Kinder Morgan officials said that 14 Massachusetts towns along the northern tier of the state, from Dracut to Northfield will no longer be in the pipeline’s path. This project would have served gas-fired electric power plants. [15] 1st-Circuit-Judgment-BEAT-v-TGP-re-Section-401-Clean-Water-Act-jurisdiction[click to view], [13] ferc-approval-for-tennessee-gas-pipeline-connecticut-expansion-project[click to view], [29] Police arrest protestors and get paid[click to view], [22] Sugar Shack Alliance Protest[click to view], [2] Pipeline construction information[click to view], [14] Berkshire Edge Pipeline Appeal[click to view], [28] Pipeline activist subdued by stun gun[click to view], [10] Six more pipeline protesters arrested[click to view], [25] Pipeline begins to flow[click to view], [6] Massachusetts News Pipeline[click to view], [18] Mass Agrees to pipeline[click to view], [8] MA News Arrests Made of Protesters[click to view], [20] TN Gas pipeling sues MA[click to view], [3] Kinder Morgan Website News[click to view], [9] Berkshire Eagle Protesters arrested[click to view], [26] Contaminated pipeline test water[click to view], [27] Contaminated test water headed to Maine[click to view], [5] Energy price conversion[click to view], [30] Police stun gun protestors[click to view], [31] Standsfield highway chief shot from pipeline work[click to view], [4] conversation oil barrels[click to view], [21] TEnsions over TN State pipeline[click to view], [11] Protestors deliver arrest warrent to Kinder Morgan[click to view], [23]Pipeline Safety Division[click to view], Protest March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgJKNISWOvA[click to view], Northern Access Pipeline, Pennsylvania and New York, USA, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Kinder Morgan's North Texas Pipeline consists of an 82-mile pipeline that transports natural gas from an interconnect with the facilities of the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL) in Lamar County, Texas, to a 1,750-megawatt electric generating facility located in Forney, Texas. Kinder Morgan has not ruled out isolated cases of eminent domain property takings, although Fore stressed that 90 percent of the main pipeline through New Hampshire would be on or near transmission-line rights-of-way owned by utilities.
Kinder Morgan’s first pipeline proposal met widespread opposition from residents, environmentalists, and politicians who argued the pipeline would needlessly rip up private yards, parks, forests, and other properties along its path through about 45 communities. Mass Audubon is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 04-2104702) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. “We haven’t authorized the use of our rights-of-way, nor have we taken a position on their proposal,” said Mike Durand, the spokesman. Learn more about our engagement in this project, The Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. is also proposing a four-mile expansion of existing pipelines in southwestern Massachusetts, with the gas dedicated to serving CT customers. Kinder Morgan’s alternative would still entail 64 miles of new pipeline in Massachusetts, starting along the New York border in Hancock, then snaking its way through Hinsdale and northwest to Northfield. Approximately 1,000 miles of interstate gas transmission lines exist in Massachusetts and are owned and operated by three companies: Algonquin Gas Transmission Company, Maritimes and Northeast Pipelines Company, and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (23), the latter a wholly owned subsidiary of Kinder Morgan and the largest transporter of petroleum products in North America and supplier of almost 38% of U.S. consumed natural gas. Spectra Energy/Algonquin Gas Transmission had pa… Mass Audubon opposes proposed natural gas pipelines (see No Pipeline Position Statement), that would have major environmental impacts on public and private conservation lands including properties “permanently” protected under Article 97 of the State Constitution. Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. had proposed a large new pipeline system that would run from NY through MA and NH delivering 1.2 billion cubic feet/day (bcf/d) of fracked gas from the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shales. The 1972-ratified Article 97 to the Massachusetts state Constitution declares that certain lands, Otis State Forest among them, shall be preserved in perpetuity and that only a vote of two-thirds in both state legislative bodies (senators and representatives) can revoke a location's protected status. § 1341(a)(1) and § 1341(d) (15*). State police used a stun gun on a Sharon, Conn., … The alternative pipeline would then head into southern New Hampshire, running east along existing electric and natural gas corridors, before dipping back into Massachusetts near Dracut, according to Kinder Morgan. This decision was made due to lack of financing, following the Supreme Judicial Court decision prohibiting utilities from charging ratepayers for pipeline construction. This decision was made due to lack of financing, following the Supreme Judicial Court decision prohibiting utilities from charging ratepayers for pipeline construction. KM just announced that it will abandon their plans to build the pipeline in Massachusetts. “It still begs the question whether the pipeline is even needed.”