Atlantic Sunrise Intervenor Condemns FERC Subversion of Environmental Protection Process for The Nesbitt Parcel in Gas Pipeline Case

A spokesperson for an intervenor in the Atlantic Sunrise Expansion
Project said the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) circumvented the requirements of the National Environmental
Protection Act (NEPA) in the natural gas pipeline gas expansion by
willfully disregarding facts about significant and irreplaceable
cultural and environmental resources on The Nesbitt Parcel affected by
the project.

Through her spokesperson, Geraldine Nesbitt condemned the final
Environmental Impact Study (EIS) released by the FERC staff on December
30, 2016, which favors a more destructive pipeline route proposed by the
Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) and Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ) through
a portion of her property, The Nesbitt Parcel. A less destructive and
more convenient alternate route has been identified.

Attorney Carolyn Elefant, the Nesbitt spokesperson, said the FERC
project manager, along with its consultants, deliberately ignored the
extensive data submitted by Ms. Nesbitt’s team of experts and
intentionally disregarded requests from federally recognized Native
American tribes for on-site government-to-government consultation
concerning the sacred cultural resources that would be damaged by the
pipeline expansion.

“Had they visited the site as they were urged to do by both Ms. Nesbitt
and at least one Federally Recognized Tribe, FERC staff members could
have seen with their own eyes the validity of the facts submitted on Ms.
Nesbitt’s behalf,” Elefant said. “Instead of independently verifying the
overwhelming impacts that would result from Williams’ route selection,
the FERC staff appears to have blindly accepted the flawed data
submitted by Williams and blatantly ignored any contradicting
submissions from Ms. Nesbitt without any acknowledgement or response.
This includes the potential destruction of 66 culturally significant
stone features that are directly within the pipeline’s proposed path.”

Some of these archeological features are almost 100 feet long in the
shape of animals. Experts Ms. Nesbitt has retained to evaluate the
cultural resources on her property have concluded they meet the criteria
to be considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, deserving of
international protection, along with listing on the National Register of
Historic Places.

Ms. Nesbitt’s team of archaeologists conducted an exhaustive survey of
the proposed route across her property and submitted a detailed report
with photographs and GPS locations to highlight both the significance of
the resources and the damage they would sustain if the pipeline were
constructed along the route proposed by Williams and its consultants.

At least one Federally Recognized Tribe submitted comments about the
significance of the numerous sacred stone features on Ms. Nesbitt’s
property that FERC’s staff simply chose to ignore along with requests
for formal government-to-government consultation. FERC’s staff also
ignored the fact that there is at least one known gravesite within the
proposed pipeline corridor and likely many more unmarked burials.

“It is clear that FERC’s staff made up their mind on the route they
would select before the public commenting period began and that their
actions were simply perfunctory to give the appearance of complying with
NEPA and their own regulations,” Elefant said. “Their actions mean
Williams can sell gas overseas at the cost of destroying both a truly
unique complex of cultural stone landscape features and substantial
environmental resources.”

The actions of the FERC staff threaten to delay this important project
unnecessarily with additional legal and administrative procedures. Such
a delay only benefits Williams’ consultants at the expense of Williams,
its stockholders, environment and cultural treasures and, in fact, the
energy needs of the nation.

About Geraldine Nesbitt

Geraldine Nesbitt is the owner of The Nesbitt Parcel in Dallas Township,
PA. Ms. Nesbitt seeks to protect and preserve extraordinarily unique
cultural resources on her property that are highly significant to
several Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, which experts believe also
qualify as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ms. Nesbitt is also seeking to
protect significant environmental habitats on her property that experts
state are comparable to or exceed, with regard to biodiversity, any
state park in Pennsylvania.

About The Nesbitt Parcel

The Nesbitt Property has been owned and conserved by the Nesbitt family
for more than 120 years. Abram Nesbitt, a prominent businessman and
philanthropist who funded the area's first hospital in 1912, bought the
first section of the current ownership in the 1890s. Eventually, 40
other parcels were purchased and added together to form the current
Nesbitt Parcel. The Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) and Williams Partners
(NYSE: WPZ) are enlarging and expanding the capacity of an interstate
pipelines through what is called the Atlantic Sunrise project. Williams
Partners seeks eminent domain powers to impact land owned by Ms. Nesbitt.

Note: The Nesbitt Parcel is private property and trespassers are subject
to prosecution.
©Copyright 2017 by Geraldine Nesbitt. All rights
reserved.

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