CHARLOTTE - Neighbors in the Capps Hill Mine Road area voiced their concerns over a natural gas pipeline project just getting underway.
Neighbors against the project held a community meeting Tuesday night to discuss beautification efforts moving forward.
Crews working for Piedmont Natural Gas had to remove thousands of trees in order to make way for the 8-mile enhancement.
"During the summer months, it's going to look even worse than it looks now," said Leon Scott, who is spearheading efforts against the work.
He hasn’t been on the job long, because he says Piedmont denied anyone, including elected officials, the opportunity.
"Once we found out they were getting to the point where they were ready to start digging," said Scott.
Piedmont says the project is essential to enhance the safety and reliability of the natural gas pipeline delivery system. Engineering Program Manager Chris Albers says he understands neighbor's concerns and in the future they will work to better communicate their plans.
"We work hard to avoid any impacts to the community and that area. We work with every land owner that we directly impact," he said.
In addition to six-months of construction headaches, Scott is worried about what will be left behind. Albers says the right of way will be restored but they can't replace all the trees because they need access to the pipeline for maintenance and testing.
"We could have partnered with them with more time. We could have also gotten together a beautification plan for the area, addressing how we can actually improve it," said Scott.
Construction should be completed by November.