Imagine my surprise when I learned last week that Longmeadow Country Club members will soon be voting on an option agreement for the sale of two acres of land to Tennessee Gas so that a gas metering station can be built in a residential neighborhood close to Wolf Swamp Elementary School. Proceeds from the multi-million dollar sale will be used to fund a new sprinkler system for the golf course.
Tennessee Gas would own and operate the metering station, but its construction would permit Columbia Gas to join its pipeline infrastructure to that metering site to transport gas north on Shaker Road where the pipeline will connect with Springfield’s Sumner Avenue for 2 and 1/2 miles.
Though this sale has been talked about for years, suddenly time is of the essence, with a vote of LCC members scheduled for Wednesday, November 28 – a time frame that doesn’t permit residents or Club members to ask questions and express concerns about the impact of such a facility on our town.
Given Columbia Gas’s abysmal safety record (three Springfield gas emission-and-evacuation events since July – and of course, the tragedy of Merrimack Valley), residents may be rightly concerned about exposing the Longmeadow and Springfield communities to the risks of pipeline expansion under the Columbia Gas umbrella.
Residents could also be concerned about Tennessee Gas’s track record that includes the August 2018 blowdown at an Agawam station that forced the evacuation of nearby condominium residents. This event followed a December 2017 TGP station blowdown in Richmond Ma that went uncontrolled for over forty minutes, terrifying some neighbors.
And most importantly, there are the health risks associated with metering stations emissions that contain methane, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, radioactive radon, and heavy metals like lead and mercury – risks that have prompted the Massachusetts Medical Society and Boards of Health in 77 communities to call on Governor Baker to halt the expansion of gas power infrastructure until a statewide health study can examine its impact on human health and safety.
Given the known and unknown facts associated with building a gas metering station in a residential neighborhood, I find it inconceivable that Longmeadow Country Club members wouldn’t want more time to inform themselves about the consequences that such a facility could have on the welfare of Longmeadow and Springfield.
Please join me in urging Longmeadow Country Club members to postpone this weighty decision until all the facts are in.
Michele Marantz
Longmeadow
