PEMBROKE — The Atlantic Coast Pipeline could mean $684,000 a year in addition property tax revenue for Robeson County, according to a senior advisor for Dominion Resources, the lead entity in the development of the 590-mile natural gas pipeline.
Bruce McKay, Dominion’s senior-policy advisor for federal affairs, touted the benefits of the pipeline for Robeson County and North Carolina during the Committee of 100’s annual dinner program Tuesday night. McKay was the keynote speaker at the gathering of Robeson County business leaders, which was held at The University of North Carolina’s Office of Regional Initiatives at COMtech.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will originate in Harrison County, W.Va., pass through Virginia and North Carolina, and eventually end near Pembroke. About 180 miles of the pipeline will run through Eastern North Carolina, where the absence of natural gas has hindered industrial recruitment and job creation. In Robeson County, the pipeline will cross 22 miles.
McKay briefly gave a report on the status of the $5 billion project that could be operating by the end of 2018.
“There is no bigger, longer pipeline proposal in the country today,” he said. “This project is very important to North Carolina because presently 80 percent of the natural gas that comes into the state is from one pipeline. That’s not good because you need to have another source of natural gas that you can count on.”
According to McKay, the project means 4,000 construction jobs in North Carolina. It also means that $6 million a year in property taxes will be pumped into state coffers.
According to McKay, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is reviewing more than 30,000 pages of permit application information that has been submitted by his company. He said hopefully the commission will approve the permit sometime this year so that construction, which will take about two years, can begin.
McKay praised Robeson County officials and business leaders for their support of the pipeline project since “day one.” He urged continued support, asking Committee of 100 members and others in the business community to talk with people about the benefits the pipeline will bring to Robeson County and the region. Several Robeson County municipalities as well as the Robeson County Board of Commissioners have passed resolutions in support of the project.
“We think it’s really inviting here,” McKay said. “Infrastructure is very important. It’s important to push its development.”
McKay said that there are some objections to the project, especially from environmentalists.
“We need your help. We can’t do this alone,” McKay told the business leaders. “Your voices of positivity are needed to stand up to negativity.”
Steve Yost, president of Southeastern Partnership, Inc., a 16-county regional economic organization based in Elizabethtown, said the group strongly supports the pipeline.
“This will really help our development efforts over the next 25 years,” he said.
Yost also said that improvements now being made to the port in Wilmington will do a lot toward encouraging industrial development and job creation in counties throughout the eastern part of the state.
In other business Tuesday, new Committee of 100 officers for the coming year were elected. They included: banker James W. Gore Sr., president; Lumberton City Manager Wayne Horne, vice president; and Red Springs Mayor John McNeill, treasurer.