. Victory: Kinder Morgan Drops MA Pipeline Due To Protest, https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.png, https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2014/12/Screen-Shot-2014-12-08-at-10.21.35-AM-150x104.png, And yes, we have been following the protests in Massachusetts. Learn more about our engagement in this project, Learn more about our engagement in the project, Right-Sizing Infrastructure for an Energy System in Transition, Proper evaluation of the need for expanded gas pipeline infrastructure, Alternatives including energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, and alternative size and location of projects, The relationship to the state’s greenhouse gas reduction targets established in the Massachusetts. Allen Fore, a spokesman for Kinder Morgan, expressed confidence that the company can work out a deal with Northeast Utilities. Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: Massachusetts PipeLine Awareness Network www.massplan.org/, HIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc...), PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase), Artistic and creative actions (eg guerilla theatre, murals). We are working actively with our partners to engage with public officials at all levels. Subscribe to our e-news for the latest events, updates and info. Great to see their success, now let’s stop Kinder Morgan in New Hampshire. This project would cross lands that Mass Audubon assisted the Department of Conservation and Recreation in protecting in 2007 at Otis State Forest in Sandisfield. Increased use of renewable energy and the non-development of fossil fuel pipelines, particularly through State protected land, are supported by all groups protesting the project. Now the people in NH are getting organized to stop them up there.”. “It doesn’t change people’s minds,” said Hewitt. Kinder Morgan plans to file the new route on Monday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has final say on gas pipelines in New England. Note: Thanks to Sue Kirby who let us know about this important victory against a pipeline planned for Massachusetts. We loved their rolling protest across the state, followed it regularly, up to its conclusion in the Boston Commons and promoted it before it started. At least 70 arrests of protesters have been made thus far (7, 8, 9, 10, 11), including that of a 98 year-old female peace activist (12). Learn more about our engagement in the project, The permit for this project was withdrawn in June 2017, essentially suspending the project. “Governor Hassan will continue to urge the company to listen to communities, take steps to reduce impacts, and ensure local benefits,” said Hinkle. At the town level, "Tennessee Gas lawyers last year made a verbal agreement to give the town about $1 million for wear and tear to roads, and to reimburse the town's roughly $40,000 in legal fees it took to draft the agreement. In Massachusetts, the main alternative pipeline would be entirely on or adjacent to transmission lines owned by Northeast Utilities. She added that her group is already in contact with New Hemisphere residents, where a meeting to fight the pipeline is planned for later this month. It included 26 miles of proposed new pipeline in Norfolk County including construction through Mass Audubon’s 100-year-old Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon. Stung by intense local opposition to a proposed natural gas pipeline winding through western and central Massachusetts, a Houston energy company said Friday that it will pursue an alternative route that bypasses many Massachusetts communities by veering north and shooting across southern New Hampshire.
Also, the trends associated with the pipeline are quite worrisome, such as the purchasing of local police protection by the pipeline, and unresponsiveness on the part of Kinder Morgan to compensate the local people for their losses. Ideally, he said, Kinder Morgan would like to start construction on the pipeline in 2017. Whitbeck said the reasons for opposing the pipeline in “live free or die” New Hampshire may be different than in more liberal Massachusetts, but opposition could be just as strong. The majority of opposition to the project is centered around the approximately 4-mile stretch of pipe currently being installed in Berkshire County Massachusetts with 2-miles through Otis State Forest (6), an 900-acre old growth forest in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, which includes trees more than 400 years old. In December 2016, Tennessee Gas agreed to pay the state $640,000 for the pipeline easement through Otis State Forest (18) after suing Massachusetts in March the same year for not having acted to approve the easement (House Bill 3690 (19)) at that time, thereby delaying construction (20). Donations to Mass Audubon are tax-deductible to the full extent provided by law. : The construction of the pipeline was completed directly through a protected forest and despite state laws protecting the forest from said construction. Other areas affected include Blackstone watershed communities along the 27 mile lateral from Medway to West Boylston. They will try to go across Southern NH.
“There’s a lot of people up here who may not be as concerned about climate change, but they do very much care about property rights,” said Whitbeck. Mass Audubon has communicated its concerns to federal and state officials, and we continue to participate in the environmental review processes through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, and other agencies.