Compressor stations up for discussion

BY LAURA LEGERE

Times-Shamrock Writer

State regulators will hold two meetings in the next week to gather public comment on five natural gas compressor stations proposed inWyomingand Susquehanna counties.

The meetings, on Wednesday and April 17, will feature the first public airing of concern or support for the crucial and proliferating pieces of Marcellus Shale natural gas infrastructure since an explosion damaged aSusquehannaCountycompressor station on March 29.

Department of Environmental Protection officials who will be hosting the events said they have not seen an uptick in interest in the public hearings since the explosion at Williams Partners’ Lathrop station inSpringvilleTownship. DEP published a news release for the second hearing on Monday and spokeswoman Colleen Connolly expected to see more response after that.

But an organizer of a recent Wyoming County informational event about one proposed station and an environmental group urging stricter air pollution controls at all of the stations said public interest in the facilities is growing.

“In the wake of this explosion, especially, I think a lot more people will be coming out to the hearings than before,” Matt Walker, a community outreach coordinator with the Clean Air Council, said.

Each event will combine a public meeting with an official public hearing during which comments on the proposed air quality permits will be recorded.

The meeting on Wednesday will address Chief Gathering’s application to build an eight-engine compressor station inWashington Township,WyomingCounty. The meeting atTunkhannockAreaMiddle Schoolwill begin at6 p.m.with presentations by company officials and DEP’s air-quality staff followed by a question-and-answer period. The public hearing portion will begin at7:30 p.m.

The second meeting, on April 17, will have the same format but it will address four separate two-engine compressor stations proposed by a Williams Partners subsidiary, Laser Northeast Gathering, inLiberty,MiddletownandForestLaketownships inSusquehannaCounty. The meeting atMontroseHigh Schoolwill begin at6 p.m.and the public hearing will begin at7:30 p.m.

Emily Krafjack, formerly Wyoming County’s Marcellus Shale liaison and now a community volunteer, said a meeting she hosted on April 4 about pipelines, air quality and Chief’s proposed Washington Township compressor station drew 47 county residents, most of them from townships where Marcellus Shale infrastructure is planned or under way.

Many appeared interested in attending the DEP meeting, she said, although she encouraged residents to submit written comments if they are not comfortable testifying.

Some of the interest seemed spurred by the recent explosion, she said.

“I had quite a few questions about what kind of questions they should ask,” she said.

Walkersaid residents should not feel that they need any special expertise to testify at the hearings.

“It is really important for local residents to come out and speak about their concerns to the department,” he said. “To try to get a stricter air permit, if that’s what they want, or just to get some questions answered, if that’s what they want.”