Three years ago, Brig Ortner was hiking north of Cookeville near a more than 300-million-year-old crater.

They noticed something unsettling in one of their favorite spots to be outside: a sign that read “No TVA Pipelines.” 

Ortner began to research, discovering that the pipeline and energy company Enbridge was planning a gas pipeline right through the area.

“The more and more I dug, the more I realized that it could potentially be a hazardous, dangerous project,” Ortner told WPLN News.

Ortner then helped found the grassroots group SageTN, which stands for Safe, Affordable, Good Energy for Tennessee. 

SageTN has helped educate communities about the pipeline project, which will stretch about 120 miles from Trousdale County to Kingston, where the Tennessee Valley Authority is building wh

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