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<p>LAKE TWP. &#8212; Clumps of mud and rocks that have turned Loyalville Road into a minefield fueled a heated meeting Wednesday with township supervisors, residents and the Williams team that&#8217;s building the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline.</p><p>The $3 billion pipeline project is crossing through Lake Township to transport natural gas from Susquehanna County to Choctaw County, Alabama.</p><p>The pipeline has eight road crossings in Lake Township. Complaints ranged from mud and rocks tracked on roads to construction flaggers delaying an elementary school bus and a work crew yelling and making obscene gestures at motorists.</p><p>&#8220;The purpose of this meeting is for you to understand what the problems are and get a solution before someone gets hurt,&#8221; township Supervisor Chairman Bob Pace said.</p><p>A month ago, Pace received a call from a resident at 2 a.m. reporting he thought he hit an animal on Loyalville Road and stopped his vehicle. Upon inspection, the resident saw it was a large clump of mud from the trench site for the pipeline, Pace said.</p><p>&#8220;We have people living in a dangerous situation,&#8221; said Pace. &#8220;It does not look like they used geo fabric at Loyalville Road (pipeline site entrances),&#8221; he added.</p><p>Geo fabric is a permeable material used to aid in drainage and to prevent soil erosion.</p><p>Township resident Charles Kohl said he would see trucks leaving a &#8220;ribbon of mud&#8221; on the road as they exited the pipeline site.</p><p>Williams&#8217; contractor, Henkels &amp; McCoy Inc., does have road sweepers that are supposed to clean mud and debris off roadways, said Steve Jay, construction manager.</p><p>However, supervisors and residents reported seeing the trucks driving around without the brushes down.</p><p>The Atlantic Sunrise project was recently issued a violation for mud on roads by the Luzerne Conservation District, according to Supervisor Jerry Price.</p><p>&#8220;It seems best management practices may be on your permit, but does your foreman understand them?&#8221; Price asked Williams spokeswoman Cindy Ivey, project manager Rob Krenz and Jay.</p><p>Site workers are supposed to notify the sweeper drivers when a piece of equipment is leaving the site to control mud and rocks, Krenz said.</p><p>&#8220;It should be three to four times a day,&#8221; said Krenz. &#8220;Reports of large clumps of mud and rock is unacceptable. Crews should use shovels to remove it from roads.&#8221;</p><p>One resident suggested that trucks leaving the site should stop on the rock pad and have excess rocks and mud knocked off to prevent a mess on the roads.</p><p>Jay said that is easier to do with bigger trucks than with welding trucks, which have wheel wells that are difficult to see into.</p><p>Several residents asked why the road sweepers were not using water to remove the muddy film covering Loyalville and Meeker Outlet roads.</p><p>The use of water is prohibited by the Department of Environmental Protection, Price explained.</p><p>&#8220;We can recommend water usage be added to the permit,&#8221; Price said, noting the Luzerne Conservation District&#8217;s violation requires Williams to develop a corrective action plan. That gives the company an opportunity to amend the original permit.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Very disturbing to us&#8217;</strong></p><p>Residents voiced concerns about other issues such as construction vehicles parking on both sides of the street, the delay of a school bus filled with elementary students, plus work crews yelling and giving obscene gestures to motorists.</p><p>&#8220;It definitely sounds like we need to do some retraining,&#8221; project manager Krenz said. &#8220;The buck stops with us.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Flaggers are expected to not use profanity or obscene gestures,&#8221; said Williams spokeswoman Ivey. &#8220;That is very disturbing to us.&#8221;</p><p>Jay said the school bus incident on Zosh Road resulted in a delay of about 17 minutes. It was not clear when that took place.</p><p>&#8220;Flaggers are supposed to call the job foreman when a school bus or emergency vehicle is present,&#8221; said Jay. &#8220;The flagger felt the plate (covering a trench in the road) was not safe and held the bus. We can do better.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Rob Krenz, project manager, and Cindy Ivey, a Williams spokesperson, address project concerns with Lake Township supervisors and residents Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_20180314_194427-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Rob Krenz, project manager, and Cindy Ivey, a Williams spokesperson, address project concerns with Lake Township supervisors and residents Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Eileen Godin | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_20180314_190938-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake Township Supervisor Chairman Bob Pace talks at a meeting Wednesday about large clumps of mud and rock left on roadways by crews building the Williams company&#8217;s Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_20180314_190938-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Lake Township Supervisor Chairman Bob Pace talks at a meeting Wednesday about large clumps of mud and rock left on roadways by crews building the Williams company&#8217;s Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. </caption1><photoCredit1>Eileen Godin | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Supervisor: &#8216;Get a solution before someone gets hurt&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lake Township supervisors, residents voice pipeline construction concerns