To the Editor:
Reading your story, “Nexus pipeline path over fault line raises concerns,” a few facts were not reported.
First while I respect the work of geologists Robert Vincent and James Evans, I do believe they hadn’t
read the FERC NEXUS Final Environmental Impact Statement. In this November 2016 report under 4.1.3.1
Earthquakes and Faults Nexus states: The NGT Project crosses the Bowling Green Fault at MP 180.8 near
the Maumee River. The Bowling Green Fault is not visible in surficial geology and only identified in
basement rock, which is approximately 2,200 to 2,300 feet below ground surface in the area (Baranoski,
2013). Clearly this is wrong because at the BG fault, at Farnsworth Metro Park stands a historic marker
near the Maumee river showing the BG earthquake fault clearly exposed at surface.
Within the FEIS is the 3 Appendices E1-E4.PDF which is the Fluor Enterprises, Inc. HDD Design Report
(March 2016)  Subsurface Conditions. Within the report Fluor subcontracted Fugro Consultants (September
2015) to do the test boring of the geology at the crossing. Fugro found: “Rock quality designation (RQD)
ranged from 0 to 66, with the average value being 12, indicating very poor quality bedrock.”  Then
this:  “According to preliminary field logs, the bedrock is characterized by extreme fracturing, which
in some cases can be problematic for installation by HDD.Although the feasibility of the Maumee River
cannot be ruled out, subsurface conditions are present that increase the risk of HDD operational
problems.” HDD is Horizontal Directional Drilling using  hydrofracturing. Fugro states: “A deep bedrock
surface can be problematic during reaming and pullback operations due to misalignment at the soil/rock
interface. Downhole reaming tools or the pull section may also hang up on the rock interface. Additional
risks include failure of large diameter rock reaming tools downhole and operational problems associated
with fractured bedrock, including loss of drilling fluid circulation. Due to subsurface conditions, the
risk level associated with the proposed crossing of the Maumee River is high.”
So while the fault is a low risk of earthquakes, its a high risk to hydrofracturing boring along this
Karst BG earthquake fractured fault line.
Even Geologist Bob Vincent showed at the City Council meeting a remote sensing satellite image of the
proposed Nexus crossing. In it, it showed a probable Karst sinkhole over the entire area. Mr. Vincent’s
expert opinion is it a bad place to put a pipeline and I agree.
Paul Wohlfarth
Ottawa Lake, Michigan