Fight to Derail Gas Pipeline in Area Continues
By Rick Pezzullo and Art Cusano – Work on expanding the controversial Algonquin natural gas pipeline is scheduled to begin next month, but some local officials and grassroots groups are continuing to raise concerns in an effort to put the brakes on the project.
Last week, Catherine Borgia (D/Ossining), majority leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, and a few of her colleagues stood in front of the path of where the pipeline is slated to run through in the Village of Buchanan to announce legislation they are sponsoring urging the state Department of Environmental Conservation to freeze the issuance of any new air and water quality permits for natural gas infrastructure project applications.
The resolution also calls on the state Department of Health to perform a thorough assessment of the public health and safety risks of pipelines.
“We’re really concerned about the rapid progression of this pipeline,” Borgia said. “This is not a not in my backyard issue. This is a health and safety issue. People’s lives are too important not to do all of the proper studies.”
Several municipalities, grassroots groups and individuals from four states affected by Spectra Energy’s expansion of the Algonquin natural gas pipeline filed a Request for Rehearing in April in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s widely criticized March 3 approval of the controversial project.
Spectra Energy’s project would run from Stony Point, under the Hudson River, through Peekskill, Cortlandt, portions of Yorktown and into Southeast, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The proposal would remove an existing 26-inch gas pipeline and replace it with a 42-inch one. The gas pressure would also increase by 25%.
Opponents of the pipeline presented FERC with a petition containing more than 26,000 signatures at a public hearing last year in Cortlandt. Many raised concerns about the pipeline, which has been located in the area for more than 50 years without incident, sitting 1,500 feet away from the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan.
In the 66-page decision, FERC appeared satisfied with the measures Spectra proposed for the pipeline near Indian Point in its FEIS, stating, “The NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) concluded that a breach and explosion of the proposed 42-inch diameter natural gas pipeline would not adversely impact the safe operation of the Indian Point facility.”
Spectra has already received a work permit from FERC to begin construction in Buchanan, but Nancy Vann, a homeowner who will have the pipeline virtually in her backyard, still has many unanswered questions.
“It is well established that having a high pressure gas pipeline crossing your property results in a decrease in the property’s value, not just where the pipeline runs, but for the entire property,” Vann said. “Will Algonquin indemnify us for any damage the construction or a future pipeline accident does to people or to other property? Will Algonquin be responsible for paying increases in our insurance premiums due to this expanded pipeline? They just want to come in and take what they want and leave us with the dangers and the costs.”
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, there were 119 incidents in gas transmission pipelines in 2014.
A few hours later in Southeast, home of one of the pipeline’s compressor stations, dozens of Spectra Energy employees came to Elks Lodge 2101 in Brewster for an open house for residents to ask questions about the project and view large maps of the pipeline route.
Director of Stakeholder Outreach for Spectra Energy Marylee Hanley said letters were sent to landowners in the town to inform them about the project and the informational event. The planned expansion is due to an increase in demand for natural gas, she said, and Hanley stressed the pipeline will continue to be run in a safe manner. The pipeline is monitored 24 hours a day, she said.
“The Algonquin Transmission Pipeline has been operating in this area safely for more than 60 years, providing clean, reliable, domestic natural gas,” she said.
The planned project is referred to as a “lift and relay,” in which the existing 26-inch diameter pipelines are removed and replaced with larger 42-inch diameter pipes. The pipeline will allow for increased output to help meet the demand from power generators in New England, said Manager for Stakeholder Outreach Arthur Diestel.
“We’re committed to building this safely,” Diestel said. “We’re here engaging early so we can gather information as we kick off our permitting process, which we will start later this year. We won’t file our formal application until the end of next year. We anticipate construction starting in early 2018.”
Also on hand for last Wednesday’s event was a contingent from New York State Laborers, which represents approximately 40,000 laborers across the state. Organizer Fred Butwell said the project would create skilled jobs for union members in the Hudson Valley.
“It would be local people doing local project, which is what we like to see,” Butwell said.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
