By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN – By 5-0 vote Thursday, the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a conditional-use request that would allow Eastern Shore Natural Gas to expand its Bridgeville compressor facility with a metered regulatory station serving as a receipt point for natural gas.

The commission’s recommendation now heads to Sussex County Council, which has the final say.

Expansion would allow renewable natural gas, compressed natural gas or liquified natural gas to be introduced into the existing pipeline system at ESNG’s Bridgeville site, which has been in operation since 1988.

The commission on Feb. 10 deferred action on the request, following a presentation by Mark Parker, engineering manager for Eastern Shore Natural Gas, and a public hearing that drew opposition.

Opponents, who spoke in person and virtually during the hearing, expressed several concerns, among them public safety, danger of explosion, proximity to a school, additional truck traffic and noise.

During his Feb. 10 presentation, Mr. Parker explained that gas would be trucked in and offloaded, metered, regulated and heated.

ESNG’s proposed intersect development project will occupy four of the eight acres at the current site, a landlocked parcel off Emma Jane Road just south of East Newton Road, and above-grade piping would be about five feet from ground level, Mr. Parker stated.

As presented, trucks would enter and hook up to any of the three offload points. Typically, unloading takes about four hours, placing the likely maximum of trucks per day at 18 round the clock, Mr. Parker said.

ESNG’s current facility is approximately 800 feet from the closest residence, and about a fifth of a mile from the Phillis Wheatley School and its playground on Church Street. Those distances are far outside the 200-foot potential impact area, Mr. Parker said.

In a press release issued Thursday, Food & Water Watch called on the planning commission to recommend denial of the request, claiming the “pipeline expansion proposal is a part of an agreement with Bioenergy DevCo to accept factory farm biogas from their proposed methane refinery a few miles away near Seaford.”

Greg Layton, Food & Water Watch organizer, issued a follow-up statement Friday.

“The decision to unanimously approve a dangerous gas pipeline expansion next door to a school and residential community is unconscionable. Not only will this project put Sussex County residents at risk, but it will also deepen our reliance on the dirty fossil fuels locking us into climate disaster,” Mr. Layton stated.

“Luckily, this project isn’t a done deal. We look forward to a public debate on this pipeline proposal before the Sussex County Council, where our elected representatives will have the clear choice to side with their constituents over dirty energy interests.”

Bioenergy DevCo, which plans to build an anerobic digestor facility south of Blades, offered a response to the dirty energy claim.

“Anaerobic digestion is the natural process of turning excess organics traditionally headed to greenhouse gas-producing landfills or pollution causing incinerators into renewable clean energy and a nutrient-rich soil amendment,” said Shawn Kreloff, CEO of Bioenergy DevCo. “This process has been applauded by both the Biden administration and recently with a new announcement from the EU (European Union) to expand this industry across the European continent. As we strive for smarter ways to manage organics and greater energy independence, not only can anaerobic digestion produce utility-grade renewable energy but can help manage poultry processing here on Delmarva in an environmentally smart manner.

“We are very excited about our permit submissions to DNREC and the opportunity to discuss the scientific value of anaerobic digestion and how it can positively impact Delaware’s air, water and soil quality.”

Friday’s Food & Water Watch release included a link to Chesapeake Utilities’ website. That link outlined an agreement dated June 2020 between Chesapeake and Bioenergy DevCo related to a project in southern Delaware to extract natural gas from poultry waste and transport the newly created sustainable renewable natural gas to an Eastern Shore Natural Gas interconnection.

Questioned by committee vice chair Kim Hoey-Stevenson at the Feb. 10 hearing on a possible connection between ESNG’s expansion and Bioenergy DevCo’s anerobic digestor facility planned south of Seaford, Mr. Parker said ESNG had not determined any viable shippers at that point.

“If they (Bioenergy DevCo) end up opening that unit, we could be a potential receipt point for them. But we’re not basing this project strictly on them,” Mr. Parker said.

In motioning for recommended approval, Ms. Hoey-Stevenson said the “limited expansion will not have a detrimental impact upon the physical, economic or social environment of the area.

“This conditional use to allow limited expansion of the existing natural gas facility on the site promotes the convenience, order, prosperity and welfare of residents and businesses in Sussex County by improving improvement to natural gas infrastructure within an existing natural gas facility.”

Conditions attached to commission’s conditional use approval are:

• the area shall be fenced with a locked access gate, and a means shall be established on the site for use by emergency responders.

• site shall be marked, identifying the owner of the facility and emergency contact information.

• use shall comply with all federal and state requirements.

• final site plan shall be subject to review and approval of the Sussex County Planning Commission.

ESNG, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities, operates almost 600 miles of transmission main pipeline, with three compressor sites. One is in Pennsylvania and two are in Bridgeville and Delaware City.