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Ithaca man reveals spills along Dominion pipeline route
Walter Hang, of Ithaca-based environmental research group Toxics Targeting.
(Photo: Nick Reynolds / Staff Photo
A series of petroleum spills along the proposed Dominion New Market Pipeline — including two in the Town of Dryden dating back to the 1990s — could threaten to derail the entire $158 million project, a local activist said.
With days left in the pipeline's public comment period, Walter Hang, president of Ithaca research group Toxics Targeting, said Friday he believes a number of petroleum spills at several transmission stations along the pipeline's route from Horseheads to Schenectady could put the project in jeopardy due to a violation of the Clean Water Act.
A full listing of the spill locations and the nature of each spill can be found here.
While Hang said the spills that occurred on the sites have not been cleaned up and don't meet cleanup standards imposed by the DEC.
Dominion Transmission said it has no sites in New York State needing cleanup — even those inherited by CNG — and they "disagreed with (Hang's) contention the sites weren't cleaned up properly," said Dominion spokesman Frank Mack.
"It would be Dominion's responsibility for making sure we're up to code," Mack said. "From our perspective, we've worked with the New York DEC and all issues have been accounted for."
Dominion Transmissions released this statement:
The New Market Project is a New York project that would be built by New York contractors for New York customers. The project will serve National Grid and the growing need to supply natural gas to its customers both in upstate New York and downstate New York. New York localities will benefit from the local property taxes of about $66 million over a 15-year term, based on the value of the infrastructure investment.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project April 28, 2016, after 23 months of evaluating all environmental, health and safety concerns associated with the project. This approval confirmed the conclusions from the FERC’s environmental assessment, finding that the project would not have any significant impact on humans or the environment.
Citing spills from as long ago as the early 1990s, Hang noted the causes of the contamination at the pipeline's transmission sites across the state are varied. Penalties were never recommended when the spills occurred. Some were caused by human error, such as an overfilling of a tank while others, Hang said, were due to aging infrastructure, naming rupturing of pipes and tanks as some causes.
"Everything you can imagine could go wrong with these pipelines does go wrong," Hang said.
Hang said he believes the new information could prompt the denial of the project's Section 401 Water Quality Certification under the Clean Water Act, which mandates it is unlawful to discharge any pollutant into navigable waters.
The former CNG Transmission Station on Ellis Hollow Creek Road, now owned by Dominion. The station has been the site of a petroleum spill of unknown scope, according to new data.
(Photo: NICK REYNOLDS / Staff Photo)
Earlier this spring, the state Department of Environmental Conservation rejected water quality permits for the Constitution natural gas pipeline that would stretch 124 miles from Pennsylvania and into Broome, Chenango and Delaware counties in the Southern Tier, ending in Schoharie County, 80 miles southwest of Albany.
The project "fails to meet New York state’s water quality standards," the DEC said in a statement issued in April.
The Constitution Pipeline is appealing the decision in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
"That 401 cannot be granted by the EPA unless it can be proven the project will not cause groundwater contamination," Hang said of the proposed Dominion Pipeline. "We have a situation where this is an existing pipeline and obviously the state has been unable to prevent these problems or clean that up, a critical part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's conditional approval."
Residences within the vicinity of the former CNG Transmission station on Ellis Hollow Creek Road rely on well water, Hang noted. Threats to the drinking water supply were predicted to be minimal in Hang's report of the pollution's impacts acquired through a Freedom of Information request from the EPA. However, he said some wells in the area could be susceptible to contamination as the spills miss clean up standards and are unknown in terms of scope.
The site also borders a wetland, which Hang said would contribute greatly to its consideration of 401 approval.
Over the years, the criteria for meeting clean-up standards have become more stringent than they have in the past, he said.
With conditional approval from the Federal Energy Commission already in hand and the pipeline's infrastructure already complete save for two compression stations to be built and one to be improved, Dominion's New Market project will add 33,000 hp of compression power to its pre-existing six state network of natural gas pipelines .
Hang's group is working to compile signatures to present to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office before the public comment deadline ends, which is Aug. 5.
