Community Outcry in Person County: Concerns rise over proposed liquefied methane storage facility

By Lara Howell

Community members in Person County, North Carolina, and surrounding counties voiced concerns about the Moriah Energy Center — a liquefied methane gas storage facility proposed by Dominion Energy — during a public hearing on Aug. 1. The hearing was hosted by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality, and was an opportunity for residents to comment on Dominion Energy’s air permit application for the project, which would occupy 480 acres of deforested land in the town of Rougemont.

The 25 million-gallon facility would be the first of two to be built on the site, and community members are concerned that it poses major threats. Other liquefied methane storage facilities, like a subsidiary of Piedmont Natural Gas’s plant in Huntersville, North Carolina, where used filter pellets containing toxic chemicals were buried on-site which contaminated nearby drinking water. Liquefied methane storage facilities release toxic pollutants into the air when they reheat the liquefied gas before distribution. Dominion’s air permit application for the MEC facility projects that it would also emit 65,579 tons of greenhouse gasses annually. 

Community members have been working against the proposed Moriah Energy Center for almost a year since Dominion Energy first announced its plans to build the center in the area. Locals formed the advocacy group Neighbors Opposed to the Moriah Energy Center, commonly referred to as NoMEC, after Theresa Ahrens and Elissa Huffstetler learned that Dominion was moving in 1.5 miles from their retirement community. 

NoMEC has been a leader in the efforts to stop the construction of the Moriah Energy Center. The group has spent almost a year advocating for their community, gathering support, raising tens of thousands of dollars for legal fees and attending public comment sessions.

The hearing 

The Aug. 1 public hearing was the first opportunity for public input since a county commissioner meeting in December 2023. Despite the hearing being held two counties away from the proposed storage facility’s construction site, around 100 residents of the area attended.

Division of Air Quality staff told Jason Torian, a Person County resident who also works for Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, that they had difficulty finding a venue for the hearing because contracts for venues owned by Person County Government and Person County Schools had terms that the DAQ couldn’t agree to “due to restrictions on [DAQ’s] ability as an executive agency to enter into contracts involving certain types of indemnity clauses.” Similar restrictions were present in the other counties, however, the DAQ staff shared that what they encountered in Person County was “beyond what we have encountered elsewhere.”

Thirty-eight out of the 39 attendees who commented at the hearing opposed the Moriah Energy Center and asked the DAQ to deny the permit. Residents shared their fears about how MEC would affect farms, homes and communities in the area through increased air and water pollution. They asked that, even if the permit is granted, DAQ should require MEC to be accountable to measurable air quality standards. Residents asked for air monitors and public safety plans, something which they feel Dominion has dodged throughout the entire months-long process. 

“We had hoped for straight answers to our questions.” commented NoMEC co-founder Theresa Ahrens at the DAQ hearing. “That didn’t happen, and here we are today.” 

What information community members have managed to gather has not eased their concerns.

“I’m very concerned about the pollutants that will be released by this facility,” Jill Hoffman, who lives about 1,600 feet from the site and holds a doctorate in toxicology, said at the hearing. “These chemicals cause cancer. These chemicals cause a multitude of other diseases. These chemicals damage our environment.”

Water contamination has also become an issue. As Dominion began pre-construction work to prepare the site for building, residents reported milky water flowing in their backyard creeks, which feed into the primary drinking water reservoir for the city of Durham. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality verified that the streams surrounding the Moriah Energy Center are indeed being polluted with sediment, endangering critical habitat areas for several mussels and the Neuse River waterdog salamander.

Residents have fought against the energy center by attending planning board meetings and Person County Board of Commissioners public hearings, submitting comments and questions, and filing legal complaints. Still, they have seen little response from regulatory agencies, county administrators or Dominion. 

“Think of how refreshing it would be to see a government agency acting proactively and preventing disaster instead of reacting to a crisis that will cost the taxpayers a lot of money,” says Andrea Childers, who has lived in Person County for 32 years and resides half a mile from the proposed site. “Why does [DEQ] continue to place the profits of fossil fuel companies over the citizens it is supposed to protect?”

During the Person County Board of Commissioners public hearing in December 2023, more than 350 people attended and 35 spoke against Dominion’s rezoning proposal. The Person County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of the project, with no discussion. 

The lack of response from the county board of commissioners was not the only time residents were met with disregard.

“All we’re asking at this point is for Dominion to be good corporate neighbors,” added Andrea Childers, noting that members of NoMEC are requesting that water and air monitoring be included in DEQ’s regulations for the MEC. 

In addition to water and air health, safety is one of the biggest concerns community members expressed. 

“Dominion Energy has refused to include common-sense safety features in this plant, including leak detection and repair systems or double-wall tanks,” explains Eleanor Weston, a health sciences librarian in the area. “They have also declined to create a risk management plan for this facility.” 

When Andrea Childers asked Dominion at an open house in May why there is no public risk management or emergency response plan, the company responded, “There will be no accidents”

Uncertainty about which government agency oversees MEC’s safety protocol heightens those concerns. 

“Can you tell me which government agency is responsible for overseeing safety protocols for the Moriah Energy Center?” Andrea Childers asked the DAQ panel. “We asked you and you told us it was DOT. We asked DOT and they said it was DEQ. Then we find out that it could be [the North Carolina Utilities Commission], but they told us they don’t regulate liquid natural gas. So am I to understand that there is no North Carolina government agency that will be overseeing safety protocols of a 50 million-gallon bomb being built less than a half a mile from my house?”

Childers also reminded the panel that since 2000, Dominion has racked up 68 safety violations, and $3.9 billion in fines. 

Dominion and Enbridge

A proposal to sell Dominion’s Public Service Company of North Carolina, Inc., which would run the Moriah Energy Center, to Enbridge raises additional concerns. Enbridge is the largest methane gas utility company in North America and is remembered for one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history that went undetected for 17 hours. From 2002 to 2018, Enbridge and its joint ventures reported 307 hazardous liquids incidents. Since 2000, Enbridge has been fined more than $284 million due to violations of environmental regulations, pipeline safety and workplace safety and health. 

Dominion, whose stock has dropped almost 35% over the past two years, announced the proposed deal in September of 2023, the same month that residents were made aware of MEC. The $9.4 billion sale of the Public Service Company, along with two other methane gas distribution companies, includes Enbridge’s assumption of $4.6 billion of Dominion’s debt. 

The DEQ will likely release the outcome of the hearing in a few months. Meanwhile, Dominion has already started pre-construction work, and community members continue to mobilize against the facility. 

“Together we have the power to protect our community and mandate a future that aligns with our values,” says Person County resident Kris Clayton. “Let us stand firm against the proposal of the Moriah Energy Center and instead, advocate for a safe, healthy and sustainable neighborhood for us all.”

Lara is originally from Charlottesville, Va., but spent most of her life in central Texas (far, far away from the mountains). She is happy to be returning to Virginia as a rising senior at the University of Virginia, where she studies Global Environments & Sustainability and Religious Studies.