Fair Grounds Road resident Jane Tolomello turned off the recording she made one Sunday afternoon in June of gunfire in the woods behind her house, which is 800 feet away from a proposed natural gas apparatus.
“Those shots went on for two hours. Constantly,” she told the Dallas Township zoning hearing board Monday. “The police told me there was nothing they could do.”
On Monday night it was residents’ turn to state their case opposing a natural gas metering station about one-third of a mile from the Dallas district schools. Main concerns include age of the 1950s-vintage Transco interstate pipeline would be tapping into, the apparent lack of emergency plans for the district and what would happen in the event of a natural gas emergency.
After a series of hearings, Chief wrapped up its testimony on Aug. 22 for a metering station to measure gas going from wells in Susquehanna County to the Transco, which is owned by Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams.
Kim Jacobs, who has children in the Dallas schools, was worried about the “small, two-lane roads” to the Dallas schools: Hildebrandt, Conynham and Pear Tree Lane. When students are being dropped off and picked up, the traffic is congested and sometimes backed up to the traffic light on Route 309, she said.
Word spreads, and if ever there was an accident or a false alarm, Mother A will call Mother B and pretty soon every parent and caregiver will be converging on the school, Jacobs said. Congestion, if an emergency, would be “times 100. It would be exponential,” she said.
Franklin Township resident Maureen Oremus, who is a firefighter, parent of children in the Dallas schools and who works for the district, gave a rundown of emergency procedures from the 2008 Emergency Response Guide. She doesn’t feel the district is prepared, in the event of an emergency, to evacuate the district’s 2,697 students, plus all the teachers and staff. She confirmed Jacobs’ fear that traffic on the roads would be tied up, and said she did not think the district had an emergency evacuation plan.
Tolomello said she was concerned about the activities that go on in the woods behind her house which could damage the metering station, including hunters’ stray bullets and vandalism by partying teens. Her 16-year-old daughter attends Dallas High School, and she worries about her safety in school, as well as at home, along with her husband and three pets.
“I never get to escape. I never get to pick up my daughter and go home and sleep at night,” she said.
Resident Diane Dreier pointed out the Dallas Township zoning ordinance prohibits hazardous substances in an agricultural area.
She exhibited a July 28 letter from state Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, to a representative of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the reply indicating natural gas is listed on the federal hazardous materials table.
Norm Tomchak said his concern is about the connection of the Chief pipeline to the Transco, based on the age of the interstate pipeline.
“I’m amazed at the lack of knowledge regarding the Transco interstate transmission line,” he said, referring to Chief’s witnesses. He said “there seem to be a lot of I-don’t-knows” about the shutoff valve, where compressor stations are located, and a basic lack of physical knowledge of the Transco pipeline.
Chief attorney Ken Komoroski recalled company vice president Jim Scott testified Chief had at least four tie-ins to the Transco in the previous year.
Tomchak said while some parts of the Transco may have been refurbished, he was concerned about the part in Dallas.
“My concern is based upon its age, period.”
Barbara Fleming, who has three daughters in the Dallas schools, worries about an explosion.
When Fleming expressed doubts about the additional pressure on the Transco, Komoroski asked whether if she knew there wouldn’t be increased pressure, it would alter her view.
She said it would make her feel better, but the pipeline would still keep getting older. If a pipeline integrity management plan was in place, Fleming said she would want to know who is monitoring Chief to make sure those guidelines are followed
Komoroski asked if that program was being followed, and it was being double-checked, would it address her concerns?
It would help, Fleming admitted, but said she didn’t want any natural gas activity so close to the schools, whether above or below the ground.
The next hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in Insalaco Hall at Misericordia University.
Read more: https://citizensvoice.com/news/residents-speak-out-against-natural-gas-drilling-in-dallas-twp-1.1206160#ixzz1YWGzGZKy
Post time: Jun-19-2017