Activists Urge Senators to Get AIM Pipeline Project Stopped

More than 100 people gathered Aug. 18 in front of Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s offices in Manhattan to urge them and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to push harder for a complete halt to construction on the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Pipeline Project.

The Senators called in May for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to halt construction, but FERC has continually upheld the project.

"We are in a state of emergency," said Courtney Williams, Vice President of SEnRG and a Peekskill resident, according to a press release from the group. "This pipeline could be operational in a matter of weeks. It is unacceptable that Spectra Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are ignoring the calls of our Governor and Senators to halt construction. We are calling on our leaders to take immediate action for the safety of all New Yorkers. FERC has ignored them, now they must go to the President who appoints the FERC commissioners."

Spectra Energy has announced three projects to expand the Algonquin Pipeline. The AIM Project involves the construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of 37.4 miles of pipeline and related facilities in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Most of the pipeline installation will replace existing pipeline with larger diameter pipeline. Atlantic Bridge includes replacement of another 10.9 miles of existing pipeline with new larger diameter pipe. Access Northeast includes the expansion of approximately 125 miles of the existing system, plus new lines and facilities, including a new Liquified Natural Gas Storage Facility in Acushnet, Massachusetts.

The protesters asked Gillibrand and Schumer to join with Senators from other states through which the Algonquin Pipeline goes to conduct a joint press conference to bring national attention to this crisis, intervene further with FERC, support the call for a Government Accountability Office or congressional investigation of FERC, and join with other New York State elected officials to urge President Obama to step in to immediately halt the pipeline project.

Among those present were representatives of numerous organizations that work state-wide, regionally, and nationally, including: Sane Energy Project, Safe Energy Rights Group, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion, and ResistAIM, as well as many residents and community members affected by the pipeline construction, and their allies from across the state.

The groups are opposed to the project due to concerns about local impacts to health and safety, the regional risk of siting the pipeline next to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, and global concerns about the fracked methane gas the pipeline will carry contributing to climate change.

"We are here to remind our Senators that they have the power and influence to stop this project if they choose to act," said Tina Bongar, a resident of Peekskill who works with ResistAIM. "Spectra Energy is working to complete this pipeline every single day. Our Senators must act every single day until this project stops. They have an obligation to protect the people of New York. We know they can do it."

On Aug. 3, both New York Senators wrote to FERC, calling for an immediate halt to construction of the pipeline. In February, Cuomo called for an immediate halt to construction while the state conducts an independent risk assessment.

In addition to actions by the New York elected officials, organizers said Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Ed Markey have requested rehearings and pressed FERC to address conflicts of interest arising from the third party contractor, NRG, hired to perform the environmental assessment on another part of the AIM pipeline network. On Wednesday, they said, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts blocked an effort by Spectra and electric companies to pass the costs of the pipeline construction on to ratepayers, removing a potential $3 billion dollars in "pipeline tax" financing.

The City of Boston, the Town of Dedham, MA, and a coalition of groups from New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking to overturn FERC's approval of the AIM pipeline. The briefs site a variety of issues, from a faulty risk assessment of siting the pipeline adjacent to the Indian Point nuclear power plant, to violations of the National Environmental Policy Act.

“This project never should have been approved – but FERC has only turned down one pipeline project in its entire 40-year history," Safe Energy Rights Group President and affected property owner Nancy Vann said.

RELATED:

• Pipeline Project Making Progress Under the Hudson
• Algonquin Pipeline Foes File Appeal
• Opponents Protest Pipeline at FERC Meeting in Sleepy Hollow

Photo Credit: Erik McGregor