A group of Monkton landowners is challenging assertions by a Vermont Gas Systems executive that right-of-way negotiations related to the company’s proposed natural gas pipeline are proceeding well.
The owners of 20 properties along the proposed 42-mile pipeline submitted a letter to the Vermont Public Service Board on Wednesday in which they say negotiations over compensation and safety guarantees are dragging.
The PSB is currently deliberating whether to issue a Certificate of Public Good for the $86.6 million project to extend Vermont Gas’ pipeline through Addison County. The deadline for reply briefs in the case was Oct. 25, and those responses are now being reviewed by the board.
The landowners took issue with a characterization of the easement process made by Eileen Simollardes, vice president for supply and regulatory affairs for Vermont Gas, at a technical hearing before the PSB.
“Ms. Simollardes implied in her testimony that agreements with landowners were proceeding well without much fuss or concern. She equated signing an agreement with VGS with consent. Nothing could be further from the truth,” the landowners wrote.
All of the signees oppose the gas pipeline, saying in the letter to the PSB: “We do not want this on our land, and believe there is no negotiation process by which a fair compensation can be reached if one party can’t refuse participation.”
Maren Vasatka, one of the property owners who signed the letter, said VT Gas has been slow to negotiate right-of-way agreements.
After a series of proposals and counterproposals, Vasatka said she told the company Sept. 6 that she was prepared to resume discussions. She said no one contacted her until Oct. 25, the day the reply briefs were due to be filed with the PSB.
That prompted her and fellow Monkton resident, Renee McGuinness, to canvass landowners along the route.
“Nobody was hearing back,” Vasatka said. “Of the 21 people we spoke with, only one supported the pipeline.”
Vermont Gas spokesman Steve Wark said Simollardes at the technical hearing was referring to the fact that easements had been reached with landowners of “almost 50 percent of the linear route” of the project, which he said was a considerable amount at that point in the process.
He said some of the difficulty in closing right-of-way agreements stems from landowner resistance. Wark said one of the letter’s signees has reached an agreement with Vermont Gas.
“We agree that communications are a two-way street,” Wark said. “Some landowners asked not to be contacted and are unwilling to negotiate. We are committed to (reaching) reasonable and fair agreements.”
Vasatka said that once the town signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with VT Gas in June, the company backed away from some of the conditions she wanted to include in her easement, saying the safety issues were now covered under the MOU.
She said the company recently agreed to add that language to her agreement.
Vasatka said she opposes the pipeline regardless of the terms, but wants to protect her interests.
“I hope they deny the Certificate of Public Good,” she said.
Monkton Selectboard Chairman John Phillip said in June that the town couldn’t stop the project and the board signed the MOU to “get the best deal we can for the citizens of the town.”
The MOU compels VTGas, among other conditions, to distribute natural gas to customers in the village and around Monkton Pond, which includes Monkton Central School. The memorandum also requires VTGas to test the water wells of property owners within 300 feet of the line, sets time parameters for construction and blasting, and requires the gas company to “remediate, indemnify, and hold harmless property owners for any physical damage to property if and to the extent damage is caused by construction and/or blasting.”
A PSB decision on the project is expected by the end of the year.
This article was updated at 3:22 p.m. Nov. 4.
