A proposed natural gas pipeline in North Carolina is drawing fierce backlash from residents who say they were notified, not consulted, about a project that could cut through private land and sensitive waterways in one of the state's fastest-changing regions.
According to Inside Climate News, Enbridge, a Canadian company, said in late April that it wants to build a 28-mile gas pipeline in Chatham County running from Siler City to Moncure. The project is still in its early stages, but landowners, conservation advocates, and local officials are already warning that it could deepen fossil fuel dependence, threaten wildlife habitat, and steamroll community concerns in the name of growth.
One of those landowners is 72-year-old John Alderman, who said he opened a certified letter from an attorney and immediately feared the worst. The notice said contractors surveying possible routes wanted access to his property. Alderman told ICN that he saw the letter as an affront, saying he was being told "without asking" that someone planned to trespass on his land.
ICN reported that early routing maps show a tie-in to Enbridge's current system near Siler City before the line ends near Moncure. According to Enbridge, work might start in the fall of 2027, and the line could be in service by spring 2028.
Alderman and his wife, Gloria, live off-grid in a solar-powered home on 195 wooded acres and grow their own food. As a biologist who dedicated his life to endangered species, Alderman said the irony is hard to ignore: After building a life centered on climate resilience, he may now have to contend with a gas pipeline crossing his land.
ICN reported that the line would end near Triangle Innovation Point, the site of more than 1,000 cleared acres for the delayed VinFast factory and a proposed 750-megawatt data center. Critics say that the pattern should alarm residents.
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Enbridge spokeswoman Persida Montanez, speaking to ICN, said the line is meant to address wider energy demand in Chatham and Lee counties rather than a single development.
Natural gas companies and Duke Energy argue that new infrastructure is needed to meet rising power demand, especially from data centers, but, as ICN reported, environmental groups, consumer advocates, and the Public Staff of the N.C. Utilities Commission claim those forecasts are inflated — a concern that echoes broader debates around data center energy demand.
If critics are right, the fallout could extend far beyond one county: higher utility bills, more air pollution, and more damage to ecosystems that communities depend on.
Local commissioner Amanda Robertson has fought a pipeline project before and is ready to do so again. "Now we've got yet another pipeline, and I will do everything in my power to find a way to stop that from happening," she said, according to ICN.
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Alderman was even more direct in his message to Enbridge: "You can't do this. Explore the alternatives. Stay off my property."
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