FERC representatives got an earful from both sides Thursday at a hearing on the proposed Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline.
A crowd of about 130 people attended the hearing at the Days Inn in Schoharie and 30 people spoke. The vast majority, 23, were against the proposed pipeline, and seven were in favor.
The pipeline has been proposed by Kinder-Morgan and to be constructed and operated by its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, from Pennsylvania, through New York and New England. It would run parallel to the planned Constitution Pipeline.
Numerous speakers blasted the pipeline proposal and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s role and oversight.
“We went through the same dog and pony show for Constitution Pipeline,” Schoharie town supervisor Gene Milone told FERC officials.
That pipeline was “rubber stamped” by the regulatory department, he added.
“Our representatives at the next form of government have failed us….You represent the worst of the worst in our government.”
He said he was opposed to seeing Schoharie County becoming “a corridor for pipelines.”
He noted the devaluation of property and health risks as two major concerns.
“Schoharie County is saying no,” he said, to a large round of applause.
NED would be the second pipeline to come across Stanton Family Farm, Lisa Stanton of Middleburgh told FERC.
“If it leaks, we are in big trouble…This is not convenient and not necessary for us.”
The farmland on top of the new pipeline would not be used for at least two years and would be affected for six years, she continued.
Richard Stanton added, “We are starting to shift into survival mode. Please look at the impact of this pipeline.”
Several speakers directed their criticism at FERC directly.
“I have no faith in FERC,” Diane Sefcik said.
“FERC serves the oil and gas industry. FERC’s EIS (environmental impact statement) are a joke, you could use them as toilet paper.”
As for the pipeline, she stated, “NED is not needed by America. Stand up to the bullies. Say no to NED.”
Jeanette Rise of Rensselaerville stated, “Please pack Kinder-Morgan up and send them back to Texas. I see no benefit to New York.”
Sue Carrillo, who identified herself as an official intervener against the project, claimed the pipeline was “creating an extreme environmental hazard. No one can survive these environmental hazards.”
In addition, she noted that “the economic consequences are immense.”
Several local union members, who wore orange shirts with the slogan “Health and safety is our priority,” spoke in favor of the pipeline and the jobs it would create.
Schoharie County resident Dustin Tessitore said, “Pipelines are a safe way to transport natural gas.”
Darin Hagadorn added, “I have worked on the pipelines. I know they’re safe.”
Another county resident, Josh Shaul, stated that the pipeline company will work to avoid and minimize the impact on sensitive land and habitats.
“The NED would comply with all requirements imposed by FERC,” he added.
If FERC was around in the stone age, Pete Sterns noted, “We could have stopped fire and the wheel.”
Several other speakers had a totally different opinion of the pipeline and FERC.
“These public hearings are a sham,” noted Deborah Krol of Fultonham.
FERC, she added, works “hand-in-hand with the gas industry.”
FERC is a “rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry,” Robert Kerley added, and the pipeline “seems like an export scheme.”
Schoharie resident Lynn Basselan offered, “I’m a stakeholder and I say no to this…It will definitely hurt our Schoharie County.”
Another Schoharie resident, Wanda Colyer, added, “This is really, really hard for our community…We have to stop the rape and plunder. It’s someone else’s turn.”
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The hearing was part of the scoping session as FERC prepares an environmental impact statement. Public comments will help FERC determine what issues need to be evaluated in the EIS which will be used in the finial decision on the proposal.
Written comments will be accepted by FERC through the permitting process, though the company does not have to respond to comments received after August 31, according to FERC representative Eric Tomasi.
He noted that FERC has already received more than 3,000 comments on the proposed project, a huge number.
FERC will look at all comments and all comments should include the project’s docket number, PF14-22-000.

Pipeline change

Still in the planning stages, the proposed Northeast Energy Direct Project pipeline is undergoing a major change.
The western portion of the proposed pipeline will have a diameter of 30 inches and a capacity of 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day instead of a diameter of 36 inches and a capacity of 2.2 billion cubic feet, according to Kinder-Morgan officials. The change was announced on Thursday, the same day the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held a scoping session on the proposed pipeline in Schoharie.
The pipeline has been proposed by Kinder-Morgan and to be constructed and operated by its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, from Pennsylvania, through New York and New England. It would run parallel to the planned Constitution Pipeline.
Two compressor stations are planned for Schoharie County in addition to the pipeline.
The pipeline would run natural gas in a 36-inch pipeline from Pennsylvania to Wright and then into New English through a 30-inch pipeline.
The decision to go with a 30-inch line came after continual research and dialog that began last year.
Though the company is moving ahead with the 30-inch pipeline in the eastern portion “circumstances could arise in the very near term as more capacity commitments are made that would necessitate a design modification to a 36-inch pipeline design,” company officials added.
That change would require an amended application with FERC.