Up-to-date Resources on the Campaign against a proposed pipeline in Chatham County

GOOD NEWS AND COALITION BUILDING

We recently sat down with Chatham County and Pittsboro elected officials to talk strategy, and we left that meeting feeling encouraged. Our county commissioners are actively working on policies and resolutions to stop this project. They are on our side. When communities and their elected leaders stand together, they have real power, and that is exactly what is being built right now.

WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE GROUND

Landowners along the proposed route are receiving aggressive letters from Enbridge attorneys. These letters cite NC General Statute 40A-11, a right of entry law, to pressure people into allowing surveyors access to their property.  You do not have to let surveyors onto your property. If you receive one of these letters or if someone shows up at your door claiming they have a right to access your land, please reach out to us before you do anything and/or contact the Chatham County Sheriff. 

Haw River Assembly is currently working with experts at Southern Environmental Law Center to learn more about the expected permitting process. We will keep you updated as soon as we have more information. As this pipeline does not cross multiple state lines, we have learned that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (or, FERC) will not be involved in this process in the ways that we are used to with other fracked-gas pipelines we have organized around. We are working closely with Shiloh Daum, an attorney with deep experience in exactly these kinds of cases, and we are grateful for his support and guidance every step of the way.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LANDOWNERS: If you've been contacted by a land agent, it is in your best interest to talk to a lawyer before signing anything. Land agents work for the pipeline company, not for you. Do not allow access. Ask questions without revealing answers. Learn more atpipelinecenter.org/landowners-guide-to-pipelines.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'VE BEEN THREATENED BY ENBRIDGE ATTORNEYS WITH NO NOTICE OF SURVEYING

Thanks to our dear friend and neighbor, John Alderman - I'm sharing his brilliant response with you as a model for your responses. Our friend Shiloh Daum actually worked on the Town of Apex v. Rubin case, and is working directly with several of you to provide advice. Thank you, Shiloh!

Send to: Enbridge Attorney Mr. Rhoad (mrhoad@smithlaw.com) and Doyle Land Surveying Representative (jflora@doyleland.com):

Dear Mr. Rhoad: I have not received the same recent letter written to my neighbors advising them that surveyors will trespass on their property soon.  Given these letters, I want to make it clear that under no circumstances will we allow trespassers on our working farm (business) to allow another business (Enbridge) to ultimately take part of our business.

I object to any entry onto our property by Enbridge Gas North Carolina or its contractors. Our position is that the proposed entry is prohibited under the North Carolina Constitution as recognized in the North Carolina Supreme Court decision in Town of Apex v. Rubin. While Enbridge Gas North Carolina relies upon N.C.G.S. §40A-11, the North Carolina Constitution controls over any statute where constitutional private property protections are implicated. We do not agree that the statute authorizes entry onto private property under these circumstances. The proposed activities involve significant constitutional and legal issues concerning private property rights, physical invasion of land, agricultural and forestry uses, and the scope of any claimed eminent domain authority. These highly complex issues should be resolved by the courts before any entry for surveying occurs. Accordingly, I do not consent to entry onto our property and reserve all our constitutional and legal rights.  Failure to honor our request will be considered acts of harassment.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

Talk to your neighbors. Knock on doors. Tell your friends at church. Strike up a conversation with the parents you see in the school pickup line every afternoon. The more people who know what is happening, the stronger we are.

There are so many ways to raise awareness and get involved! First, check out this public Google Drive containing up-to-date resources related to this fight: Fight Enbridge Pipeline Chatham County Resource Folder. Flyers are coming soon! We are creating half-page flyers for folks to print out and share with neighbors, leave behind at coffee shops, etc. We will send these out as soon as we have them, they'll also be placed in the Resource Folder. 

