Preserved Farms A Matter Of Trust

Staff Writer

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The private Lancaster Farmland Trust is considering legal options to try to protect preserved farm owners in Lancaster County against a proposed 35-mile natural gas pipeline.

Some 53 farms in Lancaster County preserved by the trust or the Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board were impacted by the Central Penn Line South's original route.

There have been two re-routings since then, and officials are still trying to get a handle on how many preserved farms could be affected.

"These are not just pretty places. These are business enterprises," said Joseph V. Sweeney, chair of the trust's board.

"People have worked this land for generations to make it a special place. They have spent generations building up the soil. What are the ramifications of disrupting these enterprises?

"You have our assurance we'll do everything we can to protect our landowners," Karen Martynick, executive director of the trust, told two West Hempfield Township farmers Monday morning. The farmers, Daniel Forry, and his son, Dwight, relayed their concerns about the pipeline running through two of their four preserved farms.

The trust is exploring whether a pipeline "jeopardizes the viability of our farms," Martynick said.

The nonprofit Lancaster Farmland Trust has hired an attorney to prepare its response to the proposed pipeline that must be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before Aug. 18.

The organization is scrambling to research the implication of a pipeline on conservation deeds, including whether a right of way could violate a conservation deed and decrease the value of preserved farms.

The action comes after a July 10 meeting between the organization's board and officers with a handful of Williams Partners representatives at the trust's Strasburg headquarters.

Board members in attendance described the meeting as far from encouraging and said Oklahoma-based Williams could answer few of the trust's many questions.

"They were very cordial, but basically they were not going to change because of a preserved farm," observed board member Donald M. Robinson.

The trust has since refused Williams' request to provide the location of its preserved farms. Martynick said Williams has failed to provide detailed maps of the proposed pipeline route.

Asked about the meeting, Williams spokesman Chris Stockton said via an e-mail, "This was the first of what we anticipate will be an ongoing dialogue with the Farmland Trust. We knew that we would not be able to answer every question that came up in this initial meeting, as we are still very early in the field survey process and have not gathered all the necessary data needed to make precise routing decisions.

"This is a long process, and we do intend to work closely with the Farmland Trust as we move forward. We committed to returning and continuing our dialogue once we had gathered more information on the conservation easements that could be affected."

Martynick said Williams was asked if they had ever built a pipeline through an area with so much farmland preserved by the public and, according to Martynick, "its benefits to the community."

"And they acknowledged they have never seen anything like it," she said.

Martynick and other ag preservation officials feel that fact should persuade the pipeline company to do more to avoid preserved farms and farmland here in general.

The trust's concerns with the pipeline include:

No-till farming takes decades to instill a productive ecosystem in the soil. Disturbance will affect crop yields for a long time.

nAdditional pipelines are likely as Marcellus Shale gas production continues to increase. New lines are likely to be placed in existing rights of way, trust officials say.

Should pipeline rights of way be allowed on preserved farms that have, in many cases, been paid for with taxpayer money?

"Does this, in fact, create a taxpayer subsidy for easy pipeline right of way?" said one board member.

nThe county's many Plain Sect farmers do not have access to useful information about the ramifications of a pipeline on their properties.

nFarmers have contacted the trust and reported their insurance underwriters and lenders inform them the pipeline could cost them more money.

nEven if a pipeline right of way is not prohibited in conservation deeds, there is a question whether a pipeline "impacts the ag benefit to a community," Martynick said.

nWilliams has never built a pipeline with such high pressure as proposed in Lancaster County, and some farmers have said they have safety concerns for nearby buildings.

Among them are the Forrys, who preserved land that has been in the family since the Civil War.

According to documents Williams has sent them, two of their farms would be impacted by the pipeline.

On their property Monday morning, Daniel showed Martynick a letter sent to Forry by his insurance underwriter. It advises Forry to seek an attorney because if he received any compensation from Williams, "that would be considered a business other than farming and insurance coverage is excluded from the farm policy."

The Forrys also are concerned that pipeline construction could harm six springs that provide all the farms' water.

"How can they get away with this?" Forry said. "We didn't temporarily preserve our farms until something better came along. One of the reasons we preserved our farmland was to keep it from being condemned by schools and roads."

Martynick said the group has reached out to the county's ag preservation arm, the Lancaster County Agricultural Preserve Board, to join in the effort.

Matt Knepper, the preserve board's executive director, did not return phone calls for a response over several days.