On the border of North Augusta and Clearwater, John Berret is working on his American dream.
Berret has big plans for his land on Broken Branch Road. Next door, Ronnie Sterling sleeps peacefully and enjoys his retirement. He recently had a heart attack, but was able to bounce back.
Down the way, Frank Tice watches his horses graze on his acres of land. It's a welcomed sight each morning.
All three share a common bond, and each could see their lives and dreams forever changed by the Palmetto Project pipeline.
'The dream'
Berret can't count the number of hours he has invested toiling away at the 82 acres behind his home. He has invested his life's savings into creating a subdivision that he thinks will not only succeed, but thrive.
He's had a lot of help from his grandfather, Bruce, and other family members. It's hard work, but Berret said he believes it will pay off in the end.
Unlike his neighbors, Berret never received a letter from Kinder Morgan, the company behind the pipeline. In fact, the first contact he had with the company was from a representative paying a visit.
"A gentleman came by, and I had one question I needed the answer to," Berret recalled. "I asked if this would be an issue of eminent domain."
"He told me that wasn't something they were interested in doing. I have witnesses to that," Berret said. "They contacted me again two weeks ago, and I talked to them three times, and the gentleman said he never said that. He said 'Oh, sir, I said I didn't know.' I know what my ears heard - that was the main question that I had."
The 360-mile fuel pipeline would utilize the current Plantation pipeline to transport fuel from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, through Belton, South Carolina, and then through North Augusta and on to Jacksonville, Florida.
Berret had previously given Kinder Morgan oral permission to do a survey, which he then revoked.
"They freaked out," he said. "I'm not going to give them permission until it comes down to it. They called me back with a higher boss and they said, 'Oh, sir, it'll still be your land if we come through there.'
"This is land I have to pay taxes on that we can't do anything with."
Melissa Ruiz, the manager of corporate communications for Kinder Morgan, said the company works with landowners whenever possible, but said Kinder Morgan does not disclose information about specific communication with landowners.
"Most of the time, we are able to reach an agreement that works for both the landowner and the company," she said. "And, therefore, (we) do not have to consider eminent domain. With the Palmetto Project, it is still very early, and discussions with landowners are ongoing. Through our discussions, we work to address landowner concerns and minimize the impact on environmentally sensitive areas."
Ruiz stressed that no route will be finalized without fully understanding the concerns of affected landowners and communities. She said Kinder Morgan plans to make "every effort to reach mutually beneficial agreements."
At this time, there is no map that shows a detailed, enhanced view of the pipeline's route through Aiken County, though one could come at a later time.
'This is my family's land'
The land on which Sterling's home sits has been in his family for 40 years. Like Tice, he purchased the land to keep it a bit private.
"What this is going to do is make the land no good to me, at all, for anything in the future," he said. "So far as doing anything with it, you can't build on it, you can't plant deep-rooting trees on it; and, basically, you can't do anything with it.
"I know Kinder Morgan has talked about there not really being any safety factors. To me, though, when you're pumping 167,000 barrels of gasoline, not oil - highly flammable petroleum - 250 feet behind my house, this is a huge safety factor for this entire neighborhood. The value of the land I purchased three years ago is dead and gone. They might as well buy it and take it, because it won't be of any value to me at all."
As his neighbors mentioned, Sterling has felt abandoned by his legislators.
He was quick to echo Bruce, John's grandfather, when he mentioned that it seemed U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., were focused more on the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
"This is going on right in their backyard," Bruce said. "They either don't know, or they simply just don't care."
All four men agreed that Georgia has quite the head start on South Carolina in regard to public input.
"(Kinder Morgan) had a meeting in Waynesboro and a couple of other spots," Sterling said. "Yet, there hasn't been one in Aiken County to meet and talk with us, or the people impacted by this. ... They're going to fight us for it. I don't know what Frank will do with his horses. They talked about 150 feet on both sides, and that'll take his whole bottom part. They need to come forward, have meetings with us, and inform the public on what's going on. On the Georgia side, they're doing it. On the Carolina side, they aren't."
Ruiz said Kinder Morgan has no plans to hold public forums in South Carolina at this time.
She also confirmed that the project will generate more than $6 million to the state and local taxing bodies for the State of South Carolina. Overall, the project will generate $14 million, she said.
'I don't want to lose my grazing land'
Tice bought the land recently. He also said he hasn't had any contact with Kinder Morgan at this time.
He has plans for fertilizing the land. His horses graze on it, and he said he would hate to see that land taken away or have to move his horses off his family's land.
"If they take the fence and everything down, I'll have to move the horses to another section," he said. "I don't really want them to do it, because the more you dig back there, the more water you're going to hit and come up. I have enough water running up and down there. That's the main thing, and I don't want to lose my grazing land."
Ruiz said North Augusta would stand to benefit in terms of gas prices.
"North Augusta will benefit from a new pipeline source of supply (the Palmetto Project), supplementing what has been a historically constrained single-pipeline source," she said. "So the proposed Palmetto pipeline will provide another transportation solution for moving petroleum products to that market, and that competition (where there wasn't before) creates an opportunity for decreased pricing."
Kinder Morgan expects the Palmetto Project to be in service by July 2017, pending regulatory approvals.
Until that time comes, however, Berret, his grandfather and neighbors plan to fight to push back the pipeline.
What's happening now
The Georgia Department of Transportation confirmed to WSAV-TV, Channel 3, in Savannah, Georgia, that a public hearing is set for Tuesday, April 21, at the Richmond Hill City Center, 520 Cedar St., beginning at 5 p.m. This comes after the Georgia DOT recently reversed its decision.
"Georgia Department of Transportation reversed its decision that hearings could be conducted by Kinder Morgan," Tonya Bonitatibus, the executive director of the Savannah Riverkeeper, said previously to The North Augusta Star. "We started asking the Department of Transportation and asked the attorney general who said they were not public hearings. Public hearings are vital because we can voice our opinion, but they (Kinder Morgan) also have to respond to our concerns."
Officials from Kinder Morgan see the change from the Department of Transportation as another chance for the public to have input on the proposed pipeline.
"We do not agree that the Georgia DOT has reversed its decision ... rather, we understand that the Georgia DOT has decided to hold a hearing in order to offer an additional opportunity for answering questions and receiving input from the public," Ruiz said.
Representatives from Push Back The Pipeline are looking to the Department of Transportation's public hearing as a chance to get answers from Kinder Morgan.
"This is big. There are a couple of steps coming in the future, but this hearing is very important," Bonitatibus said. "They had five fake hearings; we don't want to have only one actual hearing. We want there to be many, in the different locations that will be troubled with this pipeline."
Scott Rodgers is the news editor at The North Augusta Star and has been with the paper since 2013.
North Augusta Star staff writer T.J. Lundeen contributed to this report.