Opponents Of Pilgrim Pipeline Hopeful Army's Actions Against Dakota Pipeline Will Set A Precedent

MAHWAH, N.J. — Opponents of the Pilgrim Pipeline are hopeful that the recent decisions regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline will bode well for their bid to get the Pilgrim Pipeline rerouted or even stopped before construction begins.

The 178-mile Pilgrim Pipeline would run through dozens of New Jersey municipalities, including several in Bergen County. It would deliver up to 200,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil a day from Albany, New York to the Bayway Refinery in Linden. Gasoline and heating oil would be sent back up to New York. Bakken crude oil is highly flammable and toxic to the environment.

The U.S. Army said that — for now — it would not allow the Dakota pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota and that the plan should be restudied and an alternative route should be more deeply considered. The Army also wants to see a full environmental impact statement regarding the project. The Army Corps of Engineers may allow the project to continue, but could order the pipeline be re-routed to another location.

“I’m sure Pilgrim is looking at the Dakota pipeline as a cautionary tale,” said Iris Marie Bloom, an organizer with the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipelines. “We were already optimistic from the beginning that the pipeline would never be built because the impacts on human communities would be enormous especially because there is no need for the pipeline in New York and New Jersey.”

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and supporters protested, and sometimes clashed, with government personnel and law enforcement for weeks regarding the Dakota pipeline.

“Legally, there’s a real precedent and it’s very exciting for what it means to mobilizing the opposition of the Pilgrim Pipeline,” said Hayley Carlock, director of Environmental Advocacy at Scene Hudson, a non-profit dedicated to protecting and restoring the Hudson River and the Hudson River Valley of New York State. “It gives everyone hope we can ultimately prevail against the pipeline. When the people really stand up and not back down from a proposal that threatens their environment and way of life.”

New Jersey Water Watch, the Ramapough Lenape Indian Tribe, the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter, and other groups and organizations have already spoken out against the pipeline. The leaders of two-dozen Bergen County municipalities where the pipeline would run through have passed resolutions opposing it.

RELATED: 28 Bergen County Municipalities Opposing Pilgrim Pipeline

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and Thruway Authority said in September that there is the potential for “multiple significant adverse environmental impacts from the construction, operation, and maintenance of the pipeline.”

Bloom said non-violent opposition to the pipeline has been taking three forms: Tracking the amount of money invested in the project, getting regional, state, and local governments to take action, and educating the public throughout the process.

Still, other opponents are not as optimistic as Carlock and Bloom.

“I think it is too early to really draw parallels between what happened in North Dakota and what is happening here,” said Cliff Weathers, communications director for Riverkeeper, an organization dedicated to protecting the area’s waterways and reservoirs. “This might be a victory for the indigenous people in the area, but let’s not think this is a victory for the regional environment or the planet. The ultimate decision is going to be in the hands of the next presidential administration.”

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