Questions about Sabal Trail and air quality.

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Georgia environmental regulators have been asked to deny a natural gas compressor station, just like one planned for Marion County, that will serve a proposed natural gas pipeline from Alabama to Central Florida.

Last week GreenLaw, an Atlanta-based public interest law firm focusing on environmental issues, announced that it had filed objections to the project because of concerns about its impact on air quality.

The group maintains that Sabal Trail Transmission’s compressor station planned near Albany, Ga., as well as the 474 mile-long pipeline, would be a “major emitter” of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. The pipeline will run form Tallapoosa County in Alabama to Osceola County in Central Florida, crossing 13 Florida counties: Alachua, Hamilton, Madison, Suwannee, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, Sumter, Lake, Polk, Osceola, Orange and Citrus.

A compression station also is planned near Dunnellon as part of the interstate Florida line. Three other stations are planned in Florida, but none in Lake or Sumter counties.
Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, including natural gas, and vehicle emissions.

The National Institutes of Health say the compounds can cause respiratory problems and can be troublesome for asthma sufferers as well as causing other conditions for people faced with long-term exposure.

Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, GreenLaw’s executive director, said in an interview this week that their complaint is aimed at protecting the elderly and children, who would be the most at risk from the emissions.

The group’s challenge is also based on the possible escape of methane gas from the pipeline, which is difficult to track. Not only is the gas odorless and colorless, the reporting of leaks is left to the pipeline owners, she said.

In response, Sabal Trail maintains that it will comply with all air quality standards.
“We understand GreenLaw’s mission and involvement in these types of matters. However, we do not agree with their initial conclusions. The state agencies charged with reviewing air emission applications and issuing permits use standards that are designed to protect human health and the environment,” company spokeswoman Andrea Grover said in a statement.

“Sabal Trail is committed to minimizing overall impacts to the environment and the community, including in the construction and operation of compressor stations,” Grover added. “Further, Sabal Trail’s compressor station facilities will be operated in strict compliance with all federal and state permits. In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s staff will fully evaluate potential impacts on human health and the environment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.”

The company is a joint venture of Next Era Energy Corp., the Juno Beach-based company that owns Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest electrical utility, and Spectra Energy in Houston.
The $3 billion project, which is still pending approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is intended to deliver up to 1.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day to FPL’s South Florida plant. FPL intends to get it there by constructing its own pipeline to the link-up location in Orlando.

Sabal Trail also will need environmental permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, according to agency spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller. The company has not yet applied for them.

The pipeline’s effect on air quality was an issue the Environmental Protection Agency had raised earlier this year — one of several questions the agency posed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which besides approving the project is responsible for writing an environmental impact statement about it.

In documents filed with the EPA, Sabal Trail says the compressor stations, which will be fired by natural gas, will control the pollutants mentioned by GreenLaw within federal air quality limits.

“The emissions from the new compressor stations will need to meet rigorous technology and operational requirements to obtain and comply with the required air emissions permits,” company officials wrote to the EPA.

That would be achieved by using “clean burning natural gas as the fuel for all combustion devices” as well as relying on the latest technology to control emissions from the turbines powering the compressor stations.

“Compliance with applicable federal and state air regulations and state permit requirements will ensure that the air quality effects from the proposed compressor stations are minimized,” the company told regulators. “Implementation of Sabal Trail’s preventive maintenance program at all project facilities will serve to identify and prevent leaks, repair quickly any leaks that are found, and reduce the frequency and extent of unscheduled maintenance.”

Benfield countered that the project needs tight scrutiny, particularly the compressor stations.
“Compressor stations are nasty things,” Benfield said. “Air pollution knows no boundaries. It impacts us all.”

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