City and state officials have had it with the Rockaway pipeline

  

Queens Eagle

Over two dozen New York City leaders have urged the federal government to kill a controversial pipeline project that would run underneath the waters off the Rockaway Peninsula. 

The proposed Williams Northeast Supply Enhance Pipeline, or Williams Pipeline, would deliver fracked gas from Pennsylvania to New York city via a tube underneath New York Harbor. The plan was rejected last year by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. 

In a letter Wednesday, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and State Sens. Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., Jessica Ramos and James Sanders called on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Richard Glick to also reject the Williams Pipeline once and for all. The pipeline would move the city and state further from achieving its climate goals, they said.
“We take climate change seriously, as we have already lost loved ones here in New York City to climate-fueled superstorms and heat waves that caused death, illness, debt, and scarcity,” the leaders wrote. “For our constituents and for the future generations who will live with the consequences of allowing the Williams Pipeline to be built, we urge you to deny Williams’ request.”

The letter cites Glick’s own condemnation of the initial FERC approval of the project in 2019, when he said that declaring the pipeline safe “fails to give climate change the serious consideration it deserves and that the law demands.”

On March 19, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company requested a two year extension to kickstart the project. The 17.4-mile-long, 26-inch diameter connection would transport fracked gas under the Atlantic Ocean off the shores of Rockaway Beach.

The letter cites the emissions impact of the gas being brought into the city once burned, new FERC recommendations that take into account the effects of transporting the gas  — like methane leaks — and climate justice for the city’s most vulnerable communities.

“We will not allow the racist legacy of environmental and climate injustice to continue by building infrastructure that will increase the amount of polluting fracked gas in our city,” the letter continues

 

Gas pipeline in Rockaway gets kiboshed

QNS

New York State rejected the application for the controversial Williams Pipeline, also known as the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, the $1 billion pipeline that would have transported fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania under New York Harbor terminating just over three miles off Rockaway Beach.

More than 60 elected officials — including City Councilman Costa Constantinides, state Senator Joseph Addabbo and Comptroller Scott Stringer — had announced their opposition to the 24-mile pipeline along with 250 organizations and nearly 20,000 who stand against the project.

National Grid had warned the pipeline was necessary to provide guaranteed service to new gas customers, including Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $1.18 billion Belmont Park redevelopment plan. 

Environmentalists warned the project would prolong dependence on fossil fuels instead of moving towards a clean energy future and that construction would pollute the waters by kicking up toxic heavy metals in the sediment.

“As currently conceived in the application, construction of the NESE pipeline project is projected to result in water quality violations and fails to meet New York State’s rigorous water quality standards,” the state Department of Environmental Conservation said in a statement released Wednesday. “Specifically, construction of the proposed project would result in significant water quality impacts from the re-suspension of sediments and other contaminants, including mercury and copper.”

Stringer called the decision a major victory.

“We’ve been outspoken in opposition to the pipeline from the beginning, and I am so proud of the coalition of dedicated advocates who refused to have their voices drowned out be entrenched interests,” he said. “The fossil fuel industry learned an important lesson, they are no match against the people of New York. When we fight back, we win.”

The fight is far from over because the DEC rejection was “without prejudice” meaning the Oklahoma-based Williams Transco could reapply.

“The Department of Conservation raised a minor technical issue with our application for water quality certification,” Williams Transco spokesman Chris Stockton said. “Our team will be evaluating the issue and resubmitting the application quickly. We are confident that we can be responsive to this technical concern, meet our customer’s in-service date and avoid a moratorium that would have a devastating impact on the regional economy and environment.”