Published: August 21, 2008 10:23 pm      

First suits over natural gas fields hit court

The first of property condemnation cases, aimed at making way for a massive $350 million natural gas storage facility in Bedford County, began in federal court in Johnstown this week.

Called the Steckman Ridge project, the facility is a joint venture of Spectra Energy of Texas and New Jersey Resources.

It will use depleted natural gas fields for a storage facility on about 1,800 acres near Clearville, about 20 miles east of Bedford.

A group of Bedford County property owners is fighting the project, saying they are not being offered enough money for their losses.

In response, the corporate partners backing the project filed a request in federal court for control, called “eminent domain,” of the properties so that construction can proceed.

Many of the hundreds of eminent domain requests have been consolidated into one, and arguments were heard Thursday by Judge Kim Gibson.

“We are still talking with landowners and their attorneys, and nothing has been ended yet,” said Susan Waller, spokeswoman for Spectra Energy, who argues that Spectra has tried to accommodate landowners’ requests.

But property owners who are fighting the project say they are not being offered enough money for their losses and that they will lose their rights to individually tap into the Marcellus shale that holds promise for new sources of natural gas.

The Steckman Ridge project will provide natural gas storage and interconnects Western gas transmission lines with the Northeast.