From the Daily News:
A plan to extend an underwater natural gas pipeline beneath a national park in the Rockaways is getting a chilly reception from environmentalists.
Local environmentalists said they are concerned the pipeline could disrupt a nearby artificial reef filled with marine life.
“We’re worried about the environmental footprint that this project will have out in the Atlantic Ocean,” said Dan Mundy Jr., vice president of the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, a group formed to protect the bay.
The Williams Companies, an Oklahoma-based energy corporation, has proposed building a 3-mile pipeline that would connect the Rockaways to the existing natural gas Transco line in the ocean that runs parallel to the Rockaways.
It is to go under a golf course in Jacob Riis Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area.
The company also proposed turning an unused hangar on Floyd Bennett Field, in Brooklyn, into a meter station.
“The City of New York is moving off of fuel oils,” said Williams spokesman Chris Stockton. “The demand for natural gas in New York City is going up.”
Energy company National Grid would build an additional 1.5-mile pipe connecting the Rockaways to the station, said company spokeswoman Karen Young. National Grid also plans to connect the meter station to a gas main in Marine Park, Brooklyn, that delivers fuel to customers.
