Safety, property values, insurance, schools: same concerns about Spectra’s Algonquin pipeline as about its Sabal Trail pipeline. Plus Algonquin runs by the safety-paper-forging Indian Point nuke! Nothing to worry about, says Spectra’s Marylee Hanley, same as she said about that compressor leak at Steckman Ridge, and same as Spectra said about Searsmont, Maine, where residents say they were lied to. New York residents aren’t buying that; they don’t want their property and lives risked for LNG export profit. They already had 50 people in a meeting in July, and they’re doing more. And FERC has actually denied a Spectra Algonquin pipeline permit before; time to do it again!

Lanning Taliaferro wrote for Ossining-Croton-on-Hudson Patch 25 August 2014, Opponents Set Sept. 3, 4, 13 Info Sessions on Natural Gas Pipeline Project,

Residents and elected officials throughout Westchester and Putnam Counties have become increasingly concerned about the impacts on health and safety, as well as home values and the municipalities’ liability from this project. Courtney Williams, a Peekskill resident and founding member of CPR said, “For residents, this project is frightening. If this proceeds, my children will be living and going to school 450 feet from a massive natural gas pipeline. A rupture at this proximity would be certain to cause fatalities. How can I raise my kids like this, knowing they are at risk? The DEIS says there are 337 residences within 50ft of the pipeline work area, all those people and families are in the same, dangerous position. Perhaps even more upsetting, I cannot even move away from this problem without leaving my job because this project endangers the entire New York metropolitan area. A 42” natural gas pipeline rupture only 1,500 feet from Indian Point nuclear power plant in this densely populated area would be catastrophic. This isn’t safe. We need to speak up.”…

Please go to the SAPE website www.sape2016.org for information about commenting.

Co-Founder of SAPE, Susan Van Dolsen, said, “It is absolutely critical that people make their concerns known to FERC, either in person or in writing. There is too much at stake to sit on the sidelines; the health and quality of life of area residents are at risk. Please make every effort to attend a workshop, come to the public hearing and share this information with your friends and neighbors.”

For more information, please contact SAPE at info@sape2016.org or call 914-525-8886.

But not to worry, says Spectra!

Marylee Hanley, Spectra’s director of stakeholder outreach, said in a phone interview that in the decades the current pipe has been in operation there have been no major safety incidents. FERC will ultimately decide if the pipeline’s route through Buchanan meets its safety standards, but Hanley noted the existing pipes already run through the Indian Point site.

“Our pipeline has been there long before the other facility was there,” she said. She said Spectra did not have the capabilities or permits to sell its gas overseas and that the Algonquin transported gas for the use of customers along the 1,000 miles of piping from New Jersey to Boston. “The (Algonquin) project is the most immediate solution for the region and would have an immediate impact on prices,” she said, saying the pipeline was expected to be in operation by November 2016.

Hanley added that the company’s plans maximize the use of rights of way and company-owned land. New compressor stations in the area have come with noise and air-quality concerns from some residents, but Hanley said the new stations would actually reduce the impact on the environment.

Last year as Spectra prepared to open its pipeline through New Jersey and Manhattan, Terrence T. McDonald wrote for The Jersey Journal 5 October 2013, Spectra Energy to open controversial pipeline in weeks; testing begins Monday,

Marylee Hanley, the spokeswoman for Spectra, said Hudson County residents have nothing to fear.

Residents and officials of Jersey City, NJ didn’t believe her.

And if you want to believe her, maybe better first read what Mike Benard just wrote about the same Marylee Hanley’s comments on Spectra’s Steckman Ridge compressor leak.

Or what happened at Spectra’s compressor station in Searsmont, Maine, where residents said, “The most terrifying experience” and were were “lied” to!.

PSEG in July found its proposed Caithness II natural gas plant on Long Island was not needed. So what is this proposed pipeline expansion for?

This is the same Algonquin pipeline that leads to Spectra’s Maritimes pipeline that leads to a proposed LNG export terminal in Nova Scotia. It could also feed Excellerate’s offshore LNG terminal in Massachusetts Bay. The head of the LNG-export-authorizing Office of Fossil Energy and at least one of FERC’s own Commissioners have testified to FERC’s oversight committee that new pipelines are to market a glut of fracked methane, largely by exporting it to countries that will pay a lot more. Why should Spectra be permitted to put at risk all the local people along the way so a few executives and shareholders in Houston can make a profit exporting fracked methane?

After months of asking, I finally got John Peconom of FERC to divulve how many pipeline permit applications FERC had ever denied. Answer: two. But one of them was for KeySpan LNG, L.P. and Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC in ORDER DENYING AUTHORIZATION UNDER SECTION 3 AND DISMISSING CERTIFICATE APPLICATION (Issued July 5, 2005). FERC found it “not consistent with the public interest” because it “does not comply fully with the DOT’s current safety standards.” Well, AIM and Sabal Trail don’t comply with local citizens’ safety, insurance, environmental, or property rights standards. FERC should follow its own requirements again and deny both AIM and Sabal Trail.

Here’s a petition, STOP THE ALGONQUIN PIPELINE EXPANSION.

And here are a bunch of petitions against Spectra’s Sabal Trail pipeline.

Don’t forget you can send the action letter against Sabal Trail to your county commission or city council or state or federal legislators.

-jsq

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