Letter to the Editor: Wagner Wrong on Algonquin Pipeline

Community View/Letters to the Editor:

Press comments and Internet postings of Croton attorney and New York State Senate Candidate Justin Wagner discussing his opposition to the Algonquin gas pipeline replacement project are disturbing. After more than 18 months of numerous public meetings, Mr. Wagner apparently still does not know the pipeline’s proposed route and which federal and state agencies are reviewing the project.

In an interview posted this month, Mr. Wagner said, “My daughter actually plays at a school playground where the pipeline comes right through.”

The proposed replacement pipeline will not run through any playgrounds.

He also said, “The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hasn’t examined the safety of the pipeline…”

In fact, on Sept. 30, three days prior to Mr Wagner’s comments being posted, the NRC publicly submitted comments to FERC on the Algonquin expansion that stated by letter, dated August 21, 2014, that Entergy provided its site hazards analysis to the NRC. NRC inspection of Entergy’s site hazards analysis is ongoing as of the close of the public comment period for the draft EIS and the results of this inspection are scheduled for issuance in mid-November 2014. This is in advance of FERC’s planned issuance of the final EIS in mid-December 2014.

Suffice it to say, NRC is conducting a safety analysis of the pipeline and will have the results of that review to FERC a month before it will issue its final EIS on the project.

Finally, Mr. Wagner also stated, “…the pipeline goes right under Indian Point.”

Here again, Mr. Wagner is seriously in error. The NRC’s public filing to FERC noted, “The (pipeline’s) Southern Route Crossing is located approximately 0.5 miles south of the existing Hudson River crossing and would be further south of the Indian Point facility.”

The pipeline does not run under Indian Point’s reactors; it is a half mile farther south of the facility than the existing gas lines that were there before the nuclear facility was even built.

Like everyone who lives in the region, the thousands of workers and families that are part of the Construction Industry Council family of companies want the pipeline constructed safely and to operate with minimal environmental impact. Throughout the years I have worked closely with many of the federal and state regulators who are responsible for reviewing Algonquin’s proposed replacement pipeline. They are consummate professionals who will ensure the AIM project’s design, permits, construction and ongoing operation are all in compliance with their agency’s standards and regulations.

For the AIM project permits to be approved, the regulatory agencies will confirm the project does not cause or contribute to a violation of a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) or interfere with our state’s plan to bring an area in attainment of a NAAQS. Additionally, Algonquin must maintain and comply with its Title V air permits that include all requirements of the New York State Implementation Plan, New Source Performance Standards, and Section 112 air toxic standards. These permits also require that Algonquin file an annual emission inventory, an annual compliance certificate and semiannual periodic monitoring reports. All reports for the Southeast and Stony Point compressor stations are filed with the NYDEC and are available to the public.

I urge Mr. Wagner to learn the facts and become better acquainted with the Algonquin pipeline, its safety protocols and features, and the overall purpose of the project. During this election season, an informed discussion based on facts would benefit the public and the future course of this important domestic energy project.

Ross J. Pepe

President

Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, Inc.