Rachael Bunzey
Natural Gas NOW

A new set of hearings on the Constitution Pipeline will take place this week. The project will provide huge economic and environmental benefits to Pennsylvania, New York and New England. 

This week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will be holding another round of public hearings to collect comments regarding the proposal of Constitution Pipeline project discussed here recently.  FERC will be hosting a total of four meetings across the proposed path of the pipeline; from New Milford, Pennsylvania to Wright, New York.  The pipeline will provide numerous economic benefits across the entire region, some very specific such benefits to Sidney, New York and a supply of inexpensive, clean-burning fuel to Boston and New York City.

The Constitution Pipeline Hearings and What to Expect

Here is when and where the public hearings will take place:

What can be expected at these hearings? Well, if true to pattern, we can expect the usual suspects to show up and prattle on about everything other than the pipeline, such as this vapid comment by an anthropologist from Wake Forest University (who claims to be a resident of Oneonta) suggesting construction workers and shale gas development would bring drugs into the area or something. They see it as a leverage opportunity to stop fracking, especially in New York, which is the Holy Grail for all fractivists and their wealthy special interest funders. The Delaware Riverkeeper, in fact, held a webinar Thursday evening with the specific purpose of encouraging opposition and strategizing how to kill the project. Here’s the invite:

Learn about the Constitution gas pipeline and what you can do about it. Pipeline expert Richard Kuprewicz will present on the call along with Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s Staff Attorney Aaron Stemplewicz and other environmental colleagues.

The Basics:  The Constitution Pipeline is a 124 mile shale gas pipeline proposed to run from Susquehanna County PA, through Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie Counties, NY.  This fracked pipeline will require a certificate from the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC). This requires the company to demonstrate that the project is not only in the public interest, but that it is also a public necessity.

If FERC certifies this project, the pipeline company would be allowed to take private property under eminent domain proceedings. Comments are due by 5 pm on April 7th 2014.

Join representatives from Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Clean Air Council, Earthjustice, Stop the Pipeline, as well as pipeline expert Richard Kuprewicz for a discussion about the Constitution Pipeline.

Everyone is invited! When you register at Clean Air Council’s website link here CAC will send you confirmation information and instructions on how to tune in.

Discerning minds will notice the Constitution Pipeline only goes through smallest part of the Delaware River watershed and won’t serve the Philadelphia area from which the Clean Air Council operates (see pipeline map overlaid on watershed map below). So, why are these two groups leading the charge to frustrate its development? Because their funders are committed to stopping anything that might encourage natural gas development in Pennsylvania and, especially, in New York.

Readers will recall the Delaware Riverkeeper, located in Bristol, Pennsylvania (just outside Philadelphia), is funded in large part by the William Penn Foundation, a partner with the Open Space Institute, which is a Rockefeller baby. They also receive money from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, headed by Rockefeller descendant and Open Space Institute leader, Kim Elliman. The William Penn Foundation (along with the Heinz Endowments) also funds the Clean Air Council.

Getting the picture? Well, there’s more. The Open Space Institute, previously run by New York DEC Commissioner Joe Martens, also gave birth to the Catskill Mountainkeeper. It and the NRDC are stacked with overlapping board memberships among Rockefeller family members and associates who have substantial land interests in the Catskills that they want to enlarge and very profitable deals with the State of New York they want to make.

The major increases in property values associated with natural gas development (it basically quadrupled values in the Deposit area when XTO leased land there), should such development come anywhere their land holdings would impede further land-grabbing efforts. So, we see their minions in the Delaware Riverkeeper and Clean Air Council taking a stand far outside either’s arena of interests. It’s all a rather seedy affair but they’re unlikely to prevail. The economic and environmental benefits are just too huge.

