The Ohio Power Siting Board issued a report this week recommending the approval of a pipeline that is set
to traverse portions of northern Wood County — but with a few conditions.
“It’s basically to accept the alternative recommendations and routes proposed by residents,” said State
Senator Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, Friday of one of the major conditions outlined in the report.

The Oregon Lateral Pipeline — a 22-mile, 24-inch natural gas transmission line — would go through
portions of Perrysburg, Perrysburg Township, Northwood, Rossford, Lake Township and Walbridge on its way
from Maumee to Oregon.
Gardner and State Representative Tim Brown, R-Bowling Green, hosted a meeting on Dec. 15 with area
residents who would be impacted by the pipeline.
“These folks weren’t trying to stop the pipeline,” said Brown Friday. “They understood its importance.
They just had some constructive suggestions for how both sides” could move forward.
“They were looking at strategies to enable both sides to win,” he said. “That’s rare.”
The 13-page Ohio Power Siting Board staff report on the proposed pipeline, issued Tuesday, includes a
list of 26 conditions for the Oregon Lateral project. The project is set to be approved Tuesday unless
the conditions are not met.
Among the conditions, they must “institute a public information program that informs affected property
owners” about the project and, by Friday, were to file “a discussion of steps it has taken to address
affected landowner concerns that have been filed.” This includes considerations for route adjustments.

On Wednesday, Gardner and Brown issued a joint statement on the report.
“While we support Ohio’s efforts to utilize our state’s natural gas assets, first and foremost we must
respect the valid concerns of area residents, businesses and schools that could be negatively impacted
by the construction of the Oregon Lateral Pipeline,” the statement reads.
“Respectfully, we believe that if the company does not make a diligent effort to resolve issues as
directed by the staff of the Power Siting Board, the board should not accept the current proposed route
and the company and Power Siting Board should continue to work with those impacted by the pipeline.”
“When you get into the specifics,” Gardner said Friday, “what we found, the residents provided some very
detailed recommendations, some suggestions as to smarter ways in which the pipeline could be
constructed” that were “more respectful to farm fields and business locations.”
Brown acknowledged that a number of jobs would be created by the pipeline, but the line would be running
through some of the richest areas for potential economic development in Wood County.
“We can’t sacrifice one economic development project for another,” he said.