Puglisi Hopes Cuomo Move on Pipeline Project Isn't Too Late

Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said she hopes action by New York State officials to try to halt the natural gas pipeline expansion project now underway in Cortlandt during a safety analysis hasn't come too late.

"The New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who received our letters and petitions over the years, has finally come out in opposition to the Spectra/Algonquin pipeline project asking for a full assessment since it’s close to Indian Point," she said in a prepared statement sent out in advance of the town board meeting March 7. "I am pleased that he has come forward but it may be too late since construction approved by F.E.R.C. began eight months ago."

Meanwhile Indian Point's owner said again that the pipeline does not pose an increased risk to the Indian Point nuclear power plant, issuing its own statement to that effect after Cuomo and Peekskill Mayor Frank Catalina made announcements calling for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to halt construction until the conclusion of the risk analysis.

(The governor, who wants Indian Point closed, ordered the analysis earlier this week, and asked members of his administration to write FERC. The text of that letter is below.)

Puglisi pointed out that Cortlandt has been fighting the pipeline for years for very specific reasons:

The Town Board and I along with many residents and our citizen task force have publicly opposed this Spectra A.I.M. natural gasline expansion project for the past three years. We submitted petitions, passed resolutions, wrote letters, held rallies and press conferences and attended every F.E.R.C., D.E.C., etc. public hearing on this project. At every event we stated:

We are against the expansion and re-routing of the Algonquin/Spectra gasline for the following reasons:

1. Too close to Indian Point nuclear plants (it was re-routed closer than it was before).

2. The pressure was being increased by 25%.

3. It was being re-routed only 500 ft. from an elementary school in Buchanan.

4. We were concerned about ecological and environmental impacts to the Hudson River, the riverbed, the fish hatching area of Haverstraw Bay, the watershed.

5. We also were very concerned about airborne particles due to the construction, which by the way, our residents are experiencing today in the Verplanck area of town.

6. Our arguments about thousands of trees some 100+ years old being felled and the devastation this would do to our community was part of our opposition. This concern has also become a reality as can be viewed in our Cortlandt community.

7. Noise pollution was another issue during the lengthy construction, as well as truck traffic and many equipment staging areas. All have been part of this construction process that began in mid-2015.

For three long years we all fought this large impactful project and then F.E.R.C. which supersedes a local government approved the project going from PA, across the Hudson River, through Cortlandt and northern Westchester County up to New England, on March 3, 2015 and refused to re-open their public hearings after we all requested to be re-heard. Very Unfortunate!

Assemblywoman Sandy Galef has stood with us in Cortlandt and in Buchanan throughout this three year battle as have Congresswoman Nita Lowey and County Legislator Catherine Borgia and Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker and her board of trustees. Our town board and I have appreciated their efforts.

The New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who received our letters and petitions over the years, has finally come out in opposition to the Spectra/Algonquin pipeline project asking for a full assessment since it’s close to Indian Point. I am pleased that he has come forward but it may be too late since construction approved by F.E.R.C. began eight months ago.

The Town of Cortlandt spent $300,000 trying to block it but the Federal Regulatory Commission supersedes the Town, the Village and perhaps the State.

RELATED:

• PIpeline Project Making Progress Under Hudson
• Entergy: Pipeline Poses No Added Threat to Indian Point
• Pipeline Expansion Could Hurt Peekskill Residents: Mayor
• NY to Analyze Gas Pipeline Safety near Nuclear Plant

Here's the letter state officials sent to FERC:

February 29, 2016

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

888 First Street NE, Room 1A Washington, DC 20426

RE: Docket No. CP14-96-001:New York State Request for Reconsideration of the March 2015 Order providing a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct and operate the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Project ("ProjecP) in order to commence an immediate independent safety risk analysis

Dear Secretary Bose,

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has directed the Department ofHomeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), the New York State Department ofHealth (NYSDOH) and New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) to immediately commence an independent safety risk analysis of Spectra Energy's Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project, specifically near Entergy's Indian Point Nuclear Facility (known as Indian Point Energy Center or IPEC).

At the direction of the Governor, our agencies are currently undertaking a full investigation into recent significant issues at IPEC. Specifically:

• • May 7, 2015 IPEC's nuclear reactor Unit 3 was shut down by plant operators to repair a steam leak associated with the steam generator.
  • May 9, 2015 a main transformer at Unit 3 short-circuited and caught fire due to a failure of insulation within the transformer. The plant shut down automatically and Entergy declared an unusual event level emergency.
  • June 15, 2015 Unit 3 automatically shut down after an electrical disturbance in the switchyard caused a turbine to shut down.

These ongoing State investigations may reveal newly discovered information related to the environmental, health and safety risks posed by siting the Project near IPEC. Such new information may warrant reopening the record on this issue, which could ultimately necessitate a different conclusion by FERC. Until these investigations are complete and the analysis ofthe safety issues done, the Project should not be allowed to proceed.

Thank you for your consideration and prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

John Melville Commissioner Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

Audrey Zibelman Chair Public Service Commission

Basil B Seggos Commissioner Department ofEnvironmental Conservation

Howard Zucker Commissioner Department of Health

PHOTO: Protesting the pipeline expansion in Cortlandt/contributed