Comment on Report says Nexus Pipeline will cost Green, schools $113 million in lost revenue over 50 years

In a new report, the city of Green contends that the proposed Nexus Pipeline will cost the city and Green schools about $113 million in lost income over 50 years.Most of that loss is tied to lost commercial/industrial growth and expansion opportunities that would not take place, said the 54-page report by four Cleveland State University professors.In addition, residential properties near the pipeline would be devalued by 2½ to 5 percent, said Green planning director Wayne Wiethe.The city with its 26,000 residents would lose an estimated $52 million and the school district would lose $61 million over that time, the report says.There would be additional losses of about $10 million over 50 years to Summit County, the Portage Lakes Career Center, the Akron-Summit County Public Library and Summit Metro Parks that all collect property taxes.“The findings of the overall economic impact study are quite compelling and clearly demonstrate the disproportional impacts the city would experience if the Nexus Pipeline project negative impacts the city would experience if the Nexus Pipeline project is allowed to proceed as proposed,” said Wiethe and staffer Chrissy Lingenfelter in a two-page letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that oversees pipeline projects.The city repeated its request that the $2 billion pipeline be rerouted away from the Summit-Stark-Medina area to less-populated areas in southern Stark and Wayne counties.“If Nexus is unwilling to implement such a route, we request FERC to simply deny this application until a more logical pipeline route is presented,” the city argued.The report has been posted on the city’s website and has been submitted to FERC.Green’s arguments could be echoed, in varying degrees, by every community along the 250-mile route of the Nexus Pipeline from eastern Ohio to Michigan and Ontario.The company behind the pipeline disagreed with the report and its conclusions.Evidence shows that pipelines have little impact on property values, said spokesman Adam Parker in an email.“These studies, including filings prepared by the FERC … have consistently concluded that pipelines — particularly natural gas pipelines — pose no significant impact to property values,” he said.There also appear to be errors in the report including a flawed methodology and outdated and incorrect route information, he said.Parker added: “The city’s study also appears to conclude that pipeline infrastructure will impede or even harm economic growth in the region 1.