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Opponents Hope they Can Stop a Third Pipeline
Robert Kennedy Jr speaks at a rally against the now defunct Constitution pipeline at the state Capitol on April 5th.
In the past week, two major natural gas pipelines have been scrapped in New York. A third, which would expand a line that is near the Indian Point Nuclear Power plant, is still scheduled, but opponents are putting pressure on Governor Cuomo to use his persuasive powers with the federal government to stop the expansion.
Opponents of new pipelines carrying natural gas extracted from hydro fracking have been having a good week. First, Kinder Morgan announced it would not build a planned pipeline through portions of New York State and New England, saying market conditions were no longer favorable. The project faced opposition in several states. Then, on Earth Day ,Governor Cuomo’s environmental agency denied a key permit to the Constitution pipeline, which would have traversed Pennsylvania and upstate New York, saying it could not guarantee that the water near by would be safe. It also condemned tree cutting that had already occurred on the proposed pipeline’s path, which happened even before the permit was denied.
Walter Hang, with the group Toxics Targeting is very happy.
“It was just a stunning victory,” said Hang, who says it’s the first time a major pipeline has been blocked by a state through what’s usually a pro forma permit process .
Among the opponents of the Constitution pipeline are the former brother in law of Cuomo, Robert Kennedy, Junior, who led a rally on the steps of the Capitol earlier in April.
“Stop this abomination!” Kennedy said, to cheers.
The anti-pipeline activists would like to be three for three. They are asking Governor Cuomo to help stop a third major pipeline- the expansion of the Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline. It would nearly double the size of a pipeline that runs very near the Indian Point Nuclear power plant.
Cuomo is not a fan of the pipeline’s expansion, but states have very little control over the decisions of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has authority over the multi state projects. Nevertheless, the governor has written a letter to FERC, questioning the safety of the venture, and says he’s directed four state agencies , including the departments of Environmental Conservation, Health, and Homeland Security to conduct at “comprehensive safety review “. The governor asked construction be halted until the review is concluded.
Cuomo’s request to halt the pipeline project near the nuclear plant was denied. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Indian Point’s owners, Entergy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had done their own study and found that the pipeline expansion is safe.
The governor has long been an opponent of the Indian Point nuclear power plant itself, saying it’s too close to the population of greater New York, with 20 million people.
Cuomo’s environmental agency did issue water quality permits for the Algonquin pipeline in May 2015, the same permits it denied to the constitution pipeline last Friday.
Hang, with Toxics Targeting, hopes the governor can find some way to rescind those permits.
“I’m sure he could take effective action if he wanted to,” Hang said.
Hang says the denial of the water quality permit in New York for the Constitution pipeline can serve as an inspiration to other states who may also be facing opposition to proposed pipelines.
Some in the state’s business community have another view, though. The state’s Business Council President says she’s disappointed that “fear mongering” influenced the decision to deny the permits.
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NY pipeline opponents flex muscle
ALBANY – With one natural-gas pipeline effectively rejected and another pulled off the table last week, anti-pipeline activists are flexing their political muscle in New York.
The activists, many of them opponents of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, are pointing to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Friday rejection of a key permit for the proposed Constitution Pipeline as a symbol of their collective might.
But the investors behind the proposed pipeline vowed Monday to fight the DEC’s decision, accusing the state of "flagrant misstatements” and hinting at what is likely to be an eventual court battle.
The Constitution investors, led by energy-infrastructure company Williams Partners, issued a statement Monday saying they will "pursue all available options" to overturn the state DEC's decision Friday, which effectively blocked the pipeline from moving ahead in New York.
The proposed 124-mile pipeline would carry natural gas from northeast Pennsylvania fracking fields to Schoharie County, cutting across eastern Broome, Delaware and Chenango counties along the way.
