Nearly 30 people blasted and condemned a proposed 53,515 horsepower (hp) compressor station during a public hearing before the Buckingham County Planning Commission Monday night.

The speakers came after the commission agreed that it would receive public comment until 10:30 p.m., recessing the hearing on the permit application until Monday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m., and agreeing that a recommendation to the county’s board of supervisors would come during its Monday, Oct. 24, regular meeting.

No one spoke in favor of the station.

About 54 people signed up for the hearing, according to county officials.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) LLC is seeking a special use permit for the  natural gas fired compressor station, which would be located on Route 56 between Union Hill and Shelton Store roads, as part of its 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

If approved by federal regulators, the pipeline would span Buckingham County.

The compressor station would include four turbines that would compress the natural gas, helping transport it through the pipeline.

Speakers cited the potential health effects of the station — namely the emissions from the facility — the proposed location in the largely African-American population in the community, property values lessening, the zoning regulations and the impacts on children and water.

Because the ACP LLC-owned property is zoned agricultural, the station requires a special use permit.

The hearing followed a press conference where representatives of various groups, including the Friends of Buckingham, and Union Hill and Union Grove churches, spoke in opposition to the facility.

“We are the human lives of ground zero,” said Paul Wilson, who serves as pastor of the two churches, which are near the location of the proposed facility. He said Dominion, the energy firm leading the joint venture to build the pipeline, was only about making a profit, calling its staff “attack dogs.”

Before the hearing, Dominion representative Carla Picard said safety was Dominion’s No. 1 priority, noting its compliance and permitting standards pertaining to air quality, noise abatement and compliance with the county’s Comprehensive Plan.

She said environmental controls for the facility included state-of-the-art technology and thoughtful design. Blowdown silencers are also part of the project, she said.

Many changes in the design of the station came from a Community Advisory Group that Dominion invited community leaders to earlier this year, Picard said