Proposed Gas Line Brings Andover Hearing

A utility company is seeking to clear the air with Andover residents and town leaders over its plans to expand a regional natural gas pipeline through Andover.

A public forum takes place Wednesday night at Andover’s Wood Hill Middle School with representatives from Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company. Last month, Andover town Manager Reginald S. “Buzz” Stapczynski sent company officials a “cease and desist” letter in response to complaints from some landowners. They alleged being harassed by letters, phone calls and by representatives and surveyors visiting the proposed route from Methuen and through the southwestern part of Andover between the Merrimack River and the Tewksbury and Wilmington town lines.

In a letter to Stapczynski, company officials deny the allegations and contend he and other town officials were first informed of their plans last January. The company says since then, they held discussions with Andover police in March and in June. The new pipeline proposal is part of a planned branch extension to Lynnfield from an existing main pipeline in Dracut. The public forum with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company begins at 7 p.m., Wednesday at Wood Hill Middle School in Andover.