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LAKE TWP. — Clumps of mud and rocks that have turned Loyalville Road into a minefield fueled a heated meeting Wednesday with township supervisors, residents and the Williams team that’s building the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline.
The $3 billion pipeline project is crossing through Lake Township to transport natural gas from Susquehanna County to Choctaw County, Alabama.
The pipeline has eight road crossings in Lake Township. Complaints ranged from mud and rocks tracked on roads to construction flaggers delaying an elementary school bus and a work crew yelling and making obscene gestures at motorists.
“The purpose of this meeting is for you to understand what the problems are and get a solution before someone gets hurt,” township Supervisor Chairman Bob Pace said.
A month ago, Pace received a call from a resident at 2 a.m. reporting he thought he hit an animal on Loyalville Road and stopped his vehicle. Upon inspection, the resident saw it was a large clump of mud from the trench site for the pipeline, Pace said.
“We have people living in a dangerous situation,” said Pace. “It does not look like they used geo fabric at Loyalville Road (pipeline site entrances),” he added.
Geo fabric is a permeable material used to aid in drainage and to prevent soil erosion.
Township resident Charles Kohl said he would see trucks leaving a “ribbon of mud” on the road as they exited the pipeline site.
Williams’ contractor, Henkels & McCoy Inc., does have road sweepers that are supposed to clean mud and debris off roadways, said Steve Jay, construction manager.
However, supervisors and residents reported seeing the trucks driving around without the brushes down.
The Atlantic Sunrise project was recently issued a violation for mud on roads by the Luzerne Conservation District, according to Supervisor Jerry Price.
“It seems best management practices may be on your permit, but does your foreman understand them?” Price asked Williams spokeswoman Cindy Ivey, project manager Rob Krenz and Jay.
Site workers are supposed to notify the sweeper drivers when a piece of equipment is leaving the site to control mud and rocks, Krenz said.
“It should be three to four times a day,” said Krenz. “Reports of large clumps of mud and rock is unacceptable. Crews should use shovels to remove it from roads.”
One resident suggested that trucks leaving the site should stop on the rock pad and have excess rocks and mud knocked off to prevent a mess on the roads.
Jay said that is easier to do with bigger trucks than with welding trucks, which have wheel wells that are difficult to see into.
Several residents asked why the road sweepers were not using water to remove the muddy film covering Loyalville and Meeker Outlet roads.
The use of water is prohibited by the Department of Environmental Protection, Price explained.
“We can recommend water usage be added to the permit,” Price said, noting the Luzerne Conservation District’s violation requires Williams to develop a corrective action plan. That gives the company an opportunity to amend the original permit.
‘Very disturbing to us’
Residents voiced concerns about other issues such as construction vehicles parking on both sides of the street, the delay of a school bus filled with elementary students, plus work crews yelling and giving obscene gestures to motorists.
“It definitely sounds like we need to do some retraining,” project manager Krenz said. “The buck stops with us.”
“Flaggers are expected to not use profanity or obscene gestures,” said Williams spokeswoman Ivey. “That is very disturbing to us.”
Jay said the school bus incident on Zosh Road resulted in a delay of about 17 minutes. It was not clear when that took place.
“Flaggers are supposed to call the job foreman when a school bus or emergency vehicle is present,” said Jay. “The flagger felt the plate (covering a trench in the road) was not safe and held the bus. We can do better.”
