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A national energy company has responded to local officials' statements that a natural gas pipeline is unsafe due to a landslip.
On Feb. 22, Washington County Commissioners approved sending a letter written by County Engineer Roger Wright.
The letter expressed concerns about a landslip near a natural gas pipeline owned by East Ohio Gas Company located on a parcel owned by Duck Creek Farm Ltd. at 850 Hunter Ave.
The pipeline crosses under Duck Creek, crosses over the land owned by Duck Creek Farms Ltd., then turns and crosses under Hunter Avenue and goes to East Ohio Gas Company's facility at 825 Hunter Ave.
Dominion Energy owns East Ohio Gas Company, though there is a sale of the company to Enbridge expected to close this year.
The owner of Duck Creek Farms, Ken Strahler, said at the commission meeting that he reported the landslip 11 years ago and that he was told by state politicians and the energy company officials that everything is okay, but that he is concerned because the landslip is still moving. Commissioners expressed concern over the chance the landslip may cause an explosion and that the landslip has not been fixed.
Dominion Energy responded to requests for comment by email on Feb. 23 and Feb. 27.
Dominion Energy Ohio Communications Consultant Stephanie Moore said in the Feb. 23 email, "Pipeline safety is a top priority at Dominion Energy and federal and state regulations require us to regularly perform maintenance and compliance activities to monitor our assets."
Moore said that in September 2022 Dominion Energy participated in a meeting at the pipeline site with the local mayor, township trustees, the fire chief, the landowner, and officials from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to visually evaluate the pipeline due to concerns of creek erosion and shifting land.
She said Strahler expressed his concerns during the meeting and "the group visually reviewed the ground conditions and determined the site conditions were not placing additional stress on the pipeline."