Standing room-only crowd seeks answers about Bluegrass Pipeline
“The builders of the controversial Bluegrass Pipeline said they could not commit to avoiding eminent domain to build the line, although they reiterated that they didn’t plan to condemn properties for their use.
The statement drew angry reactions from a standing-room crowd of about 200 people in Scott County at a question-and-answer meeting with the pipeline’s builders.
“Eminent domain is a last, last resort,” said Bill Lawson, director of corporate development for Williams Co., one of the pipeline’s developers.
Williams Co. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners are jointly proposing to build the line, which would run from Pennsylvania to Kentucky and connect with an existing pipeline to carry natural gas liquids to Louisiana.
The audience included about two dozen construction workers who supported the line because they wanted to help build it. Landowners concerned about eminent domain told the pipeline’s builders to stay off their properties, and some predicted the issue is likely headed for court.
Company representatives on Thursday told residents in Scott County that they’d so far bought easements for 22 of 182 miles the pipeline would run in Kentucky.
The companies have purchased about 13 percent of the easements along the entire route, representatives said.
Building the line would create 1,500 temporary construction jobs and 32 permanent jobs in Kentucky, Lawson said.”
Keith, Theo. Wave 3 News 22 October 2013.