THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280429
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: 51 lines
For more than 20 years, Northeastern North Carolina businessmen and industrialists have wanted to pipe in natural gas to fire up the local economy.
So far the drive has been powered more by enthusiasm than success.
But on Monday Edenton pumped up new gas support by urging three neighboring counties and cities to share in a $24,000 survey of the economic benefits that would follow if the fuel was brought to the area.
Communities involved are Chowan County-Edenton; Perquimans County-Hertford and Pasquotank County-Elizabeth City.
A natural gas subcommittee of the Edenton Town Council proposed Monday night that Edenton and Chowan County each pay $2,000 toward the survey and proposed that Perquimans County and Hertford, and Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County do likewise.
Edenton Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton said there appeared to be increasing support for natural gas among the closely linked neighboring communities.
``The Chowan County commissioners have this request on their September agenda,'' County Manager Cliff Copeland said Tuesday. ``We need to take a look at what the benefits and drawbacks would be with natural gas.''
Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County are expected to contribute for a total of $12,000 - half of the price of the survey.
``There's some pressure on us to put up another $12,000 to split the $24,000 gas-survey cost with the three counties and cities,'' said Jimmy Dixon, chairman of the Northeast Economic Development Commission.
Dixon and the 15 members of the full economic commission have urged county governments to seek natural gas for the region.
``Gas can be critical to the needs of some companies who come to us with plans to relocate in Northeastern North Carolina,'' Dixon said.
``Just recently one of our counties lost a large and successful business that would have brought 300 jobs to this area,'' Dixon added.
``It was a bakery, and the first thing they wanted to know was whether natural gas was available. It wasn't and we lost them.''
The closest community now receiving natural gas is Ahoskie in Hertford County, Dixon said. Most of the gas burned in North Carolina is piped in from Texas and other gas-rich Midwestern states.
Ahoskie is about 60 miles from Edenton but a pipeline would have to cross the Chowan River to get farther east.
The Northeast Economic Commission is expected to urge the three counties and cities to act jointly with the pump-priming commission to get a natural gas survey started.
``We were approached by a Colorado gas company that wants to come in and start a company here,'' said Dixon. by CNB