Dominion acquired the sites to be used in the pipeline — along with the existing right of way — from CNG when it purchased the company in a $6.3 billion deal in 1999. The spill documented at the Ellis Hollow Creek Road site was reported the previous August and since, has not been cleaned up and its scope, uninvestigated, Hang said. According to recordings with the DEC, the spill recorded at the CNG transmission station was only about 1 gallon.
In an additional statement by Dominion, the company said all incidents in question are classified as “closed” by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and for all reportable spills, Dominion Transmission notifies the DEC within the required time frame and thoroughly evaluates and cleans up the spill. As of now, the company has "no outstanding site remediation or clean-up projects in New York State," the statement said.
A map of the Dominion New Market Pipeline, detailing upgrades needing to be made along the route. (Photo: DOMINION)
Proposed Pipeline Project Meets Resistance from Local Environmentalists
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Local environmental groups are speaking out about the new proposed expansion of a pipeline that would run through the Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley.
Dominion Transmission is currently working on their New Market project, which would build two new compression stations. One would be in Chemung County, the other in Madison County.
Opponents say that Dominion has a history of water contamination across the state from Ithaca to New Hartford. They're urging Gov. Cuomo to intervene and deny the New Market project a water quality certification.
If that happens environmentalists say they would then want to clean contaminated areas.
"We are now working with citizens and communities all across the state where these problems were never reported to the public and we're trying to work with them to make sure that these problems get cleaned up without further delay," said Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting president.
The New Market project is currently in a public comment period which ends August 5th.
Gas pipeline facility in Ithaca has uncleaned spills; now they want to expand it
Photo by Michael Smith/The Ithaca Voice
ITHACA, NY - A plan to expand the 200-mile Dominion natural gas pipeline that runs through Ithaca is in the works, but local activists are gearing up to fight it.
On Friday, Toxics Targeting, Inc., an environmental database firm in Ithaca, released a report detailing hazardous substance spill profiles obtained from the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) under the Freedom of Information Law. These profiles detail 13 incidents of toxic contamination involving the existing Dominion New Market pipeline -- two of them in Ithaca.
Walter Hang, CEO of Toxics Targeting is rallying environmental activists to try and shut down the expansion on the grounds that these pipelines are unsafe. Earlier this year, Toxics Targeting released a similar report, detailing 114 pipeline incidents -- leaks, spills, ruptures, explosions and other accidents that he says resulted in contamination of nearby waters, damage to the environment and even fatalities.
The two spills at the Ithaca location were relatively minor compared to some of the other incidents from the previous report. That is to say, nothing caught fire or exploded.
However, there is still a major concern about these spills -- they weren't cleaned up.
In one incident in 1998, "unknown heavy petroleum" had been dumped and affected nearby groundwater. The DEC report clearly notes that the cleanup standards were not met.
The other incident occurred in 1991, with waste oil found contaminating the soil after a tank was removed. The report says it is "unknown" if that was cleaned up properly.
"The danger is, if you have a historic dumping site, then the contamination can migrate under the ground. So it could very likely migrate into the adjoining wetlands areas."
"These contamination problems don't go away. The contamination is very persistent," Hang said, referencing other contamination issues in Ithaca such as Ithaca Gun, Nate's Floral Estates and Stone Quarry Apartments. "That's why these sites really should've been re-mediated in strict compliance right off the bat."
The expansion planned for pipeline would include adding new compressor and cooler units to existing facilities like the one in Ithaca, as well as adding two new stations across the state.
Hang is aiming to block the New Market pipeline expansion by calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to deny a Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the project. Basically, this certification shows that a project does not carry the risk of contaminating local water quality.
Hang says his data shows that they already have done just that, and so it is the governor's duty to deny the certification. His website includes a form letter that can be sent to Cuomo if you want to support the cause.
Hang says he has already collected over 100 letters to the governor. Toxics Targeting used the same approach and same legal precedent to successfully block the Constitution Pipeline, another major pipeline project planned for Pennsylvania and New York.
The public comment period ends on August 5.
Environmental group releases record of spills at pipeline proposed for expansion
ALBANY — A gas pipeline proposed for expansion has been beset by a series of spills dating back to the early 1990s, according to documents obtained by an environmental group.
Dominion's New Market project calls for upgrading an existing pipeline by adding 33,000-horsepower of compressor stations. Two new stations would be built in Central New York — in Madison and Chemung counties — and an existing station in Montgomery County would be upgraded. The existing pipeline brings gas fracked in Pennsylvania into New York near Elmira and runs to Schenectady.
