The New Paltz Town Board last week unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to reject a permit for the expansion of the Iroquois natural gas pipeline, saying it violates “New Yorkers’ right to a clean and healthy environment.”
The resolution was approved during a town board meeting held on Thursday, August 15, with council members joining an increasing public opposition to the natural gas pipeline that carries gas from Eastern Canada to the New York City area. The pipeline began operating in January 1992, running 370 miles from Canada through Upstate New York and Connecticut to Long Island, crossing over 500 streams, rivers and wetlands.
In May 1996, the Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company was hit with $22 million in criminal and civil fines for violating federal environmental and safety laws, at that time the largest penalty in an environmental case since the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The company and four high-level officers pleaded guilty to multiple violations of the Clean Water Act, including failure to clean up or restore damage to 188 streams and wetlands in their haste to meet construction deadlines.
Among the violations were a failure to construct safety devices called trench breakers at regular intervals along the pipeline ditch and at the edge of local wetlands, which could have washed out the soil holding the pipeline in place. The plea agreement also saw the company improperly place large rocks on the pipeline in an effort to quickly fill in trenches, risking damage to the pipeline.
Opponents fear the Iroquois Enhancement by Compression Project (ExC Project) could cause further damage to the state’s ecosystems. The ExC Project would add 12,000 horsepower of new compression and associated facilities at existing compressor stations in both Dover and Athens, as well as upgrades in facilities in Milford and Brookfield, both in Connecticut. The expansion is designed to provide a total of 125,000 dekatherms (DTH) of incremental firm natural gas service to Consolidated Edison Company of New York (Con Ed) and KeySpan Gas East Corporation (National Grid).
The ExC Project received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March 2022, but in order to proceed with construction will need two Air State Facility (ASF) permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the compressor station upgrades in Dover and Athens.
Though the state’s Department of Public Service (DPS) deemed the project necessary, opponents claim it would result in additional greenhouse gas emissions from end-use combustion, and would not only continue, but expand the use of fossil fuels by adding infrastructure.
Last December, activists and state legislators held a rally in Athens to deliver a letter signed by over 60 local and state elected officials asking Governor Hochul’s to stop the ExC Project.
“This proposal poses an imminent threat to the health and well-being of our state and the communities we were elected to represent,” reads the letter. “The Iroquois pipeline expansion by compressors proposal, if approved, would put New Yorkers at great risk and run fully astray of our state’s climate goals.”
The New Paltz Town Board agreed. In their resolution, they claim the expansion “will significantly increase the fracked gas volume, escalating environmental and health risks in the Hudson Valley,” adding “emissions from compressor stations release pollutants like nitrogen oxide and the carcinogen benzene, proven to cause serious health threats.”
The resolution further states that “historical data documents that natural gas pipeline infrastructure, including compressor stations, pose significant safety hazards, evidenced by frequent incidents of leaks, explosions, and resultant fatalities and environmental damage,” adding that the proposed expansion “is in direct conflict with New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) statutory goals, fostering continued reliance on fossil fuels and undermining the state’s statutorily required transition to a sustainable and renewable energy future.”
Upon approval, the resolution was due to be sent to U.S. senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, Congressman Pat Ryan, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, State Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger, City of Kingston Mayor Steve Noble, Ulster County Legislative Chair Peter Criswell, county legislators Limina Grace Harmon and Megan Sperry and Governor Hochul.
Town Supervisor Amanda Gotto said it was particularly critical the resolution went to the governor, who could determine the fate of the proposed expansion.
“(The ExC Project) has been on Governor Hochul’s desk for quite a while now,” she said.
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