Political wrangling over fracking in New York is getting in the way of a perfectly sound pipeline project there, a company building a major line through the Empire State said Monday.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration rejected the Constitution Pipeline Co.’s application Friday to build a pipeline to ship natural gas from the Marcellus shale fields in Pennsylvania to the Northeast.
“We believe [New York’s] stated rationale for the denial includes flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations, and appears to be driven more by New York state politics than by environmental science,” the project’s sponsors said Monday.
The company said it will use all legal means to challenge the Cuomo administration’s decision.
“In spite of [New York’s] unprecedented decision, we remain absolutely committed to building this important energy infrastructure project, which will create an important connection between consumers and reliable supplies of clean, affordable natural gas,” the company added.
At the same time, environmental groups are rallying behind Cuomo’s decision as a major victory for a region seeking to resist shale oil and natural gas production.
“The people of New York stood up and fought to stop this pipeline, and New York listened,” said Jeff Tittel, head of Sierra Club New Jersey. “Now we have to fight to make New Jersey listen.” There are several pipelines planned through New Jersey to transport shale gas from Pennsylvania to the Northeast.
The company says the federal government gave the pipeline project a thumbs up before the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shot it down based on its proposed route, which environmental groups argue would destroy hundreds of acres of wetlands.
The decision came just days after the New York primary elections, where fracking and opposition to shale gas infrastructure became hot topics.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders used the anti-fracking fervor in the state to his advantage by announcing in an ad campaign that he would initiate a nationwide ban on fracking if elected president. New York instituted a statewide ban on the practice under Cuomo.
But the decision to reject the project came as a complete surprise, the company said. It said it had worked closely with the state for years to address all its concerns.
In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had certified the pipeline’s route after an extensive environmental and engineering analysis, which included the consideration of several alternative routes.
“In its Final Environmental Impact Statement, the FERC concluded that environmental impacts associated with these alternatives were significantly greater than the preferred route,” the company. “Despite this, in the spirit of collaboration, we followed [New York’s] guidance and further altered our preferred route to adopt NYSDEC staff recommendations.”
The permit denial affects almost 2,400 direct and indirect jobs related to the pipeline’s construction and $130 million in employee income, the company said. The decision also could cost local governments nearly $13 million in annual property tax revenue.
The company points out that New York has projected it will need the natural gas from the pipeline to support its power grid over the next 15 years.
“Much of this additional natural gas will be used to help generate electricity while also enabling the state’s adoption of more renewable energy sources,” the company said.
“Unfortunately for those who have said they want the jobs and economic benefits the Constitution Pipeline represents, the Cuomo administration has placed politics over the interests of workers and consumers,” said American Petroleum Institute Executive Director Marty Durbin.
