CLARIFICATION: Vermont Gas Systems raised some valid concerns about the story about their gas pipeline that the Addison Independent ran this past Thursday. The story in the March 19 edition voiced concerns from several selectboards and local residents about the Addison Natural Gas Project pipeline, which was approved by regulators more than a decade ago and has been providing natural gas to county residents and businesses for most of the years since then.

The company said the story contains at least one clear factual error and omits technical evidence that is central to the dispute. The story incorrectly stated the role that the Vermont Supreme Court has played in dealing with complaints about the pipeline. While the regulator — the Public Utility Commission — identified five violations in April 2023, the court only weighed in on whether the PUC followed the correct procedure. We apologize for the error.

The company also took issue with the “experts” quoted in the story. Officials pointed out that the PUC’s independent investigator William Byrd conducted an extensive review and concluded the pipeline was safely and competently built. And another expert, David Berger from the Department of Public Service, also came out on VGS’s side in his review.

A technical explanation of the issue surrounding claims that the pipeline is rising was a bit beyond what a general interest newspaper might typically undertake; but VGS explained an experts’ official testimony in PUC hearings which showed that zinc ribbon interference with electromagnetic measurement equipment caused equipment measuring the depth of the pipeline to give a false reading, but the company said actual excavation showed that the pipe hadn’t risen.

Many of the claims by the complainants and the company are highly technical, and we will take care to understand these issues when we report on the ANGP in the future.

— John S. McCright, news editor