“In spite of NYSDEC’s unprecedented decision, we remain absolutely committed to building this important energy infrastructure project, which will create an important connection between consumers and reliable supplies of clean, affordable natural gas," the investors wrote in a joint statement. "We believe NYSDEC’s stated rationale for the denial includes flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations, and appears to be driven more by New York State politics than by environmental science."
The DEC denied a water-quality permit application from the Constitution investors, raising concerns about the pipeline's impact on various waterways and accusing the company of withholding detailed plans the state was seeking.
The decision came just days after Kinder Morgan, a Houston-based company, scrapped plans to build a natural-gas pipeline connecting the Albany area to Massachusetts.
In a letter to the Constitution Pipeline backers, DEC Chief Permit Administrator John Ferguson said the state agency had requested site-specific plans that showed how deep the 30-inch pipeline would be at each of the 251 streams the pipeline would cross.
The agency never received that analysis, Ferguson wrote.
The Constitution investors pushed back Monday, saying they "did not refuse to provide a comprehensive analysis of pipe depth."
"Completely contrary to NYSDEC’s assertion, we provided detailed drawings and profiles for every stream crossing in New York, including showing depth of pipe," the company wrote.
In a statement Monday, DEC spokesman Sean Mahar said the agency's letter "outlined a number of failures of the applicant to present adequate information for the state to determine New York’s water quality standards would be met."
Those opposed to the pipeline included a network of opponents of large-scale hydraulic fracturing, the technique paired with natural-gas drilling that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration banned in late 2014.
Walter Hang, an Ithaca-based organizer who helped lead anti-fracking activists who called in and emailed their pipeline concerns to the Cuomo administration, said his goal is to stop any and all expansion of fossil fuels in New York.
"New York now has literally thousands of highly experienced grassroots fractivists who take highly effective political action in their own communities as well as throughout the state as part of extensive anti-fracking and pipeline opposition campaigns," Hang said. "This organized force has successfully focused intense pressure on Governor Cuomo and is growing stronger with each hard-fought victory."
Some, now, are focusing their efforts on other pipeline projects, including the Algonquin natural-gas pipeline project that cuts through Westchester and Rockland counties.
The project is already underway in New York and three other states, and the Cuomo administration’s bid to halt construction in New York was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month.
In a letter sent earlier this month to FERC Secretary Kimberly Bose, 38 state lawmakers asked the federal commission to halt construction of the pipeline so the state can complete a safety analysis of the project and its proximity to the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, Westchester County.
“We demand that FERC respect New York’s authority and jurisdiction in this matter and stop construction of the (Algonquin) project immediately until the State’s independent safety analysis is completed,” reads the letter, which was organized by Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, and Sen. Tony Avella, D-Queens.
Constitution Pipeline developers vow to fight New York permit rejection
(AP/WBNG Binghamton) Developers of the Constitution Pipeline say they'll challenge the legality of New York's rejection of a critical permit for the 124-mile conduit from Pennsylvania's shale gas fields to eastern markets.
The pipeline company said Monday that the Department of Environmental Conservation's denial letter includes ``flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations'' and is driven by politics.
"We believe this is an important piece of infrastructure that hasn't changed. The federal government agreed with us--this is a needed and important piece of infrastructure,” said Chris Stockton, a spokesman with Constitution Pipeline.
The DEC on Friday denied a water quality permit, saying the project fails to meet standards that protect hundreds of streams, wetlands and other water resources in its path.
The company had planned to start construction at the end of summer.
On Monday, leaders of local activist groups celebrated the decision--but also noted the fight is far from finished.
"We are going to continue to document these problems. We are going to continue to hold the governor's feet to the fire,” said Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting President. "He has to enforce the law and he has to protect the environment and public health."
Constitution Pipeline investors vow legal fight
Supporters of the Constitution Pipeline rally Thursday in Binghamton.
ALBANY -- The investors behind the proposed Constitution Pipeline vowed Monday to fight a state agency's decision to deny them a crucial permit, accusing the state of "flagrant misstatements."