In the last 25 years, the project has seen at least seven spills, according to state Department of Environmental Conservation documents obtained by Toxics Targeting, an Ithaca-based environmental database firm run by fracking opponent Walter Hang. The spills were caused by the failure of an underground pipeline collar, the release of oil from equipment and the overfilling of a tank. Over the years, about 3,000 tons of contaminated soil have been removed from the pipeline, according to the documents.
Hang, who is set to release his findings on Friday, said the results show that the DEC must reject the expansion.
“This project cannot be allowed to proceed because it has already caused pollution problems and waterways have never been properly cleaned up,” he said. “The law is very clear.”
Pipelines are generally considered to be a safer means of transporting gas and oil than by train, ship or truck. However, DEC officials have increasingly scrutinized their construction after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s fracking ban.
The state is considering extending a public comment period on the New Market expansion and may also hold public hearings on the project, DEC spokesman Sean Mahar said.
"The New Market Utility Project is a proposal to develop two new compressor stations and to modify an existing compressor station — not to expand or develop new pipelines," Mahar said in a statement. "The Comment period ends on August 5th, and DEC will review all comments received at that time."
Dominion complies with the law and reports all spills when they happen, spokesman Frank Mack said. The company also completes all required cleanup and not have outstanding site remediation projects in New York, he said.
"(Dominion Transmission) also has a robust environmental program, and believes in not only complying with the letter of the law but also the spirit and intent," he said in a statement.
New York has become more dependent on natural gas in the last decade. The state’s independent grid operator recently determined that more natural gas infrastructure is needed to maintain reliability in the future. Public Service Commission staff recently acknowledged that natural gas is necessary for economic development in the state. Meeting those needs requires more pipeline infrastructure.
Nonetheless, the administration took the unusual step of rejecting water quality permits for a Constitution pipeline in April after years of indecision. The state’s delays on the Dominion project already are longer than is typical for pipeline proposals, though it’s unclear if it will lead to another rejection.
Dominion has accused the Cuomo administration of unnecessarily delaying an approval of air quality permits for the project — the process has dragged on for more than two years. In addition, company officials have said such delays are unique to New York.
Group cites Dominion spills in asking pipeline permit denial
An environmental advocacy and consulting group is calling on the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to deny Dominion Transmission's request for a water quality certification permit that is necessary to upgrade the company's pipeline.
Walter Hang, who runs Toxics Targeting, used New York's Freedom of Information Law to compile a list of seven spills that he says occurred on the Dominion pipeline since 1991.
"There is no way that the government and the DEC can certify that the new market pipeline expansion project will not cause water quality violations because the existing pipeline has caused numerous water quality violations that were never cleaned up," Hang said.
Many of the spills occurred when the company was called CNG Transmission, and much of the spill information is incomplete.
One spill occurred Nov. 29, 1993, in East Greenbush and caused a "heavy sheen" of petroleum on Rensselaer County's Papscanee Creek, according to the documents obtained by Hang.
The DEC report says that "without action, there is a potential for a fire/explosion hazard ... contamination of drinking water supplies, or significant release to surface waters."
The report states that a consent order was signed March 15, 1995, and a penalty was paid, although the report states that it is unknown whether the cleanup of the spill met DEC standards.
According to the report, zero gallons of petroleum were spilled, but Hang said this is often the case on old reports, which needed to be filed in two hours and often do not include a gallon amount.
In a statement, Frank Mack, a spokesman for Dominion, said the company has "no outstanding site remediation or clean-up projects in New York State.
"In response to all reportable spills, we notify the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation within the required timeframes, evaluate and clean up the spill," Mack said.
Dominion's New Market Project would modify the 200-mile Dominion pipeline, which passes through the Capital Region, to allow more gas to flow through it at a higher rate of speed.
Hang, who advocates for a moratorium on all pipeline projects, said pipeline modifications like this "are not for New York. They're for Pennsylvania fracked gas to reach new markets in New England."
Hang will include the Papscanee Creek spill in his report, which will be released to the public Friday morning at a news conference in Ithaca.
The DEC and Dominion didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.