Although an official with Spectra Energy, the parent company of East Tennessee Natural Gas, said the company was cooperating with property owners in getting permission to perform land surveys ahead of a planned 10-mile pipeline extension that will stretch from Monroe County to the Tate & Lyle plant in the city of Loudon, at least two residents claim the utility has threatened to use the right of eminent domain to move forward if the project gets a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
According to a notice of intent from the FERC, the pipeline will provide Tate & Lyle with 40,000 decatherms of energy per day as part of its conversion from coal-fired boilers to natural gas, and Devin Hotzel, manager of stakeholder outreach with Spectra, said other agencies will be able to tap onto the line once it is in place.
“The proposed Loudon Expansion Project would expand the region’s energy infrastructure and allow for future growth,” Hotzel said in an email correspondence. “ETNG is an open access pipeline which means any other shipper (company/utility) has the ability to connect to ETNG’s existing line that is in place today, as well as the proposed Loudon Expansion once it is installed.”
Hotzel said in a previous email that Spectra was “working with” affected landowners to secure permission to survey their property to include “engineering, environmental and cultural resource” evaluations. The scope of the project covers a little less than 89 acres, with plans for about 6 1/2 miles of the new pipeline to run along existing right-of-ways beside a line that is already in the ground, along with a new extension that runs from the Monroe-Loudon border to an area near Bat Creek Shores Lane and Lakeside Road in Vonore.
Nicholas Hoad, who lives just across the border on Bat Creek Shores Lane, said his experience with ETNG has been less than amenable, noting the company plans to acquire easements from landowners in the area despite vocal concerns about the project. He said he purposefully selected a home on Bat Creek Shores Lane because of its location.
“I chose this house versus one in nearby Rarity Bay or Tellico (Village) because of its beautiful setting at the end of Bat Creek on Tellico Lake,” Hoad said in an email correspondence. “When I purchased the house, I was encouraged to hear that much of the surrounding land was state or TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) owned and could never be built on.”
Noting that four property owners will see “huge negative affects (sic)” from clearing trees for the project, he proposed an alternative plan to install the line on the other side of Highway 72, which he said would not have impacted any homeowners, but according to his account, East Tennessee shot down the idea.
In a follow-up interview, Hoad said East Tennessee Natural Gas agreed to compensate property owners at a rate of $2,000 per acre for access to property, which amounted to less than $1,000 in his case to work on a 50-60 foot stretch of land.
“You’re going to give me $500. Seriously?” he said.
Hotzel said details about easement negotiations were confidential.
“ETNG begins each and every easement negotiation with the expectation that a mutual agreement can be reached with the landowner,” he said in the email. “Please be assured that ETNG does not and will not use the eminent domain authority as a negotiating tool.”
He said if an agreement can’t be reached between the company and a property owner, a court will determine adequate compensation.
“We will only exercise that right as a means of last resort,” he said.
The deadline for submitting comments to the FERC is Thursday, and the commission will then prepare a draft environmental assessment followed by another feedback period.
Studies can take a year to 18 months to complete, Tamara Young-Allen, spokeswoman with the FERC, said. Once the study is complete, the project will come up for a vote by the commission.
Hotzel said East Tennessee anticipates being granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity by the fourth quarter of this year.
Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw said he has heard no concerns about the pipeline project from residents in Loudon.
Leo Bradshaw, who sits on the Blair Bend Industrial Committee, also said he has not heard from any concerned residents.
“It sounds like pretty much on the Loudon County portion that they’re actually going to be running the line parallel ... as they have on the existing pipeline,” Leo Bradshaw said. “... I don’t think there’s much concern for right-of-ways on the Loudon County portion.”
Loudon Utilities Board General Manager Lynn Mills said Tate & Lyle’s full conversion to natural gas will free up capacity for LUB, which can be used to attract future industry. LUB is currently selling Tate & Lyle 7,000 decatherms of energy per day that could be returned to the system for existing or new customers.
“If we don’t have anyone interested in it, we do have the availability to return that capacity to the pipeline (of East Tennessee Natural Gas), and they could sell it to someone else.”
Leo Bradshaw said he thought East Tennessee’s project could be a “big plus” for LUB.
“At least they’ll have everything in place that they can do a tap,” he said. “They’ll have the larger liens down there, so it’s just a matter of doing a tap, so it looks like it will be a positive.”
Barry Duckett, who works at Kimberly-Clark in Loudon and lives just across the border in Monroe County, said surveyors have come on his property and a neighbor’s lot twice in the last couple months without permission or a survey permit.
Hotzel said Duckett’s allegation does not comport with company practices.
Hotzel said the route of the pipeline was selected based on numerous factors, including landowner considerations, current infrastructure, impact to residents and businesses and environmental concerns.
