Pipelines for fossil fuels are never good, even when laid alongside old ones. With new and larger lines come new risks of accidents and in this case, environment destruction of trees and land grabs by eminent domain.
” [GRU’s administrative and fuels operations director Eric] Walters added the increased gas capacity sought by GRU is not related to a new University of Florida campus gasfired power plant that is being planned.”
So we must chalk up a new powerplant and larger pipeline to coincidence.
But there is absolutely no excuse for Florida’s flagship university to prolong fossil fuels as their choice of power. This is not leadership, this is environmental degradation and a terrible choice and example.
Read the original article here in the Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 Gainesville Sun.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
New Natural Gas Pipeline Planned
Addition to boost supply at GRU’s Deerhaven plant
Cindy Swirko Gainesville Sun USA TODAY NETWORK
A new natural gas pipeline is proposed to be built through 5.63 miles of Alachua County to supply the Gainesville Regional Utilities Deerhaven generating station.
The pipeline will boost the availability of gas to GRU for times when it is the most cost-efficient fuel to burn, officials said.
But it will impact about 35 property owners whose land is on the pipeline’s route.
And it could further criticism of GRU by residents who believe it needs to cut its use of fossil fuels, not expand them.
Florida Gas Transmission — commonly referred to as FGT — wants to lay a 12-inch pipeline next to an existing 8inch pipeline “to serve the expanding need for additional natural gas transportation service in Florida.”
An email from the company stated it anticipates starting construction April 1 and finishing three months later.
The pipeline is in northern Alachua County and will enable more gas to flow to Deerhaven but will not link directly
to the plant, said Eric Walters, GRU’s administrative and fuels operations director.
“Capacity in a pipeline is like space on a highway. You can only get so many cars before things just don’t move anymore,” Walters said. “FTG is increasing the capacity on their side. This pipeline does not run directly to Deerhaven. It does relieve some of the constraint upstream of Deerhaven to allow it to get more capacity.”
Deerhaven could get up to an additional 25,000 therms — the measure of heat produced by natural gas — a day with the pipeline beyond the 23,000 it now gets. A therm equals about 29,307 watt-hours of power.
The Deerhaven plant burns on coal, gas or biomass depending on which is cheapest at any given time. It also uses a small amount of solar power….
Walters added the increased gas capacity sought by GRU is not related to a new University of Florida campus gasfired power plant that is being planned. GRU and the Gainesville City Commission will submit a proposal to UF for the project.
But UF’s intent that the plant burn gas has already generated protests on campus.
Makenzie Griffin, a UF student who is the president of Climate Action Gator, told The Sun in early November that there is no excuse for UF not using renewable energy, such as solar, to generate its campus power.
Natural gas is considered a cleaner fuel than coal but it still produces greenhouses that spur climate change.
GRU and the commission have also drawn complaints from the community about the increased use of natural gas, including in a guest Sun column written by Lynn Frazier and Roberta Gastmeyer of the League of Women Voters.
“To quickly cut greenhouse gas emissions, we must stop investing in new fossil- fuel infrastructure,”
they wrote. “This includes everything from gas pipelines and power plants to household appliances and lawnmowers.”
Meanwhile, the Tampa law firm Gaylord Merlin Ludovici & Diaz, which specializes in eminent domain, has contacted some of the Alachua County property owners whose land the pipeline will cross.
Attorney Blake Gaylord said about 35 properties will be impacted. The company must pay property owners for use of their land and the disruption caused by the construction.
Gaylord said attorneys can help navigate the process, adding that under Florida law attorney fees must be paid by the company.
“There will be clearing of trees. The company will say they only need the property on a temporary basis but if you clear 40-, 50- or 100-year-old trees off a piece of property, that’s hardly a temporary use. They will leave a permanent scar,” Gaylord said.
“A lot of people don’t fully understand what their rights are in an eminent domain case. We make sure their rights are being protected.”
FGT had rarely been taken to court on an eminent domain case, which shows it generally understands the rights of property owners, Gaylord added.
