CARLTON (AP) — A group of Yamhill County residents is fighting proposals that would send a natural gas pipeline through the county.

Proponents of the project say pipelines and corresponding terminals are needed to ensure that Oregon has an adequate supply of natural gas. In mid-September, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conditionally approved one of the terminals and a 36.3-mile sendout pipeline.

But the lines would come at a high cost for residents such as Betty Wahle. The Carlton woman generally worries whether she’ll get her Pinot Noir winegrapes harvested before fall rains arrive. Now she has longer-range concerns.

One company, armed with eminent-domain powers, is proposing to dig a trench across Wahle’s vineyard. If the project goes as planned, Wahle will have to pull out a third of her 18-acre vineyard, and she would be prohibited from replanting grapes because deep-rooted plants can’t be grown over the pipeline.

“It’s not replantable in my lifetime to reach that age again, and (the new vines) would not give us the quality that we now have,” she told the Capital Press newspaper. “Our vines were intended to provide us income for the rest of our lives, our children and our grandchildren.”

The five-member federal commission has the final say in terminal sitings under a 2005 act that provided natural gas companies the right to wield eminent domain and stripped Liquefied natural gas terminal siting authority from states. FERC also has the final say in whether Palomar and Oregon LNG, the two companies vying to develop pipelines in northern Oregon, can build their pipelines.

But the Yamhill County group hopes public opinion creates a roadblock. And the group has also taken to pointing out project flaws.

Beyond the residents’ concerns, the companies could also face an obstacle from the Oregon State Land Board, which retains authority over the use of state lands. Two board members oppose the project and Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the third member, also appears cool to the proposal.

The Palomar pipeline as proposed would originate at the Bradwood Landing terminal. The Oregon LNG line would originate near a proposed liquefied natural gas plant near Warrenton.

Palomar executives said the company will compensate landowners for lost value and replace ground over the pipeline to its original condition.

But Steve Wick, president of the Yamhill County group, said in past pipeline construction projects, landowner compensation amounted to only 5 to 10 percent of the land’s long-term value. And ground was not returned to its original condition.