Pipeline Foes Step Up Protest Blockades in Cortlandt

CORTLANDT, NY - Opponents of Spectra Energy's project to expand the Algonquin pipeline said that 30 people blocked access to its construction areas for about three hours Wednesday morning.

Protests have been going on near the construction since November, when people began to try obstruct Spectra Energy's Algonquin pipeline expansion.

The group began by standing at both entrances to a Bleakley Avenue construction site preventing access to the proposed site of a new pigging station where Spectra would remove hazardous materials from the pipeline only 150 feet from homes. Work was halted for more than two hours, ResistAIM members said in a press release.

They said they then moved to block a staging area by the Hudson River where pipe is being stored for eventual placement under the river.

Two people were arrested for disorderly conduct and taken into custody by New York State Police.

Pipeline foes said the pigging stations, which are used to clean out debris that accumulates within pipelines, is "radioactive, hazardous waste, containing PCBs and breakdown products of radon."

Natural gas contains low levels of radon. Radon is naturally occurring in the ground and in the air.

According to Spectra Energy, "Liquids that may have been gathered by the pig are properly removed from the receiver and disposed of in compliance with the requirements set forth in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. Since cleaning is done on a regular basis, there may be no liquids present or there may be minimal amounts, generally less than a gallon, collected."

See the company's fact sheet on pigging.

ResistAIM said similar groups have formed all along the route of the AIM Pipeline using nonviolent direct action to halt Spectra’s work in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.