Members of the Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline asked Village of Saugerties trustees at their February 16 meeting to oppose the line, which will transport crude oil from the Port of Albany to refineries in Linden, NJ.
The proposed pipeline would run along the New York State Thruway, and while crude will head south, refined products will be pumped north.
Members said the two, 20-inch pipes would move about 200,000 barrels of crude south every day and about the same amount of refined product will move north.
Currently crude is shipped south via barges along the Hudson River and via CSX freight trains.
There has been some talk by pipeline proponents that if the line is permitted, there will be less of a need to ship it via train cars.
Coalition representatives said that’s wrong and that train cars would still be needed.
Opponents’ say the pipeline would pass through sensitive wetlands and water courses that would be harmed should there be leaks, and “there would be leaks,” they said.
Local resident Lanny Walter, who is a member of the coalition, added, “No pipeline is a good pipeline.”
He said that 27 communities along the Thruway have passed resolutions objecting to the pipeline and insisting the state Department of Environmental Conservation be named the lead agency to conduct and review any information during the SEQR process.
Walter said town officials passed a resolution that “was not that aggressive.”
The town council had asked for a meeting with Pilgrim, and one was scheduled, but Pilgrim canceled and the town’s resolution said they would no longer trust what Pilgrim told them, according to Walter.
Village Mayor William Murphy said he would contact town Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel and talk about the issue “to make sure we are on the same page and that we are doing it hand-in-hand.”
Village officials took no other action on the request and Murphy did not say if or when any resolution concerning the project would be on the trustees’ meeting agenda.
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