Hundreds of residents, advocates speak out against proposed Transco pipeline project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2025

CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org 

RALEIGH, N.C. — More than 650 residents and advocates have spoken out against Williams Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement project during the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality comment period on its air permit applications, which ended late yesterday. 

SSEP would include 54 miles of new high-pressure methane gas pipeline in Virginia and North Carolina and compressor station expansions or modifications in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Air permits are required in order for Transco to expand polluting compressor stations in Davidson and Iredell counties. Compressor stations push methane gas through pipelines at a high pressure.

Transco wants to use gas-powered instead of electric equipment to power this proposed compressor station expansion. Gas-powered stations release chemicals, including fine particulate matter, that can have severe negative impacts on nearby residents’ health. The existing stations are located near air monitors that have recorded unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, in recent years, with levels reaching or just below the federal limit.

Residents and advocates spoke out against the project at two public hearings in Lexington and Mooresville, citing concerns around health impacts of air pollution and existing pollution levels near the station sites.

In Davidson County, the area directly next to the proposed expansion site is in the 84th percentile statewide regarding its low-income population level, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s EJScreen tool. This project could burden low-income communities with higher healthcare costs, considering the potential impact of air pollution on residents’ health.

Community members also held a press conference on Nov. 18, ahead of the hearing in Davidson County. Three residents and two advocates spoke at the hearing, expressing concern around the project’s impacts on health, air quality, safety and residential electric bills.

“We oppose these permits because the compressor station threatens local health and air quality, property values and quality of life in general,” said Gary Orioli, a local resident who lives near the compressor station near Lexington. “Quadrupling the size of this compressor station would give this community a death sentence.”

“My wife and I live on family land, family land that goes back over 200 years,” said Bill Huesman, a resident in the town of Wallburg. “The proposed project in Wallburg is within 900 feet of Wallburg Elementary School. It is well within the blast zone, along with the community pool, recreation center and a historic home, now the Wall Museum. [This] project is driven by corporate profit, while at the same time threatening property values, public safety and the environment. Facts and transparency have deliberately bypassed the citizens of Davidson County. Transco Williams representatives have not been forthcoming about their safety record.”

“Williams Transco could make the safe and sustainable decision to electrify this facility, which would greatly reduce air pollution and impacts on the surrounding communities,” said Crystal Norford, Environmental Justice Organizer with Clean Water for North Carolina. “We must hold operators accountable and hold them to the highest performance standard.”

“We urge the DAQ to deny these air permits,” said Debra Demske, Chair of the Sierra Club North Carolina Chapter’s Foothills Group. “At a bare minimum, you must require a full assessment of community health impacts, demand that Transco provide a detailed plan for electrification and impose the strictest possible pollution controls.”

“Impacted communities do not want to see more air pollution as a result of Transco’s proposed expansion of Compressor Stations 150 and 155,” said Aidan Loretz, Community Organizer with 7 Directions of Service & the Haw River Assembly. “Communities in the surrounding areas already suffer from exposure to poor air quality and related risks to health, especially to children’s health. We urge DAQ to deny these permits, to carry out a robust air quality and community health analysis, and demand electrification alternatives for Compressor Stations 150 and 155.”