Pilgrim Pipelines: What Ulster County Residents Need to Know

The Pilgrim PipelinesWhat Ulster County Citizens Need to Know

Presented by KingstonCitizens.org

Jeremy Cherson, Riverkeeper Jennifer Metzger, Citizens for Local Power

Andy Bicking, Scenic HudsonSue Rosenberg, CAPP-NY

Bakken-to-East Coast Route Crude Oil Trains, Barges and Potential Pipelines

As industry has extracted more oil, it has employed a “virtual pipeline” of trains, barges, and ships to get

Bakken crude from North Dakota and Canada to coastal refineries.

Approximately 20-25% of these rail shipments are destined for east coast refineries in the New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Delaware area. All of this crude oil travels through New

York, either by rail or barge (Mouwad, 2014).

Project Description• Two 178-mile pipelines

between Albany & Linden, NJ (79% of mainline is along thruway)

• 40 miles in Ulster County

• Bakken crude oil would flow south & refined products would flow north (up to 400K barrels a day)

• 31 towns, cities and villages in 6 counties in NY

• Proposed route is subject to change as a result of SEQRA

Additional Components • 5 lateral pipelines connecting to

terminals along the route

• Roseton Lateral would run through Towns of Plattekill and Marborough

• 257 water bodies potentially traversed, including 2 Hudson River crossings, Esopus, Rondout and Wallkill crossings

• 99 Proposed Access Roads for Ulster County

• 4 Pump stations including Town of Ulster

• Minimum 100’ Right of Way (trench excavation, blasting & tree removal)

Bakken Crude

• “Light, sweet” crude

• More volatile than other crude products

• Involved in numerous rail incidents

Would Pilgrim Replace the Trains?

• CSX Line from WNY Via Buffalo and Selkirk railyard

• Oil supplied to Global Partners facility arrives by CP Line via Canada and Champlain Valley

Chad Gomes

Map: New York State

Do Actual flows do not justify a $1 billion dollar pipelines project?Source: Lorne Stockman, Oil Change Internationalhttp://priceofoil.org/2016/01/25/companys-case-for-proposed-new-york-pilgrim-pipelines-undermined-by-data/

Tioga, ND (2013)840K gallons of crude oil spilled

2004-2012Pipelines Spilled

3X as much as oil trains

(Source: International Energy Agency)

2003-2013

1,880 crude oil pipeline incidents (~1 every 2 days)

44m gallons spilled

$2.5b+ in property damage. (Source: PHMSA)

Santa Barbara, CA (2015)143K gallons of crude oil spilled

5% of leaks detected by remote sensors

2002-July 2012(InsideClimateNews and PHMSA)

Freeman, SD (2016)16.8K gallons of crude oil spilled

The Keystone Pipeline, a 6 year old pipeline spilled 16,800 gallons in North Dakota. 35 leaks in first year of operation.

Helena, AL (2016)336K gallons of gasoline spilled

Photo Andre J. Jackson/ MCT; Data, PHMSA

What’s at Risk

Clean Water

Based on an analysis of Pilgrim’s Preliminary DEIS a break in the pipelines would release

Scope of Potential Incidents

168,000Gallons per

hourIf safety systems operate properly

357,000Gallons per

hourIf safety shut off

systems fail

Water Supplies – Town of Ulster municipal wellfield (Halycon), Hurley Water Corp wellfields, Lake Washington (Newburgh), Delaware and Catskill Aqueducts, NJ Highlands, Passaic River Basin and the Rahway River are all threatened.

Hudson River, Rondout, Esopus and Wallkill - Pipelines would cross the Hudson twice—drinking water supply for 100,000+ people—& every major tributary west of the river

Parks & Open Space

Parks – Pipelines would enter into Catskill , Harriman and Sterling Forest State Parks and impact a total of 19 public parks in NY & 11 Scenic Hudson parks

Forest – At least 148 acres would be impacted by fragmentation, removal of soils, and blasting

Wetlands – Construction would cut through 292 state and federal wetlands

Wildlife – the proposed route threatens at least 27 state & federally listed endangered species and 6 coastal fish & wild life habitat areas

Quality of Life

Potential Costs to Landowners– Higher homeowners insurance rates, lower property values, loss of land due to eminent domain

Potential Costs to Municipalities– Significant risks to first responders, equipment and training costs for emergency preparedness, high costs for spill response public safety planning

Fresh Food – 98 farms (12,742 acres)—providing New Yorkers with supplies of fresh, local food—are threatened by the pipelines

Pilgrim’s proposal would add a 3rd mode of crude oil transport to Ulster County and the Hudson

Valley, which already faces risks from oil trains and barges.

The quantity of indirect emissions from the oil carried by these proposed pipelines would be 32-36 million metric tons (MMT) per year (Citizens for Local Power analysis).

New York State’s Clean Energy Goals

How have Local CommunitiesResponded?

