by Gusti Bogok
After two solid years of tireless grassroots activism to alert the people of New York City and its public officials about the hazards of the proposed Spectra pipeline (also known as the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project), this natural gas pipeline has gone online.
At this point, a NYC stove, boiler or laundromat is more likely to be burning “fracked” gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale formation containing higher levels of radon.
Sane Energy Project, a small but energetic group, was the first to get the word out about Spectra Energy and its plans to install an oversized, 30”-42” high-pressure gas pipeline into the heart of Manhattan’s West Village near West 14th Street.
For the past two years, activists have been very busy. Led by Sane Energy Project and groups such as United for Action, Occupy the Pipeline, New York City Friends of Clearwater, Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter and others, volunteers have stood at the Spectra site and on street corners to hand out flyers, stage protests and conduct non- violent direct actions (resulting in 8 arrests). We’ve held community forums, film screenings, panel discussions, and testified at hearings.
Spectra Energy has a very long rap sheet of leaks, accidents and devastating explosions, while concurrently being exempt from provisions of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. In June 2011, the DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) inspectors cited Spectra Energy for 17 inadequacies in its pipeline safety operations and procedures, including problems with pipeline surveillance, emergency plans and welding procedures.
PHMSA has jurisdiction over a mere 174, 000 miles of interstate lines, and only 7% of pipelines are subject to mandatory inspection. For Spectra Energy’s NJ-NY Expansion Project, inspection is proposed just once in seven years. On average, nationwide pipeline accidents result in one death every three weeks and injuries or burns once or more weekly.
Yet another pipeline?
The purpose of the pipeline is to bring natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania for use in New York City’s stoves, boilers, power stations and laundromats. The Marcellus layer has a high uranium and radium content, and gas mined by fracturing the formation carries radioactive radon. And since the transmission time from neighboring Pennsylvania is brief, the radon does not have sufficient time to decay. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and, like asbestos, is highly carcinogenic when inhaled in even minute quantities.
The timing of the Spectra pipeline opening coincides with the city’s new heating oil rules, which mandate that buildings using number 6 fuel oil switch to lighter fuel oils, biodiesel or to natural gas. Gas conversions are a much more costly process than the other options and require additional transmission and pipeline networks.
The Bloomberg administration, in its PlaNYC program, along with NYSERDA and Consolidated Edison, which will deliver the gas, have been promoting “clean-burning” natural gas.
At the same time, they dangle the carrot of its current low price to encourage building owners to convert boilers to burn gas, not mentioning that gas prices will inevitably rise from an historic low. The long-term industry scheme is to export the gas to China, India and Europe, where prices are much higher.
Boiler conversions will help drive the market for fracked gas and encourage fracking to begin in New York. This is why the state faces a proliferation of gas infrastructure projects statewide, including pipelines, compressor stations, condensate tanks and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, which would prepare the gas for overseas transport. (See article above).
The race is on
Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry enjoys government subsidies and exemptions from liability due to accidents, spills, damages and clean up costs, courtesy of the Bush/Cheney administration’s 2005 Energy Policy Act.
Two lawsuits oppose the Spectra pipeline. One is being brought by Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, No Gas Pipeline, and the City of Jersey City against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approving the pipeline without examining the radon and other issues.
A second lawsuit, waged by Sane Energy Project and five other groups, is against the Hudson River Park Trust for granting the easement to Spectra Energy; it is under appeal. Although both legal actions are pending, this does not prevent the pipeline from going online.
With a mobilized mass movement, we can turn the tide on fracking, the gas infrastructure build-out, dirty energy and climate change. We need everyone’s participation.
What you can do to curb radon risk
Call your elected representatives
State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal has a radon bill, A6863, which requires utilities statewide to monitor and mitigate radon before delivery to consumers (the state Senate same-as, S4921, is sponsored by Staten Island Senator Diane Savino). Call your state Assembly and Senate representatives and urge them to support these bills. Rep. Rosenthal calls upon us to “inundate” elected officials with calls.
Gale Brewer, Manhattan borough presidential candidate, is working with the City Council to see what it can do to require radon testing. Her goal is to pass a resolution in the City Council. If you live in the city, call your council members and urge them to support a resolution. Go to www.council.nyc.gov for contact information.
Have your kitchen tested
Visit www.saneenergyproject.org and find several areas you can plug into. In January, Sane Energy Project begins its third annual citizen’s radon testing program, to continue monitoring and measuring radon in city kitchens.
To donate to Sierra Club’s ongoing legal action against Spectra, visit our Chapter's Fracking Fund.