Constitution Pipeline Benefits

The Constitution Pipeline will be approximately 124 miles long beginning in Pennsylvania and ending in New York.  The pipeline was originally and is still proposed to bring more natural gas to the major markets of Boston and New York City, although there now some new local benefits as well (see below). Here’s the description from the project website:

The approximately 124-mile Constitution Pipeline is being designed with a capacity to transport 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day (enough natural gas to serve approximately 3 million homes). Buried underground, the 30-inch pipeline would extend from Susquehanna County, Pa., to the Iroquois Gas Transmission and Tennessee Gas Pipeline systems in Schoharie County, N.Y. The proposed project route stretches from Susquehanna County, Pa., into Broome County, N.Y., Chenango County, N.Y., Delaware County, N.Y., and terminates in Schoharie County, N.Y.

Both Boston and New York City will benefit tremendously by the project. We noted in an earlier post that New England is losing coal-fired electricity generation facilities and needs to dramatically increase its natural gas supply to replace that capacity and keep Bostonians warm in the winter. New York City’s ongoing and highly successful program to switch buildings to clean burning natural gas is also now legendary. It is a public policy marvel that has dramatically reduced air pollution in the Big Apple and saved hundreds of lives. It takes a reliable supply of natural gas to do that and the Constitution Pipeline will help provide that.

There are also considerable local and regional economic benefits to be had, as this excerpt from the project website, but based upon an independent study, indicates.

During the construction phase, it is estimated that the workforce will be comprised of five teams of 260 workers totaling up to 1,300 new construction jobs. About 50 percent of the construction workforce will come from in-state labor. However, due to the specialized nature of pipeline construction, contractors may need to hire personnel from outside of the project area. At this time, it is anticipated that approximately 25 percent of the construction workforce will be hired locally (i.e., within the 5-county project area).

The project is expected to generate $17 million in new sales and income tax revenue. Constitution Pipeline projects to spend about $683 million during the initial three year planning and building process, approximately $166 million of which would directly benefit the five county region. Once operational,  the pipeline’s economic impact is anticipated to result in $13 million in new annual sales, income and property tax revenue and more than $600,000 in new income in the region. To view the complete study, click here.

Projected Annual Property Tax Benefit:

Broome County – $2.1 million

Chenango County – $1.3 million

Delaware County – $4.9 million

Schoharie County – $4.4 million

There is now much more to be excited about, though, thanks to an agreement made between the Constitution Pipeline and Leatherstocking Gas Company that will treat the former as an open access pipeline, allowing Leatherstocking to provide natural gas to some homes, municipalities, and businesses along the route.

Among those businesses is a major one called Amphenol Aerospace.  Amphenol Aerospace has been supportive of the natural gas industry for years and wants to convert their building to natural gas which will then save them the money needed to remain competitive within their marketplace and stay in the area.  The company has been in Sidney for many years and stayed even after two devastating floods.  Instead of moving out of they area, they have begun building a brand new facility in Delaware County and expanding, based on the premise that natural gas will come.

Amphenol Aerospace Building, Sidney, NY

Come to the Constitution Pipeline Hearings: Stand Up to the Special Interests

The special interests we talked about above will, no doubt, show up and attempt to make spectacles of themselves as they always do. Therefore, it’s critical local residents attend and stand up to these well-funded outsiders who don’t care about the school tax revenue, the jobs or the value of the natural gas development that might follow. They want the benefits of a cleaner environment in New York City, of course, but also want the gas to come from somewhere else, as a vibrant upstate economy only works against their land-grabbing desires.

The local jobs and revenue that will be brought to the area as well as the tax benefits for local communities are very large, but it’s even better knowing our local businesses will be supported too.  The businesses which will gain from the pipeline are the businesses that have stood by our community even when times were tough.  It’s long past time that locals spoke up for them and their own interests against these no-growth fanatics who would keep upstate New York in pastoral poverty.

Come to one, two, three or all of the FERC hearings and show your support for a company that is supporting your local community and putting your community back to work.  The hearings matter and it is important to get your friends and families to attend the meetings as well.  If you are too uncomfortable to speak at the meetings that’s okay!  Each person can also submit written letters to FERC expressing their support for the project. It’s a great project, after all.