• Esopus• Gardiner• Kingston• Marbletown • New Paltz (Town• New Paltz (Village)• New Windsor• Plattekill• Rochester (Ulster Co.)• Rosendale• Wawarsing• Woodstock

• Ulster County Legislature• Ulster County Executive• 60+ municipalities and counties

in NY & NJ oppose the pipelines

Ulster County Resolutions Opposing the Project

Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipelines-NY

Regulatory Process & Ways to Get Involved

Approvals Required:

Federal – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers… (no federal agency with siting authority)

NY State – Department of State, Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Thruway Authority…

Local – 38 county, city, town and village governments in New York would be involved in the permitting process

New York Transportation Corporation Law

•Source of Pilgrim Pipeline’s authority

•Defines pipeline corporations as “organized to construct and operate pipelines for public use” to transport petroleum, among other products .

•Law gives pipeline corporations the right to take property and condemn land, subject to certain requirements and restrictions.

•No federal agency with overarching authority

•Multiple approvals and permits are required

•No pipeline may be constructed “in an incorporated village or city” unless authorized by a two-thirds vote of the legislative body of the city or village.

Pilgrim Pipelines:Regulatory Review – who’s in charge?

Current Status: NY Thruway Authority Use and Occupancy Permit

•Application submitted for only 1 of dozens necessary

•State Environmental Quality Review Act

•Thruway and Department of Environmental Conservation are “lead agencies” of the environmental review

Positive Declaration

Issued (September 14)

Scope Environmental

Impact Statement (upcoming)

Prepare Draft Environmental

Impact Statement

Where we are now“[T]here is a potential for multiple significant adverse environmental impacts from the construction, operation and maintenance of the pipeline…”

Next Steps in the SEQR Process

• Release of a draft Scope (the table of contents for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement)

• Comment period could be limited

• Identification of local impacts of concern to your town, its businesses and residents will be particularly important

Opportunity for Your Input!What is a “Positive Declaration” and why it is important!

1. Impacts on Land

2. Impacts on Geological Features

3. Impacts on Surface Waters

4. Impacts on Groundwater

5. Impacts on Flooding

6. Impacts on Air

7. Impacts on Plants and Animals

8. Impacts on Agricultural Resources

9. Impacts on Aesthetic Resources

10. Impacts on Archeological Resources

11. Impacts on Open Space and Recreation

12. Impacts on Critical Environmental Areas

13. Impacts on Transportation

14. Impacts on Energy

15. Impacts on Noise, Odor and Light

16. Impacts on Human Health

17. Consistency with Community Plans

18. Consistency with Community

Character

19. Cumulative Impacts

20. Coastal Consistency

ScopingYOUR chance to identify potential local impacts & community resources that the lead agencies may not be aware of.

• Identify potential impacts of concern Water/air quality, farmland, open space, recreational resources, climate change, fish and wildlife, culture, economics, and public health.

• Describe the significanceAnd define the breadth of study necessary to address the impact’s significance in terms of time, geography and populations affected.

• Identify alternative(s) to the project Include different locations, size or technologies and other courses of action.

• Potential impacts to local drinking water supplies from aquifers, municipal wells and other surface water resources

• Crossings of local streams and creeks. Construction through wetlands, floodplains and floodways. Destruction of forest, removal of soils, and blasting of bedrock

• Stormwater impacts due to vegetation removal

Scoping CommentsFocus on Local Impacts That You Think Pilgrim Should Study

Scoping Comments Continued

•Taking of local public and private property

•First responder preparedness costs and spill clean-up costs

•Negative impacts on existing businesses and potential future economic development

• Impact on property values, future tax revenue

• Stay involved in the environmental review process. Handouts available with action items!

• Contact your municipal and county officials and ask them to prepare for the environmental review process and submission of their own comments

Thruway Authority’s Processing of Pilgrim’s Application for Use and Occupancy Permit:

• Pass local resolutions opposing Pilgrim Pipelines and their use of Thruway right of way.

Where do we go from here?

The Permanent Fix: A Clean Energy Economy for the Hudson Valley

• Reduce energy bills

• Create local jobs

• Invest energy dollars locally, rather than exporting them, as we do now

• Reduce the severity of climate change

Invest in Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency

•The Ulster County government: first to be carbon-neutral in the State.

•County has NY's largest network of public EV charging stations.

•Ulster County has NY's highest number of residential solar installations.

•Municipalities are working to develop a local public power program.

We are well on our way....

More ways to get involved…

Sign Up for UpdatesRiverkeeper, Scenic Hudson, Citizens for Local Power & the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipelines-NY will alert you to opportunities to weigh in with the Governor and State Legislature

Call and/or WRITE your Town Supervisor or your Village/City Mayor – ask them to comment on the upcoming draft scope

Submit Your Own Comments to NYSTA & DEC

Ask your county planning board to become an involved agency

Questions?

www.StopPilgrimPipeline.com