There are myriad different roles for people to do, these are just a few important roles. And it takes different strengths for each role! Not one person can do all of these things. And of course, HRA and other organizers will be supporting every step of the way. Folks just need to express interest; there's not expectation for folks to know exactly how to do all these things - that's why we will plan a Core Team meeting to go over all questions and details. Email aidan@hawriver.org to express your interest or come to a community gathering to take action! 

Petition Captains - Pick times, places, and dates for getting paper petitions over the next 2-3 months. Ensure lead petitioners have supplies (paper petitions, clipboards, pens, stickers, etc.) and that they get mailed, or taken a picture of, or handed to the databasing captain within a week.

Grassroots Meeting Coordinators - Reach out to individual City Council, County Commissioners, state elected officials and other advisory board members to request meetings on the topic. Bring in other volunteers, create an agenda and follow up.

Outreach Captains - Help with community mapping. Reach out to the groups listed in community mapping spreadsheet to ask to make presentations and help find volunteers to make those presentations. Print flyers and strategically find places to post them. Support door-knocking campaigns.

Media Coordinator - Support getting letters to the editor placed and other news interviews. Reach out, offer to help review, edit, or write letters and coach others on how to get them published.

Facilitators - Facilitate the regular meetings of the core team. Set time, date, agenda, and location. If virtual, help set up a meeting link, and send out reminders + notes / action items.

VOLUNTEER NEEDED: PHONE TREE COORDINATOR - Not everyone in our community has reliable access to a computer or the internet, and we don't want anyone left out. We need a volunteer to manage a phone tree to make sure information reaches these community members directly. If you're able to help with this, please reach out to us.

HELP US MAP THE ROUTE

Enbridge has not released a public map of the pipeline route. We are crowdsourcing a proposed route based on who has and who has not received calls or letters from surveyors. If you've received contact from surveyors and haven't already spoken with John Alderman, please reach out to us at aidan@hawriver.org. Every data point helps.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THIS PIPELINE

The proposed Chatham County System Expansion Project is a 28-mile pipeline proposed by Enbridge, a Canadian corporation. It would run to the Moncure industrial site, where a 750-megawatt data center has been proposed. Duke Energy has stated that new pipelines and power plants are necessary to fuel growth from data centers, meaning residents may ultimately be asked to subsidize infrastructure that primarily serves large industrial customers.The pipeline route could cross tributaries to the Deep River and other major waterways, including the Rocky River and the Haw. Pipeline construction and operation can pollute waterways and cause long-term harm or destruction to aquatic life, habitat, and water quality.We know the pipeline will reportedly be 12”.  The pipe will be installed to a 4’ depth. The Right of Way (RoW) width will be approximately 75 ’-not as much as a wider fracked-gas pipeline like the SSEP or MVP, but nonetheless, very impactful. Studies have found toxic chemicals associated with pipelines, coatings, and compressor stations that can harm lung, heart, and brain health. Economically, pipeline operators typically pay little or no property taxes and don't create many local jobs. The jobs that do exist are mostly short-term construction work filled by out-of-town contractors. Pipelines have historically caused property values to decrease and can prevent landowners from putting their land to more profitable uses like crops, livestock, solar, and more. Nationally, Enbridge has accumulated over $283 million in fines for environmental violations since 2000, and more than $700,000 in safety violation fines.

WE HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE

This is not the first time a pipeline has threatened the Haw watershed, and we successfully beat one back before. We will do it again. 

We continue to work with local and state elected officials, but they should be hearing from you too!

We will also be coordinating with attorneys at Southern Environmental Law Center on the processes for permitting to lay the groundwork for permit fights when they happen. 

STAY CONNECTED

We will share information as we receive it through our email list, our Facebook group, and this webpage, where all updates and resources will live. Please note that all of our updates are public. We have no way to prevent our messages from reaching Enbridge or Doyle Land Services employees, so please keep that in mind.

~ Haw River Assembly, 7 Directions of Service, Clean Water for NC, the Deep River Riverkeeper, and Concerned Chatham Community Leaders