U.S. Congressman Sanford Bishop to take part in pipeline listening session

ALBANY — Two Dougherty County Commissioners and one of their former colleagues who is running to rejoin them have scheduled a listening session at 10 a.m. Thursday with U.S. House District 2 Congressman Sanford Bishop to discuss the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission Gas Pipeline project and a planned accompanying compressor station that could transport up to a billion cubic feet of natural gas a day through portions of the county.

District 2 Commissioner John Hayes, District 3’s Clinton Johnson and former District 5 Commissioner Gloria Gaines, who is seeking the commission chairmanship in the May 20 Democratic primary, asked Bishop to attend the session being held to allow citizens to provide feedback and share concerns about the multibillion-dollar pipeline project.

“When we made the appeal to Congressman Bishop, he was very willing to take part in the listening session,” Gaines said Monday morning of the session scheduled for Room 100 of the Dougherty County Government Center at 222 Pine Ave. “We got an answer from his office right away, and that’s very encouraging.

“What we’d like is for the congressman to make sure federal officials (with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) are listening to the questions we’re asking, and we’d like to hear what he can do to assure us they’re listening.”

Gaines said she, Hayes and Johnson decided to call on Bishop after attending local meetings held to discuss the pipeline project, which will pass through approximately 24 miles of Dougherty County on its 465-mile route from central Alabama to central Florida. The natural gas will be utilized by Florida Power and Light to provide electricity for a large portion of the state.

“Our concern grew from attending those meetings Sabal Trail and FERC officials held in the community, and from the comments expressed by the people of Dougherty County,” Gaines said. “One primary issue at this time is that the (April 20) deadline is growing near when comments from the ‘scoping process’ close. I think it’s important for citizens to know at what juncture they are allowed to make comments, and, more importantly, how the federal agency plans to respond.”

Johnson said the pipeline will most likely come through the county, but citizens are concerned about what safety precautions will be taken during construction and eventual operation of the pipeline