The executive committee authorized Nathaniel Karns, left, to handle any required responses through the permitting process. On the right is John Duval of Adams, who was just appointed to the committee.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Kinder Morgan representatives will be at Berkshire Community College on Thursday, Sept. 18, to present its proposed Northeast Expansion Project.

The energy company is seeking to lay about 250 miles of pipe, including in parts of Western Massachusetts. The proposal has raised opposition across the state.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has organized the 6 p.m. presentation that will feature Pittsfield Superintendent of Schools Jason McCandless as moderator. 

 

"We are intentionally using a moderator, Jake McCandless, superintendent of public schools; he doesn't have an oar in the water and is well respected in the community," BRPC Executive Director Nathaniel Karns said. 

 

The company will have the first hour of the meeting to present its gas pipeline plans and then field questions from commission members. The Conservation Law Foundation will follow them and present information about the permitting process.

 

"This is not going to be a public hearing. It is a meeting of the commission," Karns said. "It is really intended to educate us all."

 

In crafting the program, the commission has been careful to keep the conversation civil. In other presentations the company has made, there have been an array of turmoil from the public in attendance. Karns has reiterated multiple times in planning the presentation that while the public is welcome to sit in on the meeting, it is not a public hearing.

 

"There will be law enforcement present. Franklin [County] had to deal with all of this," Karns said, just in case an individual or group gets out of hand.

 

Karns added that he is hoping Kinder Morgan will pay for the police detail.

 

Meanwhile, the commission's executive committee gave Karns the authorization to not only apply for intervenor status but also the authority to provided responses to motions and other matters in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process.

 

"This is going to evolve very quickly," Karns said. 

 

The organization is also filing a motion requesting that the company be denied any expedited permitting — often filed under the claim there are no environmental impacts — and requesting a full environmental report and to meet Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review standards.

 

"My hunch is the companies always file to do as little as they can," Karns said of the permitting process moving forward.

 

BRPC previously held an intervenor role in a proposed biomass plant in Pownal, Vt., that saw opposition from people in neighboring Williamstown.

 

Karns added that he has noticed a jump in interested parties in the process, including the likes of Exxon Mobile and other big oil companies.

 

Also in September, the commission will be crafting its response to the proposed Rest of the River cleanup of the Housatonic.