Dozens testify against large liquified natural gas facility in Person County

Dozens testified against the Moriah Energy Center at a public hearing on Aug. 1, 2024. (Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)

Each morning, Jill Hoffman and her husband wake up to the sound of Dominion Energy’s bulldozers working on the Moriah Energy Center.

They’ve lived in a home on 16 acres of wooded land for 22 years and planned to retire there.

But they’re wary now due to their proximity to the planned liquified natural gas storage facility on 485 acres in southeastern Person County, about two miles from Durham and Granville County lines.

“These chemicals cause cancer. These chemicals cause a multitude of other diseases. These chemicals damage our environment,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman was one of 38 people who spoke out against the Moriah Energy Center’s application for an air quality permit from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality at a public hearing on Thursday.

The hearing was held at Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson. Organizers could not find a suitable venue in Person County with room for at least 500 attendees.

Construction for the Moriah Energy Center began in early 2024, and it’s anticipated to be operational by early 2027.

The facility could emit 65,579 tons of greenhouse gases each year, according to Dominion’s Aug. 2023 air permit application to the state.

Over the course of nearly three hours, the energy of the room intensified. Attendees went from polite snaps of agreement to loud applause following each speaker’s testimony against the facility.

The first claps erupted early on in the night, after Jeff Hammarquist, 33, and his 12-year-old son Jeffrey spoke about the proposal’s detriments to their farm and quality of life.

Jeff Hammarquist said the pollutants would make the land uninhabitable for miles surrounding the facility to children, pets, livestock, and wildlife. He and his wife, Oci Canadas, have frequently voiced their disdain for the Moriah Energy Center.

“We cannot and will not relocate, like my ancestors who were run out of Germany in the 30s,” the elder Hammarquist said. “By allowing Dominion’s air contamination of agricultural land, you take away the freedom of the working man, you take away their right to self-determination by sacrificing the last of America’s natural space.”

For the sole witness speaking in favor of the center, there were muffled chuckles permeating his words.

Chip Prosser, vice president of transmissions operations, came to the hearing as a representative of the Carolinas Natural Gas Coalition.

With increased economic development in North Carolina, there’s a need for more electrical power, he said, citing natural gas as the solution.

“It offers a cost-effective solution for families and businesses alike, allowing them to thrive without facing high energy costs,” Prosser said.

Speakers expressed distrust of Dominion Energy and its regard for safety.

Heidi Grable, a real estate agent, said she values the health and wellbeing of her clients, as well as the quality of the drinking water in the area.

“I choose to help my neighbors and residents do well in life and financially benefit with their homes,” she said. “They’re safe places to return after work, to live their lives, and to breathe.”

Katie Moore, an environmental justice and air quality researcher, said the proposal disproportionately harms people of color.

She talked about historical instances in which government agencies excluded indigenous people and made harmful environmental decisions without tribal consultation.

Moore suggested attendees read “On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice,” a book by Ryan Emanuel, a Lumbee hydrologist and tenured faculty member at Duke University. The text covers Emanuel’s experiences in dealing with similar environmental issues in Robeson County.

“We ask you to deny this permit and we ask you to change the way that you do permitting, because it’s clearly not achieving environmental justice goals,” Moore said.

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Afterward, the appointed hearing officer will review all comments and give a recommendation to the director of the Division of Air Quality, who will make a final decision on how to move forward with the air quality permit. The process is estimated to take about two months.