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News Maryland News

Environmental Justice Advocates Sound Alarm Over Eastern Shore Pipeline

October 30, 2020 by Maryland Matters

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The proposed Eastern Shore Pipeline Project, which would bring fracked natural gas from Delaware into Somerset County, runs primarily through low-income communities of color, a recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network found.

Out of the 40 census blocks surrounding the proposed pipeline route through Maryland, only four were not identified as potential environmental justice populations. There are especially large majority minority and low-income populations concentrated around Salisbury in Wicomico County, where the proposed pipeline project would begin. The study also found a large census tract with over 70% minority population and 24% of low-income residents adjacent to the proposed pipeline in Somerset County.

The natural gas pipeline already exists in Delaware and Wicomico County in Maryland, but this project would extend it from Wicomico to Somerset County, one of three counties in Maryland that do not have access to natural gas and have missed economic opportunities because of it, according to Daniel K. Thompson, executive director of the Somerset County Economic Development Commission.

With an unemployment rate at 9.1% and the highest poverty rate in the state at 23.4%, Somerset County would greatly benefit from access to natural gas, as it would provide additional tax revenue, decrease local businesses’ energy costs and help create more jobs, Thompson said. Mountaire Farms, the chicken processing company that is waiting to invest an additional $5 million and add five to seven new jobs, as well as Somerset Crossing, a development project in Princess Anne that will create 75-100 new jobs, will benefit immediately after natural gas is made available in Somerset County, Thompson said.

“Somerset County has many challenges such as high unemployment, high poverty rates, high energy cost, etc. Therefore, why should one of the most challenged counties in Maryland not have access to natural gas, when other counties enjoy the benefits?” he said.

Environmentalists argue that expanding gas infrastructure is short-sighted, as companies like the Chesapeake Energy Corporation (not affiliated with Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, the pipeline company) filed for bankruptcy this summer and many more are expected to do so by the end of next year. Rather, electrifying buildings is a lower cost alternative compared to gas and leads to lower energy bills in the long-run, according to Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., an energy consulting firm.

“It is economically foolish to build the very expensive polluting infrastructure of gas pipelines and equipment, which is already outpriced by highly competitive and non-polluting solar and wind,” John Groutt of the Wicomico Environmental Trust said in a statement. “The pipelines will become worthless stranded assets within a very few years, leaving Maryland taxpayers to continue paying for it for years to come.”

The two major recipients of the extended pipeline are the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and the Eastern Correctional Institution, a medium security state prison. The Maryland Environmental Service signed a contract with Chesapeake Utilities to build the pipeline last year, which now needs to obtain wetlands permits from the Board of Public Works in order to begin construction.

Currently, the Eastern Correctional Institution generates heat by burning wood chips, while UMES generates heat by burning propane and oil.

“We’ve long sought a more environmentally friendly source of energy to provide electric and thermal needs for ECI, and natural gas seemed like a natural clean, reliable source of energy,” said Dan Faoro, spokesman of Maryland Environmental Service. “It’s far cleaner than the wood-chips that they’ve been using.”

The proposed pipeline in Somerset would only increase the state’s overall gas use by .0001%, said Justin Mulcahy, a spokesman for Chesapeake Utilities Corporation. “While this is an incremental project in the context of Maryland, it provides major environmental and economic benefits for Somerset County,” he said.

Even so, it is not smart to replace dirty sources of energy with another, environmentalists claim. “Fracked gas is just as bad, if not worse, than coal over a 20-year time frame,” Anthony Field, the Maryland campaign coordinator of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said during a news conference this week.

Jailynn Britt, a student at UMES, sees the proposed pipeline project as a “grave injustice,” threatening the soil and water that UMES, a historically black college and university, depends on for its agriculture research. “This pipeline provides no sustainable benefits to the school,” she said in a press conference Tuesday.

Although MES called the procurement process “exhaustive and competitive,” alternative energy proposals were not considered from the beginning. In its request for proposals, MES asked specifically for a “natural gas pipeline” to supply the Eastern Correctional Institution and UMES campus.

Without looking into alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy, MES cannot claim that natural gas is the cleanest and most effective energy source for the prison and the university, environmentalists said.

