Calvin Trice

ctrice@newsleader.com

The proposed natural gas pipeline that would run through Augusta County has shifted significantly, and would now swing north of Churchville and wind towards the southeast closer to Staunton and Waynesboro.

Dominion previously mailed out notices to landowners along a route that would have run the underground pipeline through the Middlebrook area southeastward through the George Washington National Forest south of Sherando.

The change means the company will have to mail out different batch of letters to local landowners whose properties will be surveyed for the project. The new proposal would bury the pipeline through Stuarts Draft and Lyndhurst before crossing the Blue Ridge into Nelson County.

Dominion representatives will appear at Wednesday's regular Board of Supervisors meeting to explain their study.

The Richmond-based utility giant has emphasized that the proposal, called the Southeast Reliability Project, is still in the planning stages, and no decision has been made on whether to build the pipeline. It would connect shale oil deposits in West Virginia to a power distributor in North Carolina.

Changes are not uncommon this early in the planning process, a Dominion representative said.

"Re-routes occur all the time," said company spokesman Jim Norvelle. "That's why it's a draft, and that's why we're in a very preliminary process."

If Dominion decides to build the pipeline, the company would need to apply for permits that account for natural and cultural resources that could be affected by the construction. Because of that, Dominion doesn't need permission to survey private land.

Since it's a major utility, Dominion could force the sale of land or of property-use rights through eminent domain if landowners resist the company's offering price. Use of land above the pipeline could be restricted.

The utility mailed notices to property owners along the initial study corridor this year explaining the work of surveyors who could number more than 20.

Surveys never began on the Middlebrook corridor, and that route is no longer under consideration, Norvelle said.

Discussions with national forest officials convinced Dominion to change the study corridor for the pipeline, he said.

Notices for landowners along the new route will be mailed this month, Norvelle said.

After Wednesday's presentation, the company will schedule a series of local meetings along the study corridor to meet with property owners individually.