Citizens deliver petition to Beshear, attend Bluegrass Pipeline open houses

Last Wednesday about 100 concerned Kentuckians met on the steps of the state capitol in Frankfort to let Gov. Steve Beshear know they want his help to protect Kentucky land and people from the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline.

They delivered petitions with more than 5,200 signatures to remind the governor of the urgency of this issue and ask him to support legislative action to address uncertainties and gaps in the law.

Sue Massek, of Willisburg and a member of the Reel World String Band, got things started with a song she wrote about the pipeline.  The crowd sang the refrain of the song with her: “Hold on, stand strong, don’t let Williams’ poisons pass through our lands.”

Stacie Meyer of Pendleton County said she is right in the path of the natural gas liquids pipeline. She talked about the concerns of the landowners given the Williams’ company poor safety record.

Meyers said that residents of Pendleton County have no idea what to expect of the pipeline, given the lack of information. She also said that landowners have the power to stop the Bluegrass Pipeline. “We’ve got the land, and we can tell them, ‘No.’ We need to tell Gov. Beshear, absolutely no eminent domain.”

Brad Slutskin, from Versailles, detailed the worries of those who fear claims by the Williams company that it has the authority to use eminent domain to condemn easements for their project. The idea that they can apply eminent domain, Slutskin said, is based on a loose interpretation of Kentucky’s eminent domain statutes.

We need “the governor to use the special session to narrow the eminent domain statutes to make it clear that taking private lands will be prohibited for purely private projects such as this.”

The rally ended in the Capitol rotunda with the crowd gathering to give their petitions, with 5,252 signatures, to an employee in Beshear's office. 

The petition asks the governor to add the pipeline issues to the August 19 special legislative session. Specifically, the request is to create state oversight authority over natural gas liquids pipelines to protect public safety and environmental standards, and to limit eminent domain powers to utility-owned pipelines.”

Some present were upset that the governor, although his office had been notified and a specific request made, did not send a staff person to hear the groups’ concerns and accept the petitions. A receptionist was kind enough to step out of the office to do so.

Shortly after the petitions were delivered, the governor’s office issued a statement declining to place the matter on the special session agenda, indicating the issue was not urgent and could be addressed next year. It was the same statement the governor had made a week before, and did not acknowledge the concerns of the 5,200 people who had signed the petition.

Open Houses

Opposition to the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline continued to grow last week at a series of local events.

Three open houses sponsored by the pipeline companies drew large crowds that included folks coming to try to find out the truth about what land agents had told them, and others who were there to provide information that the company would not.

A handful of pipeline company representatives were present at the first open house in Williamstown, and seemed unprepared for the large crowd that showed up. The next two nights, at open houses in Frankfort and Elizabethtown, at least 25 company personnel were present, including someone who appeared to be stealthily taking pictures of people in attendance.

Many landowners left frustrated that they could not get straight answers, or got inconsistent answers, from company representatives. A few days later in an editorial, the Frankfort State Journal observed:

"Those attending left befuddled after the dog and pony show ended. Concerned residents staggered home dazed with more questions than answers. It was a disaster because the dog performed no tricks and the pony was saddle sore and unable to be ridden."

Many also showed up to express opposition to the pipeline. People held signs showing their opposition to the pipeline in the atrium of the library on Frankfort, and one woman courageously held a sign displaying the Williams company’s safety violations next to the safety station in the open house room. 

Also present at the Frankfort open house was Students against the Bluegrass Pipeline who brought a painted canvas mural that read: “Hold on, stand strong, don’t let Williams poisons pass through our land.” In Elizabethtown, members of the Loretto community sang Amazing Grace.

Pipeline opponents set up information tables at all three open houses and had many good conversations with folks wanting to hear more than just the company’s point of view.

Ben Healy contributed to this post.