By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP — Members of the Board of Health came to consensus to hold what Mayor Harvey Lester described as an inquiry on public health issues related to the proposed PennEast Pipeline.
The Board of Health, which consists of the same members who sit on Township Committee, including the mayor, agreed to schedule the inquiry session on at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, inside the Performing Arts Center at Hopewell Valley Central High School.
If built, the 105-mile pipeline would run from Luzerne County in Pennsylvania, near Wilkes-Barre, and end at a junction with an existing pipeline in southeastern Hopewell Township, near Blackwell Road.
In October 2014, the Hopewell Township Committee adopted a resolution opposing construction of the pipeline project. The committee also authorized the township administration to participate and intervene in the regulatory process “as necessary to protect the interests of the township and its residents,” according to the resolution document.
Patty Cronheim with the organization Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline (HTCAPP) spoke at the July 13 Board of Health meeting.
Ms. Cronheim said she is looking to invite physicians and other health experts to speak at the July 28 inquiry.
“We’ll probably have some lung experts present, we’ll talk about asthma,” she said. “We’ll be able to get as full a picture as we can on the pipeline metering stations and gas line pressure stations. We’ll also want to look at the safety records of the companies involved.”
“We want to hear from some experts and we want to hear from the public,” Ms. Cronheim said.” That would be most useful.”
She said she would ultimately like to see the township board of health adopt a resolution saying it “deems the pipeline an unreasonable risk to the health and well being of Hopewell Township residents.” She said she also hopes that boards of health in all the towns along the proposed pipeline route adopt similar resolutions.
Speaking in the hallway of Hopewell Township municipal offices, before she left the building, Ms. Cronheim said she encourages members of the public, health experts, local medical doctors, emergency responders and even children suffering from asthma to attend the July 28 Board of Health session on the pipeline.
Although Hopewell Township Board of Health members came to consensus on scheduling the inquiry session and also agreed that members of public and invited experts would be available to weigh in during the session, the board was not in agreement when it came to a third issue.
“The one thing we have not discussed to certainty is whether PennEast representatives should be invited,” Mayor Lester said. “Should PennEast be invited seems to be the outstanding question.”
Hopewell Township Attorney Steven Goodell, who previously advised the board to send official notice to the PennEast Pipeline Co. about the July 28 session, said he would like to confer with attorney Katherine Dresdner then provide a legal memo on the matter to the board.
Ms. Dresdner is a consulting attorney with Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline.
