Natural Gas Company holds fair for public questions/answers

MILL SPRING — As a natural gas compressor station nears completion, PSNC held a public fair Thursday to share more information about the facility with the community.

The fair — held at Polk County Middle School, which is located near the new compressor station — drew 12 people who signed in. The fair included drawings of the finished compressor station, located on Silver Creek Road in Mill Spring. PSNC and county officials were there to answer questions from the public.

PSNC Gas Transmission Construction Manager Marty Parker said pre-construction on the site began earlier this year, with grading beginning last December.

“We are planning to complete our construction activities late December/early January on the site itself,” Parker said. “Depending on permitting, we should be able to serve gas throughout the western regions in North Carolina in February.”

Over the next few weeks, PSNC will be conducting the commissioning of the pressure station.

Parker said the commissioning is a pretty comprehensive process that includes safety checks of not only what PSNC is required to do, but what the company wants to do to ensure the station is safe.

Parker said construction is on schedule.

“We work real closely with the county and the school system,” Parker said. “That’s why these meetings take place. To make sure to answer questions and that everyone knows what’s going on.”

During the fair, which was a drop-in style from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, most of the concerns from the public were about PSNC’s emergency plan. At a public hearing in May about the air quality permit for the station, residents expressed concern about the safety of the station, particularly because it is located in close proximity to the middle school.

PSNC’s Persida Montanez said the county emergency medical service has a plan, the school has a plan and PSNC has a plan.

Montanez said PSNC has been in Polk County since the 1960s.