Westchester County lawmakers are calling for a stricter review process for the planned expansion of a pipeline that pumps pressurized natural gas through the Hudson Valley region.
Texas-based Spectra Energy Partners L.P. plans to increase the capacity of its Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline to ease an energy bottleneck in the New England region, replacing existing 26-inch diameter pipes with a 42-inch pipe. The county Board of Legislators voted 16-1 on Aug. 4 to ask federal and state agencies to require independent health assessments, safety reviews and environmental analyses.
Legislator Peter Harckham, a North Salem Democrat, said the studies should be paid for by the company. The board”™s vote was about ensuring compliance with safety and environmental laws, Harckham said at a news conference following the vote.
“It was not about whether we are for or against the pipeline,” he said. Harckham cited recent fatal natural gas accidents in Canada and Taiwan as examples of what could go wrong. He said statistically, someone is either injured or killed in a natural gas-related accident every nine days in the U.S. In March, a gas leak in Harlem was blamed for an explosion that leveled two buildings, killed eight and injured dozens more.
John Ravitz, executive vice president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester, though, said he supported the expansion because it would help drive energy rates down and create jobs through construction projects
“Obviously the demand for natural gas is growing, so we want to have projects that make sense,” Ravitz said. He said the Business Council supported projects that provided diverse energy-generating options because they meant lower rates and a more favorable business climate.
“Just saying ”˜no”™ doesn”™t get you there,” he said. The council last year sent a letter to federal energy regulators in support of Spectra”™s proposed expansion. Calls to Spectra seeking comment weren”™t returned by press time.
The pipeline will run through a tunnel underneath the Hudson River and snake near Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan ”” the expansion plan calls for the creation of compressor stations in Stony Point and Southeast that residents say are already noisy nuisances that emit harmful toxins into the air.
Rye Legislator Catherine Parker, a Democrat and chairwoman of the board”™s Environment & Energy Committee, said intense scrutiny on a project that is increasing the pipe”™s diameter 200 percent is “absolutely paramount.”
“No one should sign off on this project until we know for sure that air quality for Westchester residents will not be affected and that every conceivable safety measure and emergency contingency plan is in place,” Parker said.
Elisabeth Radow, a Larchmont attorney, was among residents questioning the expansion plan. She said the larger pipeline and larger amounts of gas increased the geographical area that would be affected in the event of a disaster. She said the expansion could affect insurance rates for homeowners and business owners in the vicinity and could even affect resale values and a bank”™s willingness to grant mortgages for properties nearby.
“And potentially all county taxpayers could become the guarantors of this project”™s margin of error,” she told lawmakers.
A civic group called Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion, or SAPE, filed a petition with nearly 20,000 signatures opposing the expansion project, called the Algonquin Incremental market. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, will ultimately decide the project”™s fate. A public hearing will be held prior to FERC”™s final vote on the plan.
The Algonquin pipeline runs 1,127 miles and carries 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. It takes gas mined out of the Marcellus Shale through Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties to destinations upstate, in Canada and to be shipped for overseas sales, according to reports. Some critics lament that the Hudson Valley region will act as a highway for the gas but will not benefit directly from the increased capacity while facing greater potential health and safety risks.
The current pipeline was built between 50 and 60 years ago, with lines running beneath the site of Indian Point (the pipes were put in place before the nuclear power plant was in operation). Susan Van Dolsen, a member of SAPE, said the pipeline”™s current route would not have been approved today. The expansion, she said, offered an opportunity to raise the bar for requirements as the risks associated with the larger amounts of gas increased exponentially.
Van Dolsen said the goal of the group has been to raise public awareness and potentially see an alternative plan adopted ”” including the possibility of a smaller-than-42-inch-diameter pipeline.
“I wouldn”™t spend all this time unless I thought there was a solution better than what is out there right now,” she said.
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