HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE)- On April 5, 2021, Senator Natasha Marcus of District 41 filed Senate Bill 549, “Improve Pipeline Safety” to address the pipeline leak which occurred in Huntersville and was discovered in August 2020.
“We cannot allow a tragic mess like this to happen again. Our state can and should monitor aging hazardous liquid pipelines, rather than rely solely on the pipeline company and the federal government to be our watchdogs,” Senator Marcus said in a press release. “My bill calls on the NC DEQ to study what can be done at the state level to protect us in the future.”
The bill would give North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality the authority to study the condition, safety, and environmental impact of pipelines that transport petroleum products in and through the State amongst other facets.
“We need to spend a good year digging into what our state could and should do in helping to avoid leaks like this,” Marcus told FOX 46. “Unless and until Americans get away from our reliance on gasoline powered cars, we will be faced with these aging pipelines going thru our state and nation. We have to do a better job at thinking. What if there’s a leak?”
Senator Marcus is hopeful the bill will go to hearing.
