Local farmers against proposed pipeline
“The Hepler family has made a living for seven generations plowing fields and tending livestock on their farm in Eldred Township. They have overcome many setbacks over that time, but a proposed natural gas pipeline that would cut through that section of Schuylkill County has Jim Hepler and other farmers concerned about their livelihoods.
“When you look over this beautiful valley, all you see are family farms,” Jesse Hepler, Jim’s 37-year-old son, said Thursday. “This is how we make a living. We just feel we can’t take another hit like that.”
Jim Hepler, owner of Hepler Hosteins, invited U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-17, to his farm Thursday afternoon so that he and other local farmers can voice their concerns about the proposed pipeline.
The Williams Companies Inc., an energy company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is planning to expand its Transco pipeline to connect the natural gas fields in northern Pennsylvania to markets in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern states by 2017. Dubbed the “Atlantic Sunrise Project,” the proposed expansion includes construction of about 178 miles of 72-inch diameter, high pressure gas pipelines in Pennsylvania and at least two new compressor stations in Susquehanna and Columbia counties. That section of the proposed pipeline, called the Central Penn South Line, includes running 17.6 miles of pipeline through five townships in the western part of Schuylkill County.”
Gilger, Mark. Republican Herald 10 October 2014.