CHINO VALLEY, AZ (AZFamily) — About 60 residents live in Chino Valley’s Haystack Ranch, many of whom moved out to the area for peace and quiet. However, just one-third of a mile from the edge of the community, a gas compression station could be built, and the community said this would put their safety at risk. 16k6o
Frank Fusari and Heather McFarland have been dreaming of a retirement at Haystack Ranch. For months, they’ve been worried about a natural gas compression station proposed to be built next to their community.
“They thought they wouldn’t receive any public opposition to it, so here we are,” Frank said.
Gas compression stations help keep gas in a pipeline at the correct pressure so it keeps moving. Community said they are concerned about the 24/7 noise, the impact on animals, and, more importantly, fire danger, as there is only one road in and out of the community.
“I’m very concerned about fire because the winds can pick up extremely quickly,” Frank said. “So we have to evacuate horses, farm animals.”
They are also concerned about explosion risks, especially after the deadly Coolidge pipeline explosion three years ago.
Gas compression stations release methane, sulfur dioxide, and other gases. Heather said children live in the community and are worried about the long-term effects.
“Then you’re exposed to it daily on a daily basis,” she said. “Once its in your house, it doesn’t go away. This is unsafe to put near a residential community.”
Residents said it’s been a constant battle with Kinder Morgan, the station’s parent company. While it obtained an environmental assessment, there is no environmental impact report. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month asking for a comprehensive environmental review.
“Arizonans deserve real environmental review—not a rubber stamp,” Mayes said in a tweet.” Health and safety are on the line.”
Frank said they were worried that if no one on the state or federal level did something, their community concerns would be ignored.
“I think we would have been done here at this point if the AG didn’t get involved,” he said.
Frank said they were in talks with Kinder Morgan about moving it two miles up the road, which would address their concerns, but that fell through. Neighbors said they don’t want their community to be disrupted for corporate profit.
“They’ll make the money and we’re the ones that are gonna pay,” Heather said.
Arizona’s Family reached out to Kinder Morgan about all of these issues, and they said they are prepared to continue discussions about residents’ concerns. Arizona’s Family also reached out to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about this, but didn’t respond by publication on Wednesday.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
