If the proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline from eastern Baltimore County to Pennsylvania is approved, Mike and Pat Liberatore face two daunting possibilities.
Under one scenario, the Harford County couple could lose most of the trees on their property. Under the other, they say, the LNG pipeline could come through their bedroom.
The kicker? "We can't get our home connected for natural gas," says Mike Liberatore, a builder who has lived in the Street area for 13 years. "We won't see the benefits of this."
FOR THE RECORD - An article in yesterday's Maryland section incorrectly referred to a proposed natural gas pipeline as a LNG pipeline. Under the plan, a terminal would be built in Sparrows Point to receive tankers carrying liquefied natural gas, but the liquid would be returned to its gaseous state before being pumped through a proposed pipeline to Pennsylvania.
The Sun regrets the error.
As the deadline nears for federal regulators to decide whether to approve the project - which includes building an LNG terminal in Sparrows Point - a last-minute round of public meetings has been scheduled to provide details about the proposed pipeline and give residents such as the Liberatores more information about potential effects of the construction.
A meeting scheduled for today in Lancaster County, Pa., was requested by Rep. Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican whose district includes that county and parts of the westernmost suburbs of Philadelphia.
Staff from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - which ultimately decides where LNG plants and pipelines are built - will also meet with property owners along the proposed pipeline today through Thursday as they review route alternatives.
The final FERC staff report on the project is scheduled to be released Friday, but it could be delayed by the additional meetings, according to an agency spokeswoman.
A vote on the project by the five-member commission is planned for late November.
Under the plan by Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp., the LNG terminal would be built on the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard on Sparrows Point. Overseas tankers would deliver the liquid fuel, which would be returned to its gaseous state at the facility in Dundalk.
The product would then be pumped through the pipeline to Eagle, Pa., where three interstate natural gas pipelines converge within a mile of one another. There, the gas would enter existing pipelines connected to smaller gas lines that serve homes and businesses.
By increasing the natural gas supply in the region, prices for gas customers should drop, said Richard Hoffmann, executive director of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation.
Logistically, the pipeline is necessary, he said: "Sites like Sparrows Point are few and far between."
