Pipeline Public Meeting Moved to Sept. 15 in Cortlandt

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has changed the date of its public meeting in New York to Sept. 15, four days after it was originally scheduled.

It is the only meeting in New York in which commission members and staff will hear public comment about the proposal. The written comment period ends Sept. 29.

Spectra Energy’s proposed Algonquin’s Incremental Market (AIM) project will go along its current right-of-way through Rockland County, cross the Hudson River and enter Westchester County near the Indian Point nuclear facility and will continue through Putnam County into Connecticut and through New England. Compressor stations at Stony Point in Rockland County, NY and Southeast in Putnam County, NY will be greatly expanded.

Residents in many of the neighborhoods that would be affected by the massive construction project are up in arms about the plan to double the amount of natural gas shipped from the fracking fields of Pennsylvania up into New England. Cortlandt, Peekskill and Putnam County officials have passed resolutions calling for better risk assessments; Philipstown has called for a moratorium.

According to Spectra, the gas is needed by New England states that struggle with limited energy and high costs. In fact, officials in Maine have written to FERC urging the approval of the pipeline.

Some opponents, however, believe the gas is rather destined for export overseas.

Others are concerned about the environmental effects, particularly around the compression stations.

“I’m not really keen on having the Stony Point Compressor station less than 2.5 miles from my house,” said Cortlandt resident Courtney Williams, citing this CNN piece on methane and this piece on Spectra.

And people in the path of the project are angry about the disruption to their neighborhoods.

“The homeowners here in Bleloch Park, Peekskill, have been working hard to motivate Spectra Energy to allow an independent risk review of the 42-in natural gas pipeline that they wish to place under the Hudson River and through Northern Westchester,” Jean Walsh wrote to Patch. “This pipeline, running from Verplanck to Yorktown, will cause significant traffic, road closures & health risks to the communities along the route and we are understandably upset...We want Spectra to understand our opposition to their callous and heartless stance of ‘money before lives’. We need them to understand how their plan will destroy our neighborhood.”

The FERC meeting in New York will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Muriel H. Morabito Community Center, 29 Westbrook Drive, Cortlandt Manor, NY.