The Addison County Regional Planning Commission signed off on construction of a 41-mile natural gas pipeline last week.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding the first phase of Vermont Gas’ Addison Natural Gas Project (ANGP) was signed Aug. 13. The project aims to bring gas service to 11 towns in Addison County including Vergennes, Monkton, New Haven, Middlebury and St. George. After a technical hearing that will be held in September, the project needs approval by the Public Service Board.
Vermont Gas operates 750 miles of natural gas pipeline in Chittenden and Franklin counties, and the company has negotiated with towns and community groups over construction of a 41.2-mile-long transmission expansion for the past eight months, said Stephen Wark, director of communications at Vermont Gas.
After the September hearing, it is up to the Public Service Board whether to grant a certificate of public good for the project, said Wark.
If approved, construction is projected to begin in early 2014, Wark said. The company hopes to serve a distribution gate station on Exchange Street in Middlebury in late 2014, all of Middlebury by 2015 and the remaining towns by 2016.
“The Addison Regional Commission is a very important entity,” Wark said. “And we ended up with a very good agreement that addresses their concerns.”
Among of the concerns were public safety and conditions of construction – including protection of environmentally sensitive areas, such as wetlands, he said.
Adam Lougee, executive director of the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, said in a news release: “We believe the conditions in the MOU addresses nearly all the concerns raised by the Addison Regional Commission concerning the project. We are especially pleased that Vermont Gas has chosen to provide service to the village areas of each of the towns through which Phase I of the Transmission line passes.”
The pipeline has faced opposition. While Don Gilbert, president of Vermont Gas, argued in an op-ed in June that switching from fuel oil to natural gas would reduce homeowner’s carbon emissions by 26 percent,
an environmental study from the Conservation Law Foundation says that the use of natural gas could actually increase the amount of carbon emissions.
The next project, Phase II, is a transmission pipeline stretching from Middlebury to Ticonderoga, N.Y., to fuel International Paper’s mill there. Phase II is in the early planning stage and is not part of this agreement, Wark said.
