(Asheville, NC) — National Park Service officials today announced a public comment period is open as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s review of an application submitted by Dominion Energy North Carolina (DENC) for a right-of-way (ROW) permit to construct, operate, and maintain a 760-ft segment of pipeline that would cross beneath the Parkway near Milepost 393.3 in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
The proposed DENC pipeline segment is part of a natural gas pipeline under construction in the area that enables DENC to reduce pressure on an aging segment of its existing pipeline network, which can then be repurposed from transmission service to lower pressure distribution service to increase the reliability of natural gas service to DENC’s area customer base.
A draft Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to evaluate any impacts from issuance of the proposed ROW permit. The project webpage and draft EA can be found at this link: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/DominionT2ROWBuncombe. The public is invited to review the information at this link and submit comments beginning today through February 5, 2022.
If this is approved, will they be paying rent for this? Or does right-of-way through non-profit lands mean free access forever for this for-profit business?