Shortly after several families in northeastern Pennsylvania sued each other over plans by Chief Oil & Gas LLC to build a natural gas transmission pipeline through their neighborhood, the Dallas-based company joined the fray with its own lawsuit in federal court.

At the center of the kerfuffle are plans by Chief to construct a 24-inch pipeline through Goodleigh Estates — a residential subdivision in Luzerne County’s Dallas Township — to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas wells in Susquehanna County with an arm of the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco).

On Sept. 21 Chief Gathering LLC, a subsidiary of Chief, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against three families who live in Goodleigh Estates. Chief accused the families — William and Patricia Watkins, Scott and Kelly Watkins, and Jeffrey and JoAnn Dickson — of tortious conduct and misconstruing the neighborhood’s convenants.

“We felt that it was necessary to protect our interest in our pipeline,” Chief spokeswoman Kristi Gittins told NGI. The company is seeking punitive damages from the defendants and wants the pipeline project to move forward.

According to court documents, Chief said that for the past 22 months it has been working to secure the necessary rights of way (ROW) and permits for the pipeline, and currently owns ROW under 30 properties in Dallas Township.

The company said it concluded separate ROW agreements with two families who own property in Goodleigh Estates — Patrick and Patricia Doughtery and Tuula D’Anca — in September 2010. One year later, Chief received conditional preliminary approval for its application to build the pipeline from the Dallas Township Planning Commission on Sept. 13, and all zoning and associated approvals from the Dallas Township Board of Supervisors on Sept. 14.

“Within the next six to eight weeks, [we] will have all the permits and approvals needed to initiate construction of the entire pipeline project,” Chief said in its complaint. “[But if we are] unable to use the original route through Goodleigh Estates, [we] will face a delay of several months as [we] must go through the regulatory process to permit an alternate route.”

Chief said a delay could cost the company at least $18 million. As a precaution it has spent another $683,000 trying to pursue a possible alternative route for the pipeline. The company said that if the route through Goodleigh Estates were ultimately rejected, it would cost $1.91 million on top of the cost for the original route. Chief added that it was spending between $2.2 million and $3 million every month the project is delayed.

According to Chief, Watkins and Dickson filed suit against D’Anca in Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 20, accusing her of violating neighborhood covenants when she signed to the ROW agreement with Chief. The company was not named as a defendant in that case.

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