Natural Gas Pipeline Developers, Williams Companies and Williams Partners, Taking Actions that Impact The Nesbitt Parcel and Unnecessarily Delaying the Atlantic Sunrise Expansion

DALLAS TOWNSHIP, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

A spokesperson for an intervenor in the Atlantic Sunrise Expansion Project said today that the pipeline developer has taken actions that impact The Nesbitt Parcel that are unnecessarily delaying the natural gas pipeline project and threatening priceless cultural and environmental resources. This should concern the company's shareholders.

"An environmentally and culturally acceptable expansion route for the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline could have been finalized long ago, but the inexplicable actions of the pipeline developer has chosen a route that will ultimately result in a highly contested fight and delaying construction of the project even longer," said attorney Carolyn Elefant on behalf of Geraldine Nesbitt, an impacted landowner and intervenor in the project, which is currently under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). See filing here:

"The developer, The Williams Companies Inc. WMB and Williams Partners L.P. WPZ, is compromising the project by proposing a pipeline route that is far inferior to the route (ALT-12W) currently under federal review," said Elefant. "And it did so using inaccurate information and questionable timing to usurp the review process."

"Alt-12W covers virtually the same distance and has the advantage of being positioned along several right-of-ways, including a corridor already used by Williams," Elefant added. "It also provides greater construction, inspection, and maintenance access in areas where the environment has already been disturbed.

"ALT-12W is an environmentally superior choice and, most importantly, it avoids highly regarded Native American cultural resources in the area. Incredulously, Williams proposed modifying the route without any acknowledgement of the significant cultural and environmental resources their proposal would destroy -- cultural resources they are aware of but apparently are working to ensure the reviewing agencies will never consider.

"Williams overstated impacts along Alt-12W and grossly understated impacts along the route they now are seeking. For example, Williams treats agricultural ditches along Alt-12W as being environmentally equal to the undisturbed, first order streams, which feed wetlands of special concern that would be directly impacted by the pipeline. And they did so at the end of the FERC commenting period, timing their proposal to foreclose any meaningful response by the public.

"It is baffling why those advising Williams would target a route through a large parcel of land that experts believe meets the criteria to be qualified as a UNESCO World Heritage site due to the significant Native American and colonial cultural resources on the property, and has the biodiversity equal to or exceeds any state park in Pennsylvania.

"The actions of Williams raise some serious questions and their shareholders and investors have to be wondering what they are thinking: Is the developer purposefully seeking a Standing-Rock type confrontation? Is the Williams strategy to move forward destroying cultural resources and accept the eventual monetary fine as a cost of doing business? And why choose such a fight when there is a practical and feasible alternative route, which includes a corridor that Williams already has access to?"

About Geraldine Nesbitt

Geraldine Nesbitt is the owner of The Nesbitt Parcel in Dallas Township, PA. The Williams Companies WMB and Williams Partners WPZ are enlarging and expanding the capacity of an interstate pipelines through what is called the Atlantic Sunrise project. Williams Partners seeks eminent domain powers to impact land owned by Ms. Nesbitt. She has intervened as an impacted landowner to protect unique Native American and colonial cultural resources. The pipeline would ship large amounts of natural gas from wells in the Marcellus Shale formations to markets in the Northeast United States as well as foreign export as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

About The Nesbitt Parcel

The Nesbitt Parcel has been owned and conserved by the Nesbitt family for more than 120 years. Abram Nesbitt, a prominent businessman and philanthropist who founded the area's first hospital in 1912, bought the first section of the current ownership in the 1890s. Eventually, 40 other parcels were purchased and added together to form the current Nesbitt Parcel. The parcel has highly significant Native American and U.S. Colonial cultural and environmental resources.

Note: The Nesbitt Parcel is private property and trespassers are subject to prosecution.
©Copyright 2016 by Geraldine Nesbitt. All rights reserved.

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