On Tuesday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m., Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline (SNYFGP), an all-volunteer group of concerned Rensselaer County citizens opposed to the proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline, will present a free public forum at Maple Hill High School in Schodack/Castleton-on-Hudson.
This event, SNYFGP’s fourth such public forum in 2015, will offer local residents information about the large, high-pressure fracked gas pipeline being planned for the area by Texas-based energy giant, Kinder Morgan, including the many health and safety risks presented by the immense 90,000 horsepower compressor station to be located near the Schodack/Nassau border.
Public opposition to this pipeline, which offers no benefits to any of the towns it would impact in New York State, has grown steadily over the past few months. Hundreds of people, including local officials, have turned out at previous events to voice their many concerns, and resolutions strongly opposing the project were passed this month by both the Town of Stephentown and the Rensselaer County Legislature. In addition, more than 50 other communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have also passed similar measures.
Governor Cuomo banned high volume hydraulic fracturing (better known as fracking) in New York last December, citing the significant risks to public health as detailed in a 186-page report by the Department of Health. Although groundbreaking, this move does not prohibit the transport of this same dangerous fracked gas—along with its hundreds of associated chemicals, including multiple known carcinogens—at very high pressure through our communities, major bodies of water such as the Hudson River and fertile farmland and wildlife habitats.
In addition to the numerous health and environmental concerns associated with this project, NED would also bring with it the risks of catastrophic explosion, damage to local infrastructure, the taking of private land through eminent domain, disruption of local groundwater and homeowner wells, and a significant decline in local property values and potential for future economic growth.
For more information about Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline and its efforts, please visit http://stopnypipeline.org.