In July, the Maryland Board of Public Works unanimously voted to pay contractors more than $500,000 to upgrade facilities at the Eastern Correctional Institution so that it could accept gas as a fuel source. But environmentalists pointed out that this was awarded before the correctional institution obtained the permits needed for construction by the state. The Board of Public Works may decide on the wetlands permit for the first portion of the pipeline as early as next Wednesday.

The CCAN report also found that Salisbury is particularly a high-risk area, not only because of how dense the population is, but also because the pipeline project envisions building a renewable natural gas facility there, which would convert organic material from the poultry industry, such as manure and food waste, into renewable natural gas. But this incentivizes more waste production, Field said.

However, since excess organics produce greenhouse gas emissions that flow into local waterways, converting excess organic material into fuel “will help protect the environment and keep local waterways clean,” Chesapeake Utilities Corporation spokesman Mulcahy insists. Otherwise, he said, the excess organic material would have been sent to a landfill, where it would decompose and release greenhouse gas emissions that are used as fertilizers or incinerated, which contributes to air pollution.

Still, environmentalists claim that renewable natural gas is expensive and limited in supply. A report by Earthjustice and Sierra Club found that the total potential supply of renewable natural gas cannot replace even a portion of the existing demand for fossil gas by 2040. Furthermore, large-scale farms that produce lots of waste are dangerous sources of methane, a strong greenhouse gas.

“While states across the country are moving away from gas, Maryland put its thumb on the scale for gas, foregoing the opportunity for comprehensive review of alternatives,” Field said.

By Elizabeth Shwe

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: Eastern Shore, Economic Development, energy, low-income, Maryland, natural gas, pipeline, poverty, somerset county, unemployment

Kent County Will Offer 75 $1,000 COVID-19 Small Business Grants

May 6, 2020 by John Griep

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Kent County will offer $1,000 COVID-19 relief grants to the first 75 small businesses that qualify.

Businesses will be able to apply online at https://www.kentcounty.com/business/business-support/incentives/grants beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 7. Applications will close at 5 p.m. Friday, May 15.

Applications will be date and time stamped upon submittal of the online form and the grants will be provided to the first 75 eligible businesses.

The online application should take 10 minutes or less, Jamie Williams, the county’s economic development director, told the Kent County Commissioners Tuesday night.

The grants are being offered to Kent County for-profit businesses established before Jan. 1, 2020, that had no more than four employees on March 5, 2020. Businesses must be in good standing with the county and state.

Businesses that have received some form of COVID-19 relief — such as from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program — will only be considered for county grants if there is money remaining in the program after businesses that have received no funds elsewhere are given grants.

“This gives us a chance to help a few more people that have not been helped by other means,” Kent County Commissioner Ron Fithian said Tuesday night. “We just want to make it go as far as it can.”

The grant funds are coming from the county’s revolving loan fund, which will be dissolved. County officials said that program had never performed as hoped.

According to Kent County Economic Development:

“The Kent County Small Business COVID-19 Emergency Grant Fund will offer working capital to assist Kent County for-profit, small businesses with disrupted operations due to COVID-19.

“Grant assistance is intended to provide interim relief complementing arrangements with the business’ bank(s), business interruption insurance, financial institutions, and federal and state partners.”

Williams also gave the commissioners a brief review of the results of a business impact questionnaire that has been completed by 76 Kent County businesses so far.

The questionnaire continues through Friday and is available online under the Business Resources tab at https://www.kentcounty.com/coronavirus.

Asked if operations had changed as a result of the pandemic and state of emergency, 49% of responding businesses said they had shut down, 33% responded other, 21% were operating with modifications, and 8% were operating normally, Williams said.

About two-thirds of the responding businesses said there had been no layoffs as a result of the pandemic and 63% said no future layoffs are planned. Only 20% of businesses are using telework.

About 42% of businesses said they were are risk or high risk of closing permanently if the state of emergency is prolonged; 11% said the business was at no risk of closing.

Businesses were asked to use a 1-5 scale to quantify the risk of closing, with 1 being no risk and 5 being high risk.

