CHARLOTTE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On a stretch of Tennessee Freeway 49, neighbors do not simply know one another, they spend plenty of time collectively too.
“I say, we have now a very good neighborhood; we have now good neighbors,” stated Dorothy Corlew. “Should you want them, they’re there. To me, that’s a very good neighbor.”
However Corlew, the proprietor of a farm that is been in her household for the reason that 1800s, is not precisely welcoming their latest addition.
“It’ll go right through my property,” she stated.
Vitality firm Kinder Morgan needs to construct a 32-mile lengthy, 30-inch extensive pure fuel pipeline, that goes all the way in which to Cumberland Metropolis in Stewart County. That is as a result of, over the following 5 years, the Tennessee Valley Authority will transition the Cumberland Metropolis plant from coal energy to pure fuel.
Dorothy’s neighbor, Bob Baird, stated he has deep considerations about dwelling that near the pipeline.
“Our home and our space’s inside the explosion zone,” stated Baird, who has lived in his home for practically a decade.
Baird can also be involved about what else is near the proposed pipeline, contemplating the trail is anticipated to observe considered one of TVA’s high-voltage strains.
“To me, it doesn’t make sense to place a fuel line below a high-tension line carrying plenty of electrical energy,” he stated.
May historical past repeat?
When these neighbors say they’ve security considerations, it is as a result of a few of them have seen it with their very own eyes.
“We seemed out our entrance window, and we may see the blaze and the smoke,” stated Corlew.
Richard Honeycutt remembers March 16, 1992 higher than most.
“We couldn’t get inside a half-mile of it as a result of it was so giant,” stated the longtime firefighter.
He was considered one of many native firefighters battling a 400-acre inferno in Claylick, Tennessee that injured 5 individuals and broken a number of houses. It was sparked by a pure fuel pipeline explosion.
“We misplaced plenty of homes we couldn’t by no means even put water on as a result of we couldn’t get near them,” stated Honeycutt.
The corporate that operated the road on the time, Tenneco, has since been acquired by Kinder Morgan.
“It was simply actually upsetting,” stated Dorothy. “I don’t need to transfer, however I’m scared to reside right here with the pipeline.”
Because of this these neighbors could spend much more time collectively determining a option to battle off this pipeline.
“I simply don’t suppose it is sensible, doesn’t appear to be protected, doesn’t appear to be properly thought out,” stated Baird.
Kinder Morgan hopes to begin building on the pipeline in 2024 and have it operational by 2025.
In the meantime, environmental teams like Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Membership are planning month-to-month conferences to get suggestions from the neighborhood. Conferences will happen on the final Thursday of each month at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church on Freeway 48 in Cunningham, Tennessee. Every assembly begins at 6 p.m.