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At a hearing in August, Joanne Kerecz of Case Road in Avon examines the path of a natural gas pipeline that officials want to run through her land.
(Michael Sangiacomo)
AVON LAKE, Ohio - A decision is expected by or before June 8 on whether a natural gas pipeline can be constructed from the NRG plant in Avon Lake through 20 miles of Lorain County.
The gas would allow the coal-burning plant to be converted to use cleaner-burning natural gas.
The Ohio Power Siting Board will hold a final hearing April 23 in Columbus. Even so, a spokesman for NRG said the window to begin work this month is already closed.
"We only had until April 1 to cut down the trees because they are the nesting place for bats," said NRG spokesman David Gaier, spokesman for NRG's eastern division. "We missed that deadline and can't begin until October."
The endangered Indiana bats have become a force that builders must reckon with in Northern Ohio where the bats typically nest. The new middle school proposed for North Ridgeville faced similar restrictions.
But the delay means that the $40 million pipeline project has been set back about seven or eight months.
The pipeline will tap into an existing line near Grafton and run north through LaGrange, Elyria, North Ridgeville, Eaton Township, Avon and into the NRG plant on Lake Road in Avon Lake. The coal-burning NRG plant would then reopen toward the end of 2016 to provide electrical energy during hours of peak demand.
For a detailed look at the pipeline's path, click here.
The transformation would reduce the number of employees from 75 to anywhere between 35 and 45.
"I can't say how many days it would be used, it could operate more," said Gaier. "We just don't know how many days or how many people we will need to run it."
NRG has filed eminent domain lawsuits against at least 26 property owners to build the pipeline.
At an August hearing in Avon, Joanne Krecz of Case Road in Avon said she wanted no part of the pipeline.
"I own 29 acres and they want to cut a path 100 feet wide across part of it and bury a gas line that might explode," she said in August. "How will I ever sell my property?"
NRG officials are negotiating with some residents and have filed lawsuits to claim the land through eminent domain if negotiations fail. That means a judge would determine if the easement is necessary and how much the homeowner should be paid.
There are more than 100 landowners along the path, but many of them are businesses or governments.
Columbus attorney Michael Braunstein represents 26 landowners who would "prefer not having the pipelines through through properties." But he said the pipeline is likely to happen whether they want it or not.
"The state and the federal governments are very interested in transforming coal-burning plants to (cleaner-burning) natural gas plants," he said. "So we want to make sure the pipeline is constructed properly and that the landowners are fairly compensated."
The mayors of both Avon and Avon Lake support the pipeline.
Braunstein wants to see the pipes buried one or two feet deeper than proposed.
"NRG wants to bury the pipes only 36 inches deep from the top of the pipe to the surface," he said. "We would prefer that the pipe be buried one to two feet lower, so if there ever is a problem it would have less effect."
Braunstein said an example of why residents oppose the pipeline can be found in the Flint Ridge housing development in Grafton in southern Lorain County.
"These are very nice homes, maybe costing upwards of $300,000," he said. "They have a nice stretch of trees in their backyards that separates them from their neighbors. Most or all of those trees will be removed. They (NRG) want a 50-foot easement through the properties and another 100 feet beyond that to allow work to be done. So they will cut a 150-foot wide swath through those properties."
Plant officials have said if they can not get the pipeline built, there is a "real possibility" that the plant will shut down.
The company hopes to convert the old, coal-burning plant on the shore of Lake Erie to a cleaner-burning natural gas plant by the end of 2016. NRG officials said they can't afford the hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to install scrubbers demanded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to keep a coal-burning plant in operation, so they want to make the switch to gas.
Gaier said he is pleased with the support the project has received from residents, government officials and businesses.