N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger took time last week to speak to the Oak Ridge Town Council, discussing a variety of subjects. As he was leaving, a local resident engaged him in the debate over Transco’s proposed addition of a pressurized gas line crossing the Piedmont, including the small Greensboro suburb.
Berger expressed support for the new pipeline, in his unplanned encounter with Oak Ridge homeowner Joe Cimbala. He stopped Berger as he was leaving the town hall. A retired Pittsburgh steelworker who moved to Oak Ridge about 20 years ago, Cimbala expressed his opposition to plans by Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams Cos. to expand its Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line system. (It’s better known as Transco.)
Passing through the state for many years, it’s an artery of nearly 10,000 miles of pipelines looping across the southeastern U.S. from south Texas to New York City. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups are trying to energize opposition by holding community meetings and winning the support of property owners such as Cimbala living near the existing pipeline.
The existing pipeline has “been there for over 70 years,’’ Cimbala told Berger. “It’s way past its useful life. Everybody knows that it’s very vulnerable, and it’s going to fail. It’s just a matter of time.’’
“No, I don’t know that,’’ Berger said. “I do know that there is significant regulation in connection with all sorts of pipelines and that regulation includes making sure that the existing pipelines that are in the ground are maintained and taken care of in a way to make sure that they are safe.’’
Berger has served in the Senate since 2000 and is seeking reelection to a 14th term next year for state Senate District 26, serving Rockingham and a portion of Guilford County. Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page has said he will also run in next year’s primary for the Republican nomination.
“I know for a fact that as we see North Carolina grow, if we want to have jobs for people in North Carolina down the road, we’ve got to have an adequate supply of gas,’’ the senator said. “And that supply of gas would not only help heat homes, but also provide energy for manufacturing and provide energy for a generation of electricity that is dependable and dispatchable.’’
The largest user of the additional natural gas would be Duke Energy Carolinas, according to Transco’s project application to the Federal Energy Resources Commission last October. The Charlotte-based utility would use the gas for electricity generation, as part of its updated 2023 carbon plan to retire the use of coal by 2035.
Transco’s new pipeline would cross five southeastern states. Measuring 42 inches in diameter, it would transport pressurized gas in Transco’s existing corridor in Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth and Davidson counties, according to the application.
Cimbala pointed out to Berger that the new pipeline, if approved, would run “parallel to the existing pipeline, which means it’s going to have a major impact on the existing pipeline that’s aged,’’ he said. “That’s a known fact.’’
Berger said he didn’t agree that putting a new pipeline within the same right of way will create a danger.
“It slices right through the town through a lot of dense businesses, schools, housing plans, and it’s impacting our property values, resale values,’’ Cimbala continued. “I know for a fact; I live right in the neighborhood.’’
“I understand that there are some folks that are concerned about safety. I’m concerned about safety,’’ Berger said. Edging toward the door to end the conversation, he told Cimbala “you and I are just not going to agree on whether or not this is a good thing. We’re just not going to agree.’’
