On Feb. 9 Drexel University issued a report about the PennEast pipeline, extolling the benefits.

"We will give you the costs," said Linda Christman, who organized a program at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center to present the costs to people and to the environment.

Dan Kunkle, director of the center, said he has no quarrel with the benefits but said Drexel only looked at the economic activity, not the costs or where the benefits occur.

According to a 1976 federal policy, public need has to be shown before eminent domain can be used to condemn property. The organization looking for an easement must show the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the benefit to communities and receive a certificate of public need and necessity.

PennEast promises 2,500 jobs and 8,000 spin-off jobs, neither of which would be permanent by its own admission. Most will not go to residents of Carbon or Northampton counties, but Penn East will bring in outside employees.

"People will suffer the costs and not the benefits," said Kunkle.

He cited loss of forest. The corridor will be 100 feet wide, which means clear-cutting 13 acres per mile of pipeline. That fragments the forests and creates an impact 500 feet to either side of the pipeline.

It is designed to run through three state parks: Lehigh Gorge, Beltzville and Hickory Run. The Kitatinny Ridge has a pipeline one-half mile from one already in place that could be used for co-location. It is the largest intact forest in this part of Pennsylvania and suffers from cumulative impacts. FERC is required by law to consider impacts that include erosion and ATV riding that causes further erosion, the results of which run into streams and rivers. Water crossings, 80 of which are included in the plan, were not considered.

Invasive species quickly move into disturbed, fragmented land, said Kunkle. These plants do not support local wildlife. He said the mountain in the Lehigh Gap had 3,000 acres, and the responsible party spent millions on the cleanup. When Penn East says it will restore the property, it doesn't happen, Kunkle said, because there is no invasive species control included.

Co-location is required by law, and the pipeline should be 100-percent co-located. That requires clearing an additional 25 feet instead of 100 feet.

Dr. Bill Mineo, who worked as trail manager for the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor, said he agreed with Kunkle's assessment based on experience and studies in the Northampton area where he lives.

The Transcontinental Pipeline runs nearly parallel to PennEast and both the beginning and ending points are close. An east-west pipeline links everything together.

Sites suitable for co-location include along the Lehigh River buffer zones. There are two sites along the Delaware River and three buffers along landfills. In New Jersey, there are railway rights of way. They should be brought to FERC's attention.

The economic cost is borne by public and private property owners. In the area where Mineo lives, agricultural land is worth $5,000 an acre. He would get $10,000 for permanent disturbance of his best land. The best soil would be removed on protected farms.

He contrasted it to the Delaware and Lehigh Corridor, where a trail increased the value of land by 30 percent because people want to live along the trails. It is a simple reuse of land without disturbance.

The pipeline would have 1,300 pounds of pressure in a pipe buried 3 feet deep. A blast affects land a mile to either side.

He said he lives near a Lenape shrine, which is on open space. The area was occupied for 1,000 years as a cremation and burial site, and the pipeline will go through the middle of the site. Mineo said it is used for religious ceremonies and that all along the Blue Ridge there are many small areas such as this.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has refused to help, Mineo said.

The Columbia right of way is nearby but is not being considered for co-location. PennEast seems to target protected farms and preserved open space.

It must stay 40 feet away from houses.

It has said it has the potential to supply gas in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area, which parallels Route 78 with its many houses and backyards. Lower Saucon Township has pointed out it is not apt to get permission there.

"Who will pay for damages? Who will manage it?" asked Mineo. Local volunteer fire companies do not have the resources. It said it would provide for 4.8 million homes in New Jersey. The trouble with that is that New Jersey has only 3.1 million homes. The majority of the gas will go for export.

Christman said the human cost on a farm remains for hundreds of years. She expects her and her husband Roy's farm to decrease in value by 24 percent. Their field will be crossed diagonally.

"It destroys my trust in government when land is taken for a for-profit enterprise," she said.

Mineo said he and his wife, Lorraine, are only the fifth persons to own the farm, which was started as an ironworks in 1630, settled prior to William Penn receiving the land. Indians used the land as they traded jasper. He has been planting prairie grass and other native plants to improve the land and can't understand the arrogance of PennEast since the Columbia is a quarter mile away.

The karst (limestone) ground in this area is subject to sinkholes, said Mineo.

He said, although FERC is an independent agency, congressmen should be contacted and may be able to help. The nonelected members of FERC can override local and state zoning.

Kunkle said it is easy to say "we can't do anything," but there are laws for establishing need and co-location.