BOWLING GREEN — Dozens of Bowling Green-area residents packed city council chambers Monday to hear experts discuss how the proposed NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline’s construction could affect a nearby fault and the city’s water supply.

Arranged by Mayor Richard Edwards, the experts took questions submitted by city council about how the 36-inch pipeline’s construction could impact the area during construction and when natural gas is pumped through. Opponents have expressed concerns about how close the pipeline will be to the city’s water treatment plant, its water intake in the Maumee River, a quarry, and the Bowling Green Fault.

“This is the worst possible place they could put the river crossing,” said Bowling Green State University researcher Andrew Kear.

Mr. Kear raised concerns about the fault’s seismic potential if drilling fluid leaks into the fault zone. He also said he was worried that if gas or fluids entered the fault, it could migrate along the fault zone toward the water intake.

The fault, which runs from southeast Michigan to the Findlay area, is at some places covered by significant amounts of material, while at the Maumee River, it is visible when the river is low.

Houston-based Spectra Energy, which is developing the project with DTE Energy and others, has argued that the environmental impact statement done for the pipeline shows it does not include earthquake-prone areas. The pipeline will move natural gas extracted from fracked shale in southern Ohio to southwest Ontario.

Panelists disagreed on how much risk there was in the pipeline’s proposed crossing of the Maumee, though all agreed more data is needed. When asked if the project posed a clear threat to the city’s water supply, there were a range of opinions.

“My opinion is now there isn’t,” said Steve Champa, senior hydrogeologist with consulting firm Eagon & Associates.

The water intake is upstream from the proposed pipeline, meaning any material that entered the fault would go downstream, he said. Mr. Kear, however, argued it wasn’t clear what would happen if drilling liquid or natural gas leaked.

Charles Onasch, a retired professor and chairman of geology at BGSU, said that if NEXUS is built in a safe manner, the risk would be minimal. Construction away from the river shouldn’t be too much of a problem. But he said the Bowling Green Fault is complex.

“The issue is if they can get under that river in a safe manner,” he said.

Mark Baranoski, who retired from the Ohio Geological Survey, said that a geophysical survey of the area would prove better information about the fault system and how risky drilling near the fault would be.

The project appears to be temporarily on hold because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s five-member governing board no longer has a quorum. Mayor Edwards said the event Monday helped to define what questions the city wants to ask FERC during the approval process.

“We can’t take on the whole thing,” he said. “But the potential threat to our water system is something that we have to keep raising that particular issue.”

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086, or on Twitter @NolanRosenkrans.

First Published May 9, 2017, 4:00 a.m.