2019t remember those comments, but they did reiterate they could run any kind of petroleum products through the line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey advised my husband and I that this is a \u2018public project for the public g<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ood,\u2019\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerns-Smith said. \u201cThey schooled us on the fact that there a<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">re no family values, there is no sentimental value \u2013 value is only in the dollars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey told us they have a right to eminent domain but would rather \u2018work with\u2019 us,\u201d Kerns-S<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mith said. \u201cThey advised us not to seek legal counsel because they would then not work with us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey insisted that a gas line through our property will benefit us and increase our property value. They argued with us when we said otherwise. But they did come back and admit that I would never have gas in my home, that it would not be feasible and it would not be an option.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis is just a sample of my personal experience and why I am in protest of this case,\u201d Kerns-Smith said. \u201cI feel that the company was trying to sneak into our area and use questionably ethical tactics to take advantage of property owners \u2013 some who have preserved farmland \u2013 \u00a0their family farms \u2013 for generations. If I already in October 2016 do not trust the integrity of this company, I cannot trust the future aspects of the project either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMountaineer Gas made it very clear to me that if they are not on my property, then what they are doing is none of my business,\u201d Kerns-Smith said. \u201cCurrently, they are not on my property. They didn\u2019t use eminent domain to come through our property. They went around me. The land agent told me that they are a small company and they don\u2019t have much money. They couldn\u2019t afford to go around me. But they are currently going around me. I no longer get information about the pipeline from the company because it\u2019s \u2018none of my business.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerns-Smith said that the company did not disclose that they had additional <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ground on our <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">property mapped for \u201cATWS.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe WS stands for \u2018work site\u2019 and that they planned to keep equipment and supplies in a large field on our property &#8212; no compensation for this was included on their offer,\u201d Kerns-Smith said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Walls, the Upper Potomac Riverkeeper, warned of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the risks of TransCanada\u2019s plans to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dig a pipeline under the Potomac River just west of Hancock, Maryland and said that there is a growing regional and national movement to stop that project. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The TransCanada pipeline would feed fracked gas from Pennsylvania into the Mountaineer Gas pipeline that would cut through Morgan County. Walls called on the Commission to join in the regional movement against the pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">David Lillard of West Virginia Rivers Coalition told the Commission that \u201cpipeline construction has potential to have significant impacts on nearby water bodies due to failing sediment and erosion controls, inadvertent returns of drill mud when performing underground borings, and failure to contain accidental spills in karst terrain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe hope you will consider these potential impacts and seek further information,\u201d Lillard said. \u201cAsk yourselves \u2013 if the famed Berkeley Springs are damaged, and the local economy damaged, will a modest fine imposed on a company bring you satisfaction?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Morgan County Courthouse in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia was packed this morning with more than 45 opponents of the IGS Mountaineer Gas pipeline. They were there to urge Morgan County Commissioners Bob Ford, Joel Tuttle and Ken Reed \u2013 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=2945\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2945"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2950,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions\/2950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}