The Carbon County Commissioners again discussed the proposed PennEast pipeline that is expected to cross a portion of the county.

Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said he received a number of calls from residents who thought the resolution the county signed last week was opposing the pipeline. That was not the case, he said.The resolution authorized the county to act as an intervener for the proposed PennEast natural gas pipeline and take additional action to protect the interests of the county and its residents."I think there is a right way to do things and a wrong way," Gerhard said, "and we just want them to do the pipeline correctly."He said he received information that can be found on the PennEast website that differs from what residents told the commissioners last week.He said that the company says no property owner will lose their homes or the ability to use their property even though eminent domain is in play.Gerhard said the information he received says that eminent domain is only used to access property to survey land and construct infrastructure and according to the PennEast FAQ page "will make every reasonable effort to reach a fair agreement with landowners when compensating them for use of their property.""I know the man said he was in jeopardy of losing his house and I was the first one saying no way should they be able to come in to take this gentleman's house, and I still stand by that comment," Gerhard said.Gerhard outlined a few other areas from last week that were addressed by residents, including effects on water supplies, pipeline leaks and first responder training.PennEast said these statements are not true.PennEast says the pipeline will not affect water supplies. The company says pipelines are thoroughly checked to guarantee no leaks and first responders will be trained in the case of an emergency.He said the need for clarification is why the commissioners will be attending the upcoming meeting at Penn's Peak."We are going so we can become more knowledgeable about the pipeline," he said.Gerhard also said one resident said maybe other routes could be suggested that would provide less impact to the area, such as abandoned railroad beds.But his fellow commissioners felt differently about some of the statements Gerhard read."What I'm hearing are two different versions of what is going to take place," said Commissioner William O'Gurek, reiterating that a resident was at last week's commissioners' meeting saying he will be losing his house because of the pipeline. "If that pipeline is taking that man's house or anyone else's or sections of lands, I'm not for that pipeline coming in here."I have some genuine concerns," he added, talking about eminent domain and how it will be used for the project. "If it's for a company who wants to make money taking gas from the Marcellus Shale region of the state and transport it to New Jersey and beyond then I'm not too happy about it."He spoke about the effects the pipeline will have on property values and how that will in turn affect the county revenue because tax assessments will be lower in these areas.O'Gurek said he spoke to the tax assessment office, who reported that if someone puts a gas line through a property whether or not they take the house, or front or backyards, it still affects the property's value to the point it cannot be repaired or changed."I have genuine concerns about the impact on our county and am leaning towards being against the whole project," O'Gurek said."Let them truck it," he added.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that he also had concerns because of misinformation so he needs to find out what is actually going to be happening with the project."We need to weed out what's true and what's not," he said, adding that as a first responder, he is concerned about the possibility of explosions.He said that even though PennEast is claiming the company will not take any homes, the pipeline is still going to affect many residents, as well as the county.Nothstein also said he is leaning toward opposing the project at this time.