submitted by Sandra Nathan of SNYFGP
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hosted scoping meetings in Rensselaer County on July 14 and 15. The meetings’ purpose was to gather information on the scope of adverse environmental impacts that the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project may have on water, air, farms, historic preservation, wildlife, trees, green fields, health, safety and on the socio-economic status of residents and their communities. [private]The information gathered may lead to mitigation of the NED’s adverse impacts or to a change to its route in places, but is unlikely to result in stopping the project. The meetings were held at Birch Hill in Castleton-on-Hudson, New York. The large Birch Hill ballroom was filled with hundreds of residents from around Rensselaer and Albany Counties with people lining up over an hour before the event began each day for the opportunity to make public comments to FERC. Well over 100 people spoke and each meeting ran very late into the night.
Several children who live very near the proposed site of a 90,000 horsepower compressor station in the Town of Nassau began the public comments, talking about how the compressor station would hurt their homes and farm animals if built. Government officials, including Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino, Towns of Stephentown, Nassau, and Schodack Supervisors Larry Eckhardt, David Fleming, and Dennis Dowds, and Towns of Stephentown and Sand Lake Councilmen Bill Jennings and Mark Cioffi, spoke of the resolutions that their respective legislative bodies had passed in opposition to the pipeline project, and how these resolutions are solidly backed by their constituents.
Residents passionately laid out the many ways in which this project has the potential to destroy what they have spent their lives working and saving for – a healthy and peaceful quality of life – and their objections to the proposed location of the 90,000 horsepower compressor station at the intersection of Clarks Chapel Road and County Route 15 in the Town of Nassau. They pointed out that there are dozens of houses and families with young children living near the proposed station, the close proximity of the existing and toxic Dewey Loeffel Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site; the presence of organic farming within a half mile of the site; and the prevailing winds carrying toxins to Burden Lake and the homes around it. Additional concerns with the compressor station’s emissions, 24/7-light, constant buzzing noise, and loud noise when gas is vented. Others described adverse affects on aquifers, water supplies, trout streams, rivers, and fish. Many speakers complained that holding the scoping meetings at this time, along with the other FERC meetings scheduled in the next few weeks along the pipeline’s path, are premature as the Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Co. application is not complete, as it is missing many important details.
A small, vocal group representing Laborers International Union of North America, Albany Local 190, denounced the comments of public officials who spoke against the pipeline project and commented in support of this, or any other project that would create jobs. A number of residents countered that they are not opposed to the creation of jobs, but that it is unlikely that many local people would be employed in this project as specialized crews employed by Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Co., travel the country to perform this work. Another speaker cited studies of at least two universities that investment in green energy and technology creates more permanent, less hazardous, and better paid jobs than does work associated with the extraction, transmission, and use of fossil fuels.
New Yorkers may attend any of the additional scoping meetings scheduled in towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire along the pipeline’s proposed route to voice their concerns about the NED’s environmental impacts. An upcoming scoping hearing that is convenient to Rensselaer County residents will be Tuesday, July 28, 7 pm, at the Taconic High School, 96 Valentine Road, Pittsfield, MA.
Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline (SNYFGP), a group of concerned Rensselaer County citizens, encourages citizens to file written comments with FERC by August 31, although it is best to file earlier if possible. There are four methods that may be used to submit comments and each will be given equal consideration:
The Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has expert staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or efiling@ferc.gov. You can file your comments electronically using the eComment feature on the Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for interested persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project;
You can file your comments electronically by using the eFiling feature on the Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to Documents and Filings. With eFiling, you can provide comments in a variety of formats by attaching them as a file with your submission. New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on “eRegister.”
You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to the following address:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE, Room 1A
Washington, DC 20426
Be sure to reference the Project docket number PF14-22-000 with your submission. . . .” [/private]