WCBC

January 2nd, 2019 by WCBC Radio

The Maryland Board of Public Works unanimously rejected Wednesday plans for a pipeline that would carry fracked gas through three miles of western Maryland, after years of environmentalists and neighbors fighting the project.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp, both Democrats, voted against an easement for the pipeline, citing concern for the environment.

“We were going to subject our state to all the environmental problems of this pipeline and get none of the economic benefits,” Franchot said. “This became a fairly big issue.”

Despite a state agency’s recommendation that Columbia Gas Transmission, which is owned by energy company TransCanada Corp., receive permission to build the pipeline through Washington County, board members were inundated with testimony against the project, including a letter from 62 state lawmakers.