The Constitution investors, led by energy-infrastructure company Williams Partners, issued a statement Monday saying they will "pursue all available options" to overturn the state Department of Environmental Conservation's decision Friday, which effectively blocked the pipeline from moving ahead in New York.
The proposed 124-mile pipeline would carry natural gas from northeast Pennsylvania fracking fields to Schoharie County, cutting across eastern Broome, Delaware and Chenango counties along the way.
“In spite of NYSDEC’s unprecedented decision, we remain absolutely committed to building this important energy infrastructure project, which will create an important connection between consumers and reliable supplies of clean, affordable natural gas," the investors wrote in a joint statement. "We believe NYSDEC’s stated rationale for the denial includes flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations, and appears to be driven more by New York State politics than by environmental science."
The DEC denied a water-quality permit application from the Constitution investors, raising concerns about the pipeline's impact on various waterways and accusing the company of withholding detailed plans the state was seeking.
In a letter to the pipeline backers, DEC Chief Permit Administrator John Ferguson said the state agency had requested site-specific plans that showed how deep the 30-inch pipeline would be at each of the 251 streams the pipeline would cross.
The agency never received that analysis, Ferguson wrote.
"Absent this information and the information described above, the Department cannot determine whether additional water quality impact avoidance, minimization or mitigation measures must be taken to ensure compliance with water quality standards in water bodies associated with this infrastructure," he wrote.
The Constitution investors pushed back Monday, saying they "did not refuse to provide a comprehensive analysis of pipe depth."
"Completely contrary to NYSDEC’s assertion, we provided detailed drawings and profiles for every stream crossing in New York, including showing depth of pipe," the company wrote.
In a statement Monday, DEC spokesman Sean Mahar said the agency's letter "outlined a number of failures of the applicant to present adequate information for the state to determine New York’s water quality standards would be met."
Those opposed to the pipeline included a network of opponents of large-scale hydraulic fracturing, the technique paired with natural-gas drilling that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration banned in late 2014.
Walter Hang, an Ithaca-based organizer who helped lead anti-fracking activists who called in and emailed their pipeline concerns to the Cuomo administration, said his goal is to stop any and all expansion of fossil fuels in New York.
"New York now has literally thousands of highly experienced grassroots fractivists who take highly effective political action in their own communities as well as throughout the state as part of extensive anti-fracking and pipeline opposition campaigns," Hang said. "This organized force has successfully focused intense pressure on Governor Cuomo and is growing stronger with each hard-fought victory."
Constitution Pipeline to Take Legal Action
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- "Shock. I was stunned. I literally couldn't believe it. I was enormously relieved," said Toxics Targeting President Walter Hang.
It's a feeling many clean energy advocates shared in the wake of Friday's decision regarding the Constitution Pipeline.
The state DEC rejected the water quality certificates needed to move the project forward. Members of Citizen Action of New York believe their message was heard loud and clear.
"It was an incredible organizing effort that helped make this happen," said Isaac Silberman-Gorn, Citizen Action of NY community organizer, "and open the door for the governor to look at the signs, look at the real impacts and do the right thing and really lead the country."
Developers say they were taken aback by Friday's decision, saying "We worked in good faith with the NYSDEC for years, so this decision comes as a surprise and is contrary to our dialogue and collaborative effort to address concerns."
Denying the project will prevent more than 700,000 trees from being cut down and prevent more than 100 homes from being demolished. But opponents of the pipeline say their battle is long from over.
Constitution Pipeline announced Monday that they remain committed to the project and will pursue legal action, saying, "We believe NYSDEC’s stated rationale for the denial includes flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations, and appears to be driven more by New York State politics than by environmental science."
"The fracktivists who have been working so hard to make sure the Constitution Pipeline didn't proceed are not in any way going to take our foot off the pedal. We're going to keep pushing," said Hang.
Pipeline developers claim more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs and millions of dollars of revenue for the region will be delayed. Now people on both sides will prepare for the next stage of the debate, likely in a courtroom.