by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“The proposed pipeline route runs approximately two miles along an eastern portion of the Domain near Jump Off Road,” said Provost Scott Wilson in an Oct. 19 email to leaseholders. “Members of the University’s administration met with company [Kinder Morgan] representatives last week.” Many area landowners have recently received a letter from Kinder Morgan (KM) requesting permission to conduct civil and environmental surveys on their land. “You’re not part of the project unless you received a letter,” said Kinder Morgan Vice President Allen Fore. The 150-mile Southeast Connector Pipeline will pass through 10 middle Tennessee counties connecting KM’s Tennessee Natural Gas Pipeline in Sumner County with the Southern Natural Gas Pipeline, likewise operated by KM, just across the Marion County line in north Alabama. “This is a part of Tennessee that is underserved from a natural gas standpoint,” Fore stressed. “The utilities that are part of the natural gas infrastructure in the state are excited about the opportunity to access a new, plentiful reliable source of natural gas.” One area resident commented to the Messenger that transporting natural gas underground was safer than transporting it by railcar or semitrucks. Another resident commented on the economic benefit to the county. But a large number of residents have come forward opposing the project and formed a Facebook group to solidify their efforts. These Tennessee residents want the pipeline stopped.

According to Fore, the proposed route passes through Sumner, Macon, Trousdale, Smith, DeKalb, Cannon, Warren, Coffee, Franklin and Marion counties and impacts 760 landowners, 40 in Franklin County and 65 in Marion County. KM will not make an upfront payment to counties, but counties will realize property tax benefits for taxation of the infrastructure. Fore estimated tax revenue as $1.6 million for the 13 miles of pipeline in Franklin County and $1 million for the 14 miles of pipeline in Marion County. Emphasizing the “current and long-term need,” Fore called the project a “$1.3 billion investment in middle Tennessee.”

University Biology professor Jon Evans challenged that interpretation. “We’ve only recently started to use natural gas to replace coal burning plants [to produce electricity], then suddenly we add this enormous demand from data centers. That changes the equation dramatically. People think, ‘My cookstove, I’ll have cheaper gas.’ It has nothing to do with that. Where gas is flowing for other pipelines such as this, it’s all about data centers.”

Evans brought to light many concerns. “They say the right of way is 50 feet, but the damage is far larger.” KM acknowledged the construction diameter was 100-125 feet, in conversation with the University describing the area disturbed as “the width of a football field.” “The rare growth forests and plant habitat will never recover,” Evans insisted. Although KM points to rights-of-way used for everything from parking lots to hiking trails, “structures” and “reforestation” are not allowed on rights-of-way.

Even more worrisome is the “blast zone” when a pipeline ruptures. U.S. Department of Transportation Data gives the impact radius as 1,000 feet for a pipe larger than 30 inches in diameter. The Southeast Connector project calls for a 48-inch pipeline. For a pipeline that size “600 feet is the destruction zone where everything gets burned up,” Evans said. Asked if KM would take into account the proximity of homes and schools to the route, Fore said KM would abide by “federal regulations.” Although regulations require pipelines to be buried at least three feet below the surface of the ground, regulations say nothing about any minimum distance away from homes. “There is no limitation on how close gas pipelines can be built to homes,” according to the Pipeline Safety Trust. Fore said a 48” line was “not unusual,” and 42” lines were common. Evans said from his observation, “There is nothing larger than a 48” line.”

Evans suggested KM consider an alternate route along the TVA electric transmission line which follows a path very similar to the proposed route. “There are only a fraction of homes in the blast zone along the TVA line,” Evans observed. Questioned about this alternative, Fore replied the TVA route was “more miles and more landowners.” Evans countered, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) required proposed projects consider alternate routes and the assessment needed to be based on “public welfare and environmental impact, not money.”

For KM, now engaged in preparing a FERC “pre-filing request,” conducting landowner surveys is critical to defining a route and identifying any environmental concerns needing to be assessed. “We’ve found things landowners are unaware of,” Fore said. The route currently proposed has changed and could change again. In other projects cultural relics, endangered species, and even a pet cemetery prompted rerouting, although in that case just to a different location on the landowner’s property. KM is offering landowners $500 to allow them to conduct a survey. Significantly, by Tennessee state law, “A professional land surveyor, the professional land surveyor’s agents, employees and personnel under the professional land surveyor’s supervision, may go on, over and upon the lands of others when necessary to perform surveys for the location of property corners, boundary lines, rights-of-way and easements.”

Advising those opposing the pipeline, Evans argued, “When pipelines are stopped is because enough monkey wrenches got thrown into the works that they just quit or the economic winds of the country change or political winds changed or investors pulled out. If they see there is this monumental wall of complete opposition, they’ll just have to regroup. That’s why it’s absolutely critical, the University which is the biggest duck on the entire pipeline, they have to say, ‘no.’”

Other concerns include damage to drinking water wells and the possibility of a compressor station being located in Franklin County. Fore said landowners with drinking water wells who agreed to easements would be asked if they wanted to have their wells tested before construction began. Fore compared the sound from a compressor station to a refrigerator humming, rated at 55 decibels. Fore explained the stations, located every 40-50 miles along the route to keep the gas moving, were situated in the center of 20-30 acre tracts to buffer the sound.

KM expects to submit the pre-filing request in December. Once the pre-file is approved, KM will apply for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, with the timeline calling for submitting the application in the third quarter of 2027. Environmental impact assessment will begin, and KM and FERC will host public meetings. Fore promised there would be a meeting in Sewanee. Acquiring easements cannot begin until FERC approves the Environmental Impact Statement and awards the project a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

Monetary compensation for easements is based on valuation by a local property assessor and can include loss of trees and loss of revenue on agricultural land during construction. Fore claimed at most 5 percent of landowners refused to sign an easement. When that happens, KM condemns the property under the authority of FERC as “in the public interest.” If an agreement still cannot be reached, the court decides on the value of the contested property. Evans disputed the low rate of opposition. He cited a report stating Tennessee Natural Gas Pipeline, a KM subsidiary, had filed 141 lawsuits against Mississippi landowners.

As tentatively proposed, the Franklin County pipeline passes through St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School property and the Midway community, as well as through the Domain, and along Hwy. 156.

“It’s not in the interest of this institution from a moral, civic, or Christian standpoint for the University to do anything other than the right thing which is to say ‘no’ for their community, and the welfare of their people and for the benefit of our precious environment,” Evans said. “For the University not to do this, the hypocrisy is just mind blowing.”

Based on the email message to leaseholders, the University is well aware of what is at stake. “This proposal understandably raises significant questions and environmental concerns across our campus,” said Provost Wilson. “We understand that Kinder Morgan will formally request permission in the coming weeks to conduct preliminary surveys on University property. The University will evaluate this request.”

Commenting on the University’s publicly stated position, Evans said, “There is no information they need to know, they don’t already have. The community needs to be told why they are not being protected. The University should come right out and say ‘no’ emphatically. There isn’t any excuse to wait a day longer.”