Copyright Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Over 200 people gathered in front of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s New York City office on Tuesday to denounce the green lighting of the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline. The pipeline — which includes a 17.4-mile underwater segment through the Raritan and Lower New York bays, passing Staten Island’s shores — succeeded the hurdle that stumped it thrice in the past: the Clean Water Act’s Section 401 Water Quality Certification. The Clean Water Act is the basis for federal water regulations, including “the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters,” according to the EPA. From an environmental perspective, the concern is that the pipe would have to be embedded underneath the settled seabed, stirring up decades worth of contaminated sand and other materials that have since laid dormant. Energy companies Williams and Transco are the brains behind the pipeline. “Governor Hochul has turned her back on New York families to do Donald Trump’s dirty work,” said New York State Director at Food & Water Watch Laura Shindell. “This pipeline will poison our harbor, drive up energy bills, and keep New York shackled to fossil fuels for decades. Families across the state see this for what it is — a massive giveaway to corporate polluters at the expense of our kids’ future.” Paying for the pipeline will come in the form of a 3.5% boost to National Grid bills across New York City and Long Island, despite several areas not receiving any of the energy that will be generated from it. Staten Island is one of those areas that will not benefit from the pipeline. “Governor Hochul chose to poison our waterways, raise our utility bills and wreck our kids futures to appease Trump and his fossil fuel billionaires,” Meg Metzger, a parent, Climate Families NYC member and Southern Brooklyn resident, said. “My family has precious memories from days spent at our city beaches, and the idea that the state would OK a plan that would pollute our harbor with lead and arsenic, while costing working families like mine billions in higher utility bills is outrageous. We can meet energy demand with clean and abundant solar energy, we don’t need or want this pipeline.” Pipeline passage Just hours after the New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation approved section 401, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection approved both section 401 and section 404 of the Clean Water Act. “We’re proud to move NESE forward and do our part in providing New Yorkers access to clean, reliable and affordable natural gas,” Williams President and CEO Chad Zamarin said in a written statement. “This project reflects our commitment to deliver clean and reliable energy, while lowering energy costs and supporting economic growth and environmental stewardship.” However, the pipeline was declined by the DEC in 2018, 2019, and 2020 over concerns of negative environment impact. In the NESE pipeline’s 2020 failure to pass the standards needed to obtain the certification, the state Department of Environmental Conservation wrote the following: “DEC has determined construction of the NESE pipeline project would not meet New York State’s rigorous water quality standards. Construction of the proposed project would result in significant water quality impacts resulting from the re-suspension of sediments and other contaminants, including mercury and copper, and would disturb sensitive habitats, including shellfish beds and other bottom-dwelling marine life, clearly demonstrating that a default mixing zone is not appropriate for this project. New York is not prepared to sacrifice the state’s water quality for a project that is not only environmentally harmful, but also unnecessary to meet New York’s energy needs.” The pipeline was resurrected by President Donald Trump in his second term. Trump has attacked renewable energy throughout his return to the Oval Office and is helming a push to return to pollution-causing energy means, like gas and coal.
