SWANTON — As dozens of area residents arrived Wednesday evening at Swanton High School to hear about NEXUS Gas Transmission’s proposed 250-mile pipeline planned for northern Ohio and southeastern Michigan, many were greeted by property owners who claimed they were asked to leave the premises because of their steadfast opposition to the project.
Many of the protesters are part of a local group called Neighbors Against NEXUS, or NAN, and a much larger, nine-county group of citizens called Coalition to Reroute NEXUS, or CORN.
They said school officials and law enforcement officers told them they were not allowed to stage a demonstration on the sprawling high school complex.
So, instead, they split up and covered the site’s two entrances.
“This doesn’t seem very American,” Martha Mora, co-owner of Johnston Fruit Farms on Airport Highway, said. “I never thought I’d be a protester, but this sort of thing bothers me.”
A short drive away, Richard Bowser, 67, of the Swanton area, stood in the cold with a large sign in opposition to the project.
“Our taxes paid for that school. We paid for that school, not NEXUS,” he fumed.
Two of NAN’s leaders, Liz Athaide-Victor and Paul Wohlfarth, said they thought they had an understanding with NEXUS and others involved with the pipeline company’s open house, one of a series of 10 being held across Ohio and Michigan.
They said school officials told them just before the event began it was school policy not to allow demonstrations on school property, something Swanton police helped the school enforce.
The activists also said they were denied an earlier agreement for exhibit space at the open house.
Arthur Diestel, NEXUS spokesman, had a slightly different version. He said the pipeline company told protesters it didn’t mind if they demonstrated and handed out literature near the building entrances, but did not want them to block access to or discourage people from attending the open house.
As it turned out, dozens of people enjoyed the building’s warmth and the friendly atmosphere of the open house, in which numerous representatives answered questions, handed out literature, and encouraged residents to look at printed maps and use interactive computer maps to gain a better understanding of the project.
Several voiced concerns about the pipeline, which NEXUS wants to construct in 2017. Such opponents said it would get too close to the Oak Openings region and homes.
“We just want to protect the sensitive region of the Oak Openings,” said Nick Wohlfarth, who owns 20 acres near Swanton and is Paul Wohlfarth’s son.
But Mr. Diestel reminded people the open house was part of a long planning process to ultimately determine the route later this year.
No decisions are final. A 600-foot-wide corridor that residents have seen will be narrowed to a proposed 100-foot-wide corridor in the coming weeks, after the open houses. The final recommendation will be for a 50-foot-wide path.
“We’re listening,” Mr. Diestel said. “This is a fluid route. It’s moving.”
NEXUS also says there is the probability for economic development from the pipeline. Although plans call for it to connect with an existing line and take natural gas into southwestern Ontario, major users, such as natural gas plants and industrial manufacturers, could tap into it along the way in Ohio and Michigan, Mr. Diestel said.
While opponents continue to raise concerns about a pipeline’s impact on property values, NEXUS representatives said they soon expect to have an economic impact study completed by the Ohio State University that will show positive effects.
“This will be a backbone for growth,” Mr. Diestel said.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.
First Published February 12, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
