The Buckingham Planning Commissioner recommended approval of a special use permit Monday night, which would allow Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) LLC to construct a 53,515 horsepower natural gas fired compressor station as part of ACP’s 600-mile natural gas pipeline project.

The commissioners’ 7-0-1 recommendation to approve the permit with 40 conditions now goes to the county’s board of supervisors, which has final approval authority. District Seven Supervisor Danny R. Allen, who serves as the board’s representative on the commission, abstained from voting as he is a Dominion employee.

Monday’s vote followed  public comment saturated with objection to the permit application. Among the 17 speakers, only one advocated for approval of the permit. Numerous speakers cited disappointment in the conditions, calling them “too lax,” “light” and “weak.”

Speakers also questioned the transparency and need surrounding the potential of a tap to a lateral line in agreement with Kyanite, ACP, Dominion, Columbia Gas and the county.

“Hopefully y’all understand that this was not an easy decision for the planning commission,” said District One Commissioner and Chairman John Bickford, who sat on the subcommittee that revised the conditions along with District Three Commissioner Pat Bowe, who offered the motion to recommend approval of the permit request.

“A ‘No’ vote means none of our conditions go forward,” said District Six Commissioner Chet Maxey. “Let your elected officials make the decisions.”

“I’m glad that Mr. Maxey made it clear that sending it forward was the only way the conditions would be sent forward,” said Chad Oba, a spokeswoman for Friends of Buckingham, a group opposed to the ACP, in reaction to the commission’s recommendation. “I’m sure many of us still feel that they’re still way too lax. … I wish (the conditions) would have been more stringent.”

Speakers said the ACP project “was not necessary,” claiming a lack of need for the gas, “minimal safety standards,” eminent domain being incorrectly applied, air and water pollution, health concerns and thinness of the pipeline walls, calling the station an “environmental injustice,” citing the number of African-Americans who live in the neighborhood.

The natural gas pipeline, which is subject to approval by federal regulators, would begin in West Virginia, cross Virginia and end in North Carolina. The 42-inch pipeline would span Buckingham County. If supervisors grant approval to the permit, the compressor station would be constructed between Shelton Store and Union Hill roads along Route 56.

“We’ve done research,” said Jeeva Abbate, representing Yogaville during the public comment portion of the meeting. “The determination is that the ACP is not necessary for domestic consumption, that demand is not reflected in subscriptions that are used for basic justification. The Transco line, which exists, is already fully subscribed to meet all the needs, including future needs.”

Dr. Lakshmi Fjord, a Yogaville co-founder, questioned last week’s announcement of the potential for a tap on a lateral line by Kyanite Mining Corp. and use of the gas by the county.

“I’m standing here and trying to make sense, like a lot of us in this room, of the interrelationship between roles played by the recent non-binding memorandum of understanding between ACP, Kyanite and Columbia at this particular moment in our political process in the special permit process,” Fjord said. “They (Kyanite) wanted it, they should get access to it.”

She suggested the mining firm could get the gas from the existing Transco line.

“Why is this announcement suddenly inserted right before you take a vote and then your conditions are published and those conditions are so light in terms of projections of other businesses … Yogaville, or farming?” Fjord asked.

Kyanite Mining Corp. — Buckingham’s fourth largest employer — is set to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Columbia Gas and ACP “to acquire a tap, metering and a decompression station and construction of a lateral pipeline off of (the ACP) that will provide natural gas to (Kyanite),” County Attorney E.M. Wright Jr. told members of the board of supervisors following a short closed session on Nov. 15.

When the county learned of Kyanite’s agreement, resulting in the tap and access to the natural gas, the county was approached about the possibility of entering into a MOU with the firm “that would give the county the option to control approximately 200 acres through which this lateral pipeline would go,” Wright said.

Heidi Dhivya Berthoud said she was “distressed” to see the county show interest in the tap, calling the ACP project an “interstate scam.”

“I ask now: Can your moral conscience allow you to take the bait of supposed jobs and income from industrializing our historic Buckingham?” Kenda Hanuman said.

“I helped build pipelines. We never had no trouble with pipelines,” said Douglas Ange, the sole supporter of the permit request. “I’d rather have my gas going through a pipeline than on the back of a pickup truck going down the highway.”

He said he was tired of seeing young people leave Buckingham because of the lack of jobs.

“We need to have something. This pipeline’s going to give us a start,” Ange said.

Thomas Hadwin, who said he’s worked for electric and gas utilities in other states, suggested caution “in attaching too much importance to the possibility of having natural gas service to a proposed industrial zone. This deal is economic. It might be economic with or without the ACP or the compressor station.”

He said connecting to the Transco corridor “might be done for about the same price and, if so, would provide access to a lower cost source of natural gas.”

Hadwin said it was unusual for a local distribution company, such as Columbia Gas, “to provide service to just one customer without a long-term guaranteed commitment of gas usage. They have no guarantee that there will be more customers in the future.”

“These conditions just didn’t fly up out of nowhere,” Commissioner Bowe said following the public comment. “We’ve tried to take everybody’s concerns and fears into account here. I’ve been on the commission for close to 10 years … and this is the first time ever that we have sent or suggested … to the board of supervisors six pages worth (of conditions).”

Bowe said he hoped people realized “we have been listening. And we’ve tried to address as many of these as we can possibly do. Everybody’s not going to be happy. We’ve done our best here.”

The approved conditions address a wide variety of topics related to the compressor station, including horsepower, emergency response, air quality studies and emissions tests, installation of fire breaks, a backup emergency communications system, compliance with the permit, staffing and use of silencers and noise. Conditions include a minimum of one employee, contractor or third-party security staffer be present onsite 24/7 during the first year of operation; installation of a backup system for monitoring communications and emergency notifications; a third party firm conducting air quality studies and emissions tests; development of a crisis response plan; the collapse of structures within subject property line; and grass or gravel firebreaks between the facility and adjacent properties.

Before voting on the permit request, planners modified one condition to stipulate that three strands of barbed wire be placed atop the 7-foot security fence surrounding the facility, and that firebreaks be maintained along with being created.

The permit request could be introduced to supervisors at their Dec. 12 meeting where it could set a January public hearing on the matter.