About the Gas Company
Builders/Owners - Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., subsidiary of Kinder Morgan
Drillers and Sellers of Gas - Kinder Morgan
Sources of Gas - Fracking wells in Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania & NY
The Pipeline Route
Planned to connect at hub in Wright, NY
Enter MA at Richmond
Follow high tension electric lines to Deerfield
Cross Deerfield & Connecticut Rivers
Up toward NH border towns to terminal in Dracut
About the Pipelines
NORTHEAST EXPANSION
Majority of the proposed route is a buried 30” high-pressure
transmission line containing natural gas obtained by fracking.
In eastern Middlesex Co., will be a 36” diameter line
CONNECTICUT
EXPANSION
New pipeline to be run
alongside two older ones.
36” with a “pigging facility”
About the Pipeline
COMPRESSOR STATIONS
• Placed every 40-60 miles to maintain pressure along the line.
• Barn size facilities on several acres with approx. 10 ft. diameter
fans that run 24/7 and substantial lighting at night.
Noise levels usually range from 50-90 decibels at distance.
• They also exhaust gas and fracking chemical residues.
About the Pipeline
MODERN COMPRESSOR STATION in PA
About the Pipeline
CUSTOMERS FOR GAS
Customers most often mentioned are primarily electric generation
plants out east and a few proposed lateral lines.
Pipeline capacity is nearly 10 times what's needed for these.
Company's memos also cite LNG developers and sending gas
northward, mentioning Canadian Maritimes.
About the Pipeline
NOT YOUR GRAMPA'S PIPELINE
Not like the LP or natural gas line to your house.
30” diameter, holding chemical-laden fracked gas,
known to contain many dozens of
carcinogens, neurotoxins & endocrine disrupters.
Maintains pressure up to 1,500 psi
More pressure for steep terrain
Ruptures and explosions create super-hot extended burns until
miles of gas between safety valves burns off
20” Pipeline in West Virginia
2/3 the diameter • 30” would be 2.25 times more capacity
Stages of Pipeline Development
1)
Planning and Survey
• TGP/Kinder Morgan approaches landowners and some towns for survey
• Developing detailed map and review of conditions for applying to FERC
(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) for Certificate
2) Pre-Filing
• Starts once TGP/Kinder Morgan files application with FERC
• Public Comment Period when general public, NGOs, Govt. Agencies can
file reports and opinions on the impact of the pipeline
• Gas company and FERC required to hold public hearings with towns in
which the pipeline is to be built
3) Construction
• Starts once FERC grants “Certificate of Convenience & Public Necessity”
April 2017 - November 2018
Stages of Pipeline Development
What We Can Do
DELAY THE SURVEY & PLANNING!
This was the death of a pipeline in Wakefield / Saugus area in 2008
Saying no forces them to file with Mass DPU for permission – stall of 4-6 months
Can appeal to the DPU with Public Comment or as Intervenor
LANDOWNERS
If you’re approached for a survey - TELL THEM NO
If you’ve already said yes, but haven’t signed an agreement,
you can rescind permission – sample letter online
Talk to your select board, planning commission, conservation commission
and tell them to tell the pipeline company no surveys
Saying no to the survey is not the same as not negotiating an easement!
What We Can Do
PUT ORGANIZED RESISTANCE IN PLACE
FOR DPU OR FERC HEARINGS
TOWNS
Vote in a Non-Binding Resolution against the pipeline
- Find out deadline submission deadline and require no. of signatures
- Draft up the Resolution & get signatures
- Turn in town select board for review
- Bring out the vote
Conservation / Planning Commissions
Identify areas of ecological sensitivity and gather any protective resolutions
or ordinances already in place or draft up new ones!
Conservation & Land Trust Groups
Write statement of intent to protect the lands under your care
What We Can Do
DELAY THE SURVEY & PLANNING!
INDIVIDUALS
Sign the State-Wide Petition
Send link to online petition to email and social media
Print out petiton and gather petitions at meeting places
- Civic organization meetings - Shopping centers & gathering spots, cafés
- School events – Festivals, fairs, farmers markets
Talk to your neighbors & friends
There are no public announcements yet – talk to your family & friends and
let them know. Reach out to people in other parts of the state as well.
Write Letters to the Editor, Invite Reporters to Presentations
Get the word out!
Hold letter-writing parties to help friends get motivated.
What We Can Do
PREPARE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Research all you can on:
- Laws and protections in place to be brought up as objections
- Protected open land, wetlands, forest
- Endangered species in pipeline's path
- Contact state agencies who manage these
- Health and safety concerns (try to back up with statements from)
- Emergency management officials – can they handle rupture or explosion?
- Power companies and electric, railroad and other worker's unions
- Local Dept. of Public Works, water quality issues
Talk to your elected officials and gov't agencies: Local, State and Federal
- State your concerns
- Ask them questions
- Back any legislation that would boost efficiency or clean energy
What We Can Do
PREPARE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Research all you can on:
- Economic issues
- Fuel and utility prices will remain subject to market volatility
- Finite resource, price will only go up, especially if exported
- Paid for by new tariff on ratepayers
- Abutting land owner's issues (informational meetings for land owners?)
- Resale value
- Damage to ability to get mortgage & insurance
- Restrictions on land use
(cannot drive over pipeline, cut off from own land)
- Still paying regular property taxes
Online Resources
www.nofrackedgasinmass.org
- Maps of proposed pipeline route
- Town by Town listing of mobilization effort
- Increasing volume of information (with sources cited)
- Contact info for legislators & regulatory agencies
- Resource Materials (Info sheets, sample letters, sample resolution)
- Link to State-Wide Petition to Ban New Gas Pipelines
and Champion Sustainable Energy