[A] group of Bristol residents have sued their town’s selectboard and Vermont Gas Systems over a proposed natural gas pipeline and distribution network that was approved without holding a town vote.
Vermont Gas sought approval from the town earlier this year to connect Bristol residents to the 41-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from Colchester to Middlebury. A proposed spur would run along Route 116 into Bristol, with offshoot distribution lines along downtown streets.
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 9 by Bristol attorney James Dumont, alleges that the selectboard violated state law by not first notifying the public of their right to petition for a town vote before the agreement was signed.
Residents sent a letter to the selectboard in July requesting that the matter be voted on, but it was disregarded, Dumont said.
“I’m quite confident that if the notice had been provided and if we had the opportunity, my clients would have gotten the 5 percent quickly and this would have been put to a public vote,” he said, referring to the number of voter signatures a petition requires to compel a vote.
Dumont said residents are seeking to have the agreement voided with the lawsuit, but are not asking for damages.
The agreement signed by the town and Vermont Gas on July 23 gives the company the right to install a pipeline “on every town road” in Bristol, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that natural gas distribution lines “can produce explosions with catastrophic effects on people and properties” if damaged. Dumont said that even if “you had the greatest gas company ever” in terms of safety, most accidents are caused by contractors and unrelated digging near gas lines.
“The nature of the beast is that other people do things underground,” he said.
Natural gas has been hailed by some as a cleaner burning fossil fuel, but Dumont noted that significant amounts of methane — the primary ingredient in natural gas — often leak during extraction, storage and transport. Although the U.S. emits far more carbon dioxide than methane, methane is the most potent greenhouse gas.
Sally Burrell, one of the plaintiffs, said the natural gas pipeline does not meet the guidelines of the town’s energy plan, which aims to avoid related development that can harm the community or the environment.
“It’s a big, dirty fossil fuel,” she said.
Burrell also expressed concerns about the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracking — a controversial method of extracting natural gas by injecting large amounts of water, sand and chemicals underground.
Bristol town administrator Valerie Capels said that the selectboard wants to “be able to provide Bristol residents with a choice” for heating fuel. The town does not agree that the public notice requirement applies to “an underground utility in the town right of way,” she said.
“The selectboard listened very carefully to citizens’ concerns, and at the same time they were hearing from citizens who want the gas,” said Capels, noting that multiple meetings were held on the topic.
Vermont Gas says the pipeline spur running through Bristol will bring a cheaper and cleaner heating option to residents there.
“We entered into a license agreement, as we have done in other towns, to bring service to residents who want a choice,” wrote Beth Parent, the company’s spokesperson.
Parent added that building the distribution pipeline honors a commitment the company made in an earlier agreement between Vermont Gas and the Addison County Regional Planning Commission to bring natural gas to Bristol.
Dumont pushed back against the notion that natural gas is the best option for lower-cost heating. Residents looking to save money on heating bills should invest in home weatherization instead of buying a new gas furnace, he said.
Burrell said she felt energy efficiency combined with heating from locally generated energy sources like wood heat would lower heating bills and keep more money in state.
“I don’t believe it’s going to give people the economic value they think,” Burrell said. “It’s going to cost people over the long run to keep paying for fossil fuels.”
