Date : Fri, 6 Nov 2015 12:46:00 -0500
For Immediate Release
November 6, 2015
Contact Jeff Tittel 609-558-9100
The Obama Administration has officially rejected 1,179 mile Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline would carry 800,000 barrels a day of petroleum from the Canada oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Today Secretary of State, John Kerry, determined the project was not in the country’s national security interest. Earlier this week, Keystone suspended its U.S. permit application expecting the Administration’s rejection. This showed the lack of need for crude oil pipelines to cross through our communities, open spaces, and water supply resources.
“President Obama is an environmental hero for rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. This is a huge victory for not only the environment, but for climate change and clean energy. We applaud President Obama for standing up to Big Oil and polluters and rejecting this project once and for all. The Keystone XL Pipeline would have cut American in half with a destructive pipeline carrying 800,000 barrels of petroleum. It would have accelerated climate change, damaged the environment, threatened the water supply, and caused more air pollution. Even with all the money that Big Oil has, sometimes the good guys win,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Even though Governor Christie has come out in support of the Keystone XL and other pipelines, the tide is turning against these damaging and unnecessary projects. That is why we should re-double our efforts to reject pipelines across our state.”
In New Jersey, our version of Keystone XL is the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline. Pilgrim is a 178 mile bi-directional crude oil pipeline proposed between Linden and Albany, New York is should be rejected for the same reasoning. Not only would the pipeline do serious harm to the environment, threaten our water supply, but it is an unnecessary threat to public safety.
“Now that Keystone XL Pipeline has been rejected, Governor Christie should reject Pilgrim Pipeline. The NJDEP should not allow Pilgrim permits if they decide to move forward. Pilgrim should learn the lessons from the Keystone XL Pipeline battle and withdraw their plans like Keystone did. Pilgrim Pipeline is New Jersey’s version of the Keystone XL. What they have in common is that the oil will not benefit us, it will be exported while at the same time we would get all the damage from the pipeline spills, leaks, and explosions. Every town along the proposed route in New Jersey said NO to Pilgrim Pipeline. Towns have passed ordinances to ban Pilgrim. What part of NO don’t they understand?” said Tittel.
The Pilgrim Pipeline would impact environmentally sensitive areas critical for drinking water supply. It would cut through public land and water supply intakes, and pass within view of the critical reservoirs. The pipeline is planned to run through the Ramapo River Watershed in New York and New Jersey. The pipeline would pass through or near the Buried Valley aquifer, tributaries to the Hudson River, the Hudson River, and the Catskill and Delaware aqueducts which provide drinking water to New York City. Of particular concern are potential impacts to the Passaic and Pompton Rivers, which provide drinking water to close to one million people as well as through the Highlands Preservation Area.
“A spill crossing through the Highlands region would threaten the drinking water for close to 3 million people . In the Highlands, a spill could mean that water supply intakes on critical water supply rivers like the Passaic, Ramapo, and Pompton could be closed for weeks if not longer until a spill is cleaned up. There have been serious oil spills in North Dakota, and the last one was in the Yellowstone River. The Highlands is like our Yellowstone, but as you know is more important because of all the people who depend on the drinking water from the Highlands region,” said Tittel.
North Dakota Bakken Shale oil, the type that the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline would carry is one of the most explosive types of oil in the world. It is dangerous because volatile compounds are left in, instead of taken out because it would cost more to remove. Devastating incidents around the country raise many concerns regarding the transportation of the dangerous Bakken crude whether by rail, barge, or pipeline. They could build facilities to remove this compound, but it’s cheaper to transport them through our communities. Gasoline cannot be moved by rail, the same way Bakken is yet Bakken is more volatile and flammable. Whether it is traveling by rail, barge or pipeline, it is a disaster waiting to happen endangering our families, property and environment.
“ Now that the President has rejected Keystone XL, the federal government also needs reform the rules at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC should no longer be a rubberstamp for the industry they are supposed to regulate. We need to give FERC more power to consider the real environmental impacts of pipelines during the planning process and allow them to regulate and block oil pipelines. This move should not just be about Keystone, but ending all pipelines proposed through our state,” Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “ We hope that Pilgrim Pipeline will surrender the project like what happened with Keystone XL Pipeline. All pipelines are prone to human error, accidents, and spills. We have already sent a clear message for Pilgrim to stay out of our towns and communities. Instead of transporting Bakken oil, we should be investing in renewable energy that will not damage our environment, put the community at risk, and will help to combat climate change. That is why Pilgrim should, ‘Get out Of Town.’”
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Toni Granato Administrative Assistant New Jersey Sierra Club office:(609) 656-7612 https://www.facebook.com/NJSierraClub Received on 2015-11-06 09:46:00