The Daily Herald
by Gareth Farrell

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline has drawn its share of criticism and support from the Roanoke Valley community, and two local mayors are now backing the pipeline.

In an open letter addressed to the residents of eastern North Carolina, Roanoke Rapids Mayor Emery Doughtie, Garysburg Mayor Roy Bell and several others from outside the Valley asked residents to support the pipeline, calling it a vital economic opportunity for the state. The mayors listed five reasons why the pipeline would be a boon to their respective municipalities: jobs, investments, economic development, lower energy bills and cleaner energy.

Doughtie said it will also be dependable.

“One thing, it will be a reliable source of energy that can come through our area because it’s coming from America,” the mayor said. “We’re not dependent on it coming from other countries, other parts of the world.”

The pipeline would transport natural gas from West Virginia and roughly follow Interstate 95 once it crosses the North Carolina border. Although it barely passes through Halifax County, a large swath of it will be in Northampton County.

For many of the small North Carolina cities and towns it runs past, Doughtie said there will be positive economic impacts. A new energy source would open the door for new manufacturing and other jobs to not only come to the area, he said, but also the rest of eastern North Carolina and the southeastern United States.

The pipeline will run straight through Garysburg and Bell reflected Doughtie’s sentiment, saying it will bring more jobs.

“In order to bring new industry or any businesses at all, you’ve got to have some type of energy that they can use,” he said.

Bell said he’s seen Garysburg’s population steadily fall from 1,250 to 1,000 people during his tenure as mayor because residents leave when they can’t find jobs. He said he hopes the pipeline will help the area recover.

“Northampton County is dwindling populationwise, Garysburg in particular,” he said. “One of the reasons why is we can’t provide any jobs. We don’t have any means of attracting industries. In order to attract industries you’ve got to have the things they need and natural gas in one of them.”

Residents and companies both contribute to the tax base of a municipality, Bell and Doughtie both said. When they grow and prosper, then the town can thrive as well.

“It just spreads on out if a large industry comes here, builds a building, puts in additional infrastructure that just compounds the tax benefits from the initial project,” he said.

Both men downplayed any danger or risk the pipeline posed to the area, with Doughtie saying it’s part of life.

“In anything that we do, there is going to be risk there,” he said. “That’s just the nature of our society. I think when you look at the amount of miles that these pipelines cover, just the magnitude of the industry, and then you look at the incidents that happen you see a very, very safe industry.”

Bell said natural gas has been a part of the area’s infrastructure for years, and has been the main energy source for a peanut factory just outside of Garysburg.

“Natural gas has always been in this area,” he said. “When people don’t know or don’t understand is when they fight. You fight what you don’t understand.”

Dominion, one of the companies that will operate the pipeline, said groundbreaking should begin in 2019 and finish in 2022.