The responses were: 1) 11%;  2) 24%; 3) 24%; 4) 21%; 5) 21%.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage, Commerce Homepage, News Portal Highlights Tagged With: business, Covid-19, Economic Development, grant, Kent County, small business

Shore Lawmakers Get Bipartisan Support to Bring Data Firms to MD

February 17, 2020 by Daniel Menefee

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A bipartisan bill sponsored by Senate Minority Whip Steve Hershey and Prince George’s Sen. Doug Peters, a Democrat, could make Maryland more competitive with surrounding states that have successfully used tax incentives to lure data center companies.

“This is a tax exemption bill that we feel is necessary to begin attracting multi-million dollar data center facilities to Maryland,”  Hershey, R-Queen Anne’s, said before the Senate Budget and Tax Committee on Wednesday. “We are not asking to dig into the Maryland coffers to give anything away, we’re simply asking the committee to make a thoughtful economic decision.”

The bill would offer data centers exemptions to Maryland’s personal property and sales and use tax, provided they invest $5 million within three years of filing for the exemption — and hire at least five personnel earning 1.5 times the state’s minimum wage. 

The investment requirement drops to $2 million in the Tier I counties of Allegany, Baltimore City Caroline, Dorchester, Garrett, Kent, Somerset, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester–because these counties have unemployment rates the exceed 150 percent of the state average.

“Other states have recognized the valuable economic impact these facilities bring to local economies and have changed their tax policies to incentivize these companies to come to their states,” Hershey said. “Maryland is not leading, we’re not even in the game.”

He said the demand for new data centers is increasing and that other states have seen economic rewards from providing tax incentives to data center firms. The bill would also allow a local jurisdiction to reduce the percentage of its own personal property tax to attract data centers.

Former U.S Congresswoman Barbara Comstock of Virginia also testified before the committee and spoke of her state’s tax revenue windfall from data centers.

She said in 2012 Virginia updated its incentives for data centers and tax revenue in Loudon County alone soared from $50 million in 2012 to $350 million in 2020.

She said there has not been a year where the taxpayers lost any money.

Hershey commended the efforts of the Kent County Economic Development Office for requesting the bill, which will have a statewide benefit.

Kent Economic Development Director Jamie Williams said the tax incentives would be the first step in attracting data centers.

“The need for data storage and processing increases daily,” she told the committee. “It’s not a matter of if these data centers will be built, it is a matter of where.”

Kent County Commissioner Bob Jacob said that new data centers would greatly benefit from the county’s recent $7 million investment in an open fiber-optic network. He said the 150-mile network was recently completed without state funds.

He told the committee that Loudon County, VA had increased its commercial tax base 15 percent while increasing funding for education.

“They did it with the attraction of data centers and it was possible in part from the sales and use tax exemption,” he said. “Maryland would like an opportunity to share in a small portion of that industry.”

Dee Anna Sobczak, CEO of Kent FIBER Optic Systems, said the need for data centers is growing 40 percent a year–and will continue at the current pace for the next decade.

She said data centers draw other tech companies that want to be near them.

“There are many areas in the state that are prime for data centers, but without the incentives, they will never come,” she said. She said it was hard for Maryland to be competitive with tax-free Delaware and Virginia, “the data center capital of the world.”

There are currently 35 other states offering tax incentives to attract data centers, she said.

Hershey’s co-sponsor, Sen. Doug Peters, said Prince George’s County is also well suited to host data centers.

“This bill is important because we need to be competitive like neighboring states in order to attract data center clients to Maryland,” he said in an email to the Spy. “Prince George’s County is perfectly positioned to house these data centers in its numerous industrial complexes.” 

Del. Jay Jacobs, R-Kent, has a cross-filed bill in the House of Delegates that has also won bipartisan support. A hearing is scheduled for March 6.    

“Our Legislators should act on this bill quickly to ensure companies can invest in Maryland communities on an equal footing with competing states,” said Chestertown Ward 2 Councilman Tom Herz, who campaigned on the benefits of data centers tapping into Kent’s fiber network. “Doing so will spur economic growth in both our rural counties and urban centers.”  

There was no testimony in opposition to the bill.

 

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The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage, Archives, News Tagged With: Economic Development

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