PRINCETON, Ky. — WESTERN KENTUCKY — Along a 53-mile stretch of rolling hills in western Kentucky, farmers say our reporting helped them realize they are not alone in wanting answers about whether they can continue to use their farmland — or be forced to give it up to make way for a proposed natural gas pipeline.
Read the original report here.
The Pennyrile Regional Energy Agency wants to build a pipeline along I-24, from Lyon County to the Tennessee state line. Key details about the project remain unclear. In our first report, we pieced together maps from the agency's website to show the full 53-mile route, but the agency has not finalized it.
Since that story aired, more people have been asking: who does this pipeline serve?
"What is this pipeline for? Why are you wanting to do it here in western Kentucky? Why us," said Molly Oliver, a farmer in the area.
The project received $30 million in Kentucky state money in 2022. Since then, PREA has offered to buy access it needs for the pipeline from landowners at $4 a foot. The agency says it has secured about 90% of the land it needs.
However, some landowners are still locked in a court fight over a process called "condemnation," in which the agency can name its own price to buy their land.
Earlier this month, PREA said it would not answer further questions because of ongoing litigation.
Oliver said the fight is not about opposing growth.
"We're not about something not growing. I'm all about growth. What I'm not about is not being able to be heard, be seen, and things not being fair, but we need to protect the land we have because once it's gone, it's gone; you can't make more of it," Oliver said.
A group called the Kentucky Coalition for Property Rights is now circulating a petition they hope will get state lawmakers' attention.
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