In 2013, Tammy Plevretes, her husband, Ted, and their son, Preston, needed a fresh start and Towamensing Township was the answer to their prayers.

The Plevretes moved from Marlboro, New Jersey, to heal as a family after Preston sustained a traumatic brain injury that caused second-impact syndrome while playing college football for LaSalle University in 2005."We chose this area based on its absolute beauty, its untouched stillness and the quality of life we were looking for after years of struggling with our son's injury," Tammy said Thursday morning, surrounded by photos of their property along Lonesome Lane."This area is one of the most striking areas I have ever seen. A stunning place, untouched by developments, malls and corporation. It's God's country and it was a place for our family to heal."The family put down roots, and made necessary adjustments to the home so Preston could live an independent life, driving along trails on the land surrounding the property."Now, after years of struggling, we find ourselves in another major battle," she said. "This time with PennEast's proposed pipeline."Tammy said the proposed line, which threatens to fragment land only 300 feet away from her home, is ruining her family's future where Preston could enjoy independence and doing things he could not do in New Jersey following his accident.The Plevreteses' story is just one of dozens of families who will be affected by the pipeline, Linda Christman of the group Save Carbon County said Thursday during a press conference regarding the proposed pipeline."We think they can do better," she said of the proposed route of the line, which traverses through various state parks, water sources and private residences between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.Ninety-one-year-old Albertine Anthony, who is the third generation residing on her preserved land in Towamensing Township, said that everything her ancestors worked toward will be destroyed if this pipeline route happens.She said her farmhouse is fed by a gravity system and springs."If they destroy the springs, my water supply is gone," Anthony said. "I don't like what they are doing. They just want to go through it as if it doesn't mean anything. They just don't care."God put this land on this earth for us to enjoy it, not destroy it," she said.Roy Christman, a resident of Pohopoco Drive in Lehighton, echoed everyone's thoughts, telling how a pipeline would affect his preserved property."When the UGI-PennEast Pipeline representatives held a meeting some weeks ago at the Flagstaff with affected Carbon County landowners, they had maps of our farm on their computer," he said. "I pointed to a spot on the map and said, 'Here's the place where we pick blackberries.'"It is places like that picking spot and those trails and the springs on these properties that mean more to these people than profit."This was property bought by my great-grandfather," Roy Christman said, "cleared by him and his sons and farmed by my father and my uncles."The three residents, as well as over 50 active members in Save Carbon County want PennEast to hear their pleas and consider co-location with the Transcontinental Pipeline, a previously established line that already cuts through Carbon County, and use that route, instead of the proposed route, which parallels the existing line.Dr. Bill Mineo of Lehigh Gap Nature Center, said that co-locating the line, instead of building a new route, would be a better option because the area was already extensively studied and the land previously cleared.Linda Christman said that the group also hopes PennEast would also consider reducing the construction right-of-way from 100 feet to 50 feet to reduce the environmental damage to forested areas.