Petition asks Gov. Beshear to help protect Kentuckians from the Bluegrass Pipeline
We are Kentuckians, and we are working hard to protect our land, water, air and health.
Kentuckians all along its projected route have been standing up against the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline. In just a few short weeks there has been an amazing amount of grassroots organizing – with 80 people out to a community meeting in Millville, 50 in Hodgenville, more than 100 in Springfield, Bardstown, Loretto and elsewhere.
They are concerned about damage to our water resources (most of the route is along a high-karst area), loss of property value, loss of the use of their land, leaks and explosions (the company has a poor safety record), and the disruption to their farm operations and rural quality of life. And they are disturbed by the company’s misinformation and threats to use eminent domain to take easements.
What is the
|
| The Bluegrass Pipeline would carry Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) from the fracked lands along the Pennsylvania and Ohio border, down through Kentucky, to Louisiana where they will be processed and exported. NGLs are not an energy product; they are a byproduct of fracking used primarily to make plastics. When NGL lines leak, they are extremely dangerous, poisoning the groundwater and putting people at risk of explosions above ground.Hazardous liquid pipelines account for only 3.4% of all pipeline miles in Kentucky. Yet between 2003 and 2012 they accounted for 30.9% of all "significant incidents," 66.6% of all injuries, and 67.3% of all property damage. For more information, see our previous blog posts here and here, the toolkit from New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future, or visit stopbluegrasspipeline.us |
This work has resulted in fiscal courts in Franklin, Scott and Marion counties passing resolutions registering opposition to the pipeline, with more counties likely to follow. Landowners are refusing to give the company permission to survey their land, and others who initially gave permission based on misinformation are rescinding permission. Several times already the company has shifted it route in order to find a path of least resistance.
But we are dealing with a couple of billion-dollar Wall Street companies who believe they can use eminent domain to condemn their way across Kentucky, even though this privately-owned pipeline will provide no public benefit to Kentuckians.
Our strategies include getting the General Assembly to clarify eminent domain laws so that a privately owned company not regulated as a “public utility” does not have the power of eminent domain. This is an urgent matter and we are asking the governor to place this and another pipeline issue on the agenda for the August 19 special legislative session.
Here is how you can take action!
1) Contact Governor Beshear and ask him to include landowners safeguards and oversight for Natural Gas Liquid Pipelines in the special session. Remind him this is urgent as the company intends to secure and start clearing easement this fall.
The governor has already been well-informed about what specific statutes need to change in order to 1) make sure "natural gas liquid pipelines" don’t exploit regulatory gaps to avoid scrutiny for public safety and environmental protections, and 2) limit eminent domain powers as described above.
Governor’s office: 502-564-2611
Online contact form: http://governor.ky.gov/Pages/contact.aspx
2) Come help us present our petitions to the governor’s office on Wednesday, August 7, at 3 p.m. Meet on the front steps of the capitol. So far, the governor has not yet agreed to to include NGLs on the call for the special session. He says there is plenty of time. There isn’t. So we’ll be delivering our petitions to the governor to further impress on him that he needs to take action now.
Add new comment