NO SSEP! Guilford county community meeting review

Emily and Aidan worked to organize community members in Guilford county to push the County Commissioners to sign a resolution opposing the Southeastern Supply Enhancement project.  Emily’s statement at the meeting below:

Commissioners heard from Transco/Williams representatives about the benefits of the pipeline project, and several commissioners asked the representatives tough questions that our communities members have been asking. These questions focused on safety, water contamination, stream crossings and habitat destruction, and the chemicals involved in the pipeline coating. We are hopeful that the next Commissioners meeting will include agenda items to oppose this project. Aidan is working diligently with community members and elected officials to stop this unnecessary project! Read our comments to the commissioners here.

“We have heard from Transco that this project is necessary to meet the increasing “energy demand” of our region, but this could be falsely inflated by the proposed buildout for data centers, which may not materialize. That is why now more than ever local municipalities asking regulators to take a hard look at this project is critically needed. You as commissioners have the authority to push back on this project. 

As people throughout North Carolina struggle to cope with rising energy bills, it’s shocking to see methane gas pipelines marketed as a solution. Instead of preying off of uncertainty by promoting a dangerous and ineffective answer to our nation’s growing energy problem, we must focus on what we do know.

Yes, there is a big push to overbuild methane gas infrastructure to replace aging coal plants. However, it’s not everyday people who are pushing for more pipelines– it’s corporate executives looking to line their pockets. Ratepayers like you and me, and cities and counties, could be subsidizing huge projects that may take many years to build, if they ever get built at all.

Transco– the company behind the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, admits in its own public documents that “[t]he benefits of the project are not realized by those who are impacted. Instead, the impacts are born by those whose properties are impacted and benefits are seen by those outside the project area.” When companies admit that our communities will not see the benefits of the projects they propose, we need to listen and act accordingly.

North Carolinians won’t just pay with our money– we’ll pay with our health, too. Although it’s often marketed as a cleaner alternative to coal, methane gas remains a major contributor to climate change, and its extraction and transportation put our communities at risk. Living near fracking wells, pipelines, compressor stations, and power plants can cause asthma, cancer, birth defects and early death.

My work in water quality has given me a crash course in supporting communities with contaminated drinking water. These projects threaten the safety of groundwater and surface water drinking supplies, which once contaminated, is nearly impossible to mitigate. 

Communities in this county in our watershed have private wells that are not protected under the safe drinking water act, that means they are responsible for testing and treating their own wells if they are in fact contaminated. Additionally, this pipeline would pass through headwaters of lake Brant and lake Townsend, which supplies much of the county with drinking water supplies.

We are at a critical moment in this stage of this proposed project. You have the authority to pass a resolution to oppose this project, which will speak loudly to regulators and legislators in our state. Right now, there is a Senate bill proposed that would limit Our state agencies review. Time from 60 days to just five days. This is an impossible timeline to evaluate risk associated with these projects. We need you as commissioners to voice your concern and stand up for the communities you represent

Thank you for listening to your constituents, impacted landowners, and concerned citizens. We look forward to working with you to pass a resolution against this project at your next meeting.”