The Middletown Valley is a beautiful place, and many residents will admit that the cozy home-town atmosphere is the reason why they moved here. For many, dropping a natural gas compressor station on their South Mountain scenery is the last thing wanted.
According to the Citizens for the Preservation of Middletown Valley, that is exactly what Dominion Transmissions plans to do sometime in 2014; big deal.
The CPMV is doing everything it can to stop the plan: passing out fliers, running ads in local newspapers and organizing a march of Civil War re-enactors on the site of the station. It sure seems like a lot of hoopla over just another power plant.
Dominion Transmissions recently purchased 135 acres just outside of Middletown, at the intersection of Marker and Bolivar Roads. The CPMV drew a lot of attention to the historical significance of the site in its arguments against Dominion’s plan. The area has ties to the Civil War and the Battle of South Mountain, as well has containing the 18th-century building known as Fox’s Tavern.
A historical site is never a top choice for construction of any kind, which makes construction around Middletown difficult. Practically the whole valley is related to the Civil War, especially near South Mountain. Main Street in Middletown, the South Mountain Inn, the trail leading up to Washington Monument; they all hold little shards of the past.
But it’s not like 8th graders are taking field trips to the intersection at Marker and Bolivar; the site is just not that important.
Another popular argument, particularly among homeowners near the potential construction site, is that the compression station will spoil their view of the valley and the mountains. Some residents are also worried about the possibility for a pipe line explosion, as well as natural gas leaks.
The compressor station would not be as easy on the eyes as an orchard of apple trees, or another park, but beauty is not a major consideration when it comes to creating energy to power homes. The water tower in Middletown Park is not the most impressive piece of infrastructure either; nor is the waste water treatment plant behind the Brookridge South neighborhood a work of art. What they are is necessary, as is the natural gas compressor station.
Dominion argues that the purpose of the station is to increase the flow of Natural gas between Pennsylvania and Virginia. Natural gas is used in homes, for heating, cooking and as a general source of energy. It is safe, clean, and reliable.
Some may say that natural gas leaks are dangerous, and they are, if they are ignored. Natural gas quickly disperses into the air because it is so much lighter than oxygen, which means that, if there is a leak, the danger presented by it is extremely low. Natural gas is flammable, but only if there is a strict 4-15 percent content in the air; any more or less and it will not ignite.
To sum things up, the construction of a natural gas compressor station is really a non-issue. Dominion Transmissions should be allowed to build where they want, especially if they pay for the space. There are plenty of historical sites in Middletown, and most of them are more historically important than Fox’s Tavern. The station would not be all that dangerous, and no more unattractive, than other structures that locals have to deal with. People need the power this compressor station will provide, so that makes it a positive addition to the town
.... • May 1, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Andrew Jackson once said that Middletown was one of his favorite spots to enjoy the senery.
Katie • Feb 26, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Unfortunately, Middletown will be receiving no direct benefit from the addition of this power station, which is why the idea of it bringing questionable environmental effects, noise and an aesthetic blemish on the landscape isn’t too peachy for most of the town’s residents. I don’t even live in Middletown, and I went to that council meeting long ago, simply because their protests seem quite justified.
Change is hard to come by in happy valley, and I’m not so sure if people are as afraid of one dinky little power station as they are of the possibility of it growing and expanding (as industry so often does), slowly chomping up the rolling stretches of lush farmland sprinkled with trees that we’ve come to adore in all their picturesque quaintness. If nothing else, you can probably respect the idea that we don’t want our pretty little painting of a landscape marred by an expansive power plant, one that isn’t even going to be serving anyone in the immediate area. This is a very classic case of “the man trying to keep us down.”
Think of how angry the population in Sim City gets when you put an unstable-to-the-point-of-rivalry-with-Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the vacant lot beside catholic preschool, then downsize that for hyperbole’s sake, and you’ve pretty much got the reaction that’s happening here.
And just to get nice and anal, for technicality’s sake – as far as the possibility of disaster goes, flammability of the natural gas is, as I understand it, not so much a concern as the idea of it seeping into the groundwater. W
hich, unless you’re Optimus Prime, is not going to be particularly appealing.