Meetings about Pipelines, Power Plants & Strip Mines
by Annette Smith (Executive Director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Inc.)
Pipelines: FERC's first outreach conference to facilitate the siting of natural gas pipelines was held in Albany New York on Sept. 26, 2000
FERC's (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) first outreach conference to facilitate the siting of natural gas pipelines was well attended by about 100 people. The majority of the attendees were from the pipeline industry. Citizens and town board members were present from Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Maine. Many employees of New York State's Department of Public Service and Department of Environmental Conservation were there. New York's Commissioner of Public Service, Maureen Helmer gave the opening remarks.
FERC made short presentations. The most informative was about the new requirements FERC has put into place that they expect the pipeline companies to have completed by the time they file their application. FERC wants the pipeline companies to resolve most of the issues prior to filing. This is new since March. Applications have become more complicated, there has been more opposition, and everything is taking too much time. The purpose of the conference was to try to figure out how to address the problems and come up with solutions.
There were three panels and each addressed a different phase of the pipeline siting process. Anne Marie Mueser was the citizen on two of the panels, a man from Athens was on the third. They were both very good. The best presentation was by a New York Dept. of Agriculture and Markets employee who showed slides of pipeline construction, explained about the importance of segregating topsoil and having an adequate right-of-way. He showed pictures of good restoration and bad restoration. He also talked about drainage. He said that if there is a big system of tiles for drainage in a field, they should be avoided.
Then the 5 FERC employees stood in front of the room with easels and took notes on the different areas: Landowner, Agencies, Industry. We were invited to offer comments addressing specific issues relating to the pipeline siting process. What came out of this discussion was the realization that none of this effort is well coordinated. Many times a route is chosen and filed based on engineering but when it gets to the construction phase they have to spend a lot of time making changes to deal with the reality of the lay of the land. The state agencies play a complex role in addressing the various aspects of a project, but it was well noted that states pay more attention to flora and fauna than to people. Sometimes routes are chosen that move forward in the process without being able to show need, and then they are canceled at great expense to citizens.
The message is it can no longer be business as usual for the pipeline industry. Suggestions ranged from doing away with eminent domain and making landowners partners to doing a better job of articulating the "need" for a project. The landowner from Maine was especially articulate about how much time and money it takes for citizens to participate in the process. Also he made the point that the gas people and the FERC people are all so cozy they know each other's children's names and it is a relationship that does not generate trust among citizens.
There was a good deal of discussion about how to first notify landowners about a proposed pipeline. The pipeline companies admitted that lots of things don't work.
VCE's suggestions included 1) asking Federal and state governments to do a better job of showing the need for projects and do some planning and have an energy policy so the projects are put into context; 2) addressing concerns over pipeline safety since everybody knows that 12 people were killed while they were out camping and the pipeline industry is going to have to address safety issues up front; 3) adequately compensating landowners for not only the 100-foot wide strip of land that landowners are expected to give up, but also many hours of their time.
Power Plants: Public Meeting in Glenville, New York about Tom Macaulay's 520-MW power plant project, September 28, 2000
About 250 citizens of Glenville were treated to yet another unsatisfactory presentation by Tom Macaulay and Robert Votaw promoting their "Glenville Energy Park". Facing widespread opposition to their plans, the project developers made it clear to the people of the area that it did not matter whether or not they approved of the project. They intend to proceed, but their filing date has once again been moved up a month. Macaulay continues to be "just about to" file his application, a refrain we heard in Vermont for more than a year.
Power plant group hears unhappy crowd -- Impact on Scotia schools topic for most recent gathering -- by ANDREA BULMER, Gazette Reporter. The Daily Gazette, Friday, September 29, 2000
Glenville power plant application to be delayed -- by THEOLA S. LABBE, Staff Writer. Albany Times-Union, Friday, September 29, 2000
Strip Mines: Meeting September 26, 2000 with OMYA in Danby's Town Hall
Residents of Danby and surrounding towns received a clear message from OMYA at last Thursday's meeting: they don't know anything, they don't care whether or not we want them, they intend to file their Act 250 application some day, and they want to open the calcium carbonate mine.
Omya plan draws crowd -- by SANDI SWITZER, Herald Correspondent. Rutland Herald, September 28, 2000
Subsequent to the meeting, OMYA mailed the residents of Danby an open letter in which they reemphasized the position they took at the meeting.
With the State of Vermont offering no protections against a private multi-national industrial corporation, citizens of the region are facing a long, ugly and expensive fight. For the foreseeable future, realistically as long as ten years, we can expect OMYA to intrude into our lives.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- 1) Write or call Governor Howard Dean and express your concerns.
- Governor Howard Dean
109 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05609
802-828-3333 // FAX 802-828-3339 - 2) Write or call OMYA.
- OMYA, Inc.
61 Main Street
Proctor, Vermont 05765
802-459-3311 // FAX 802-459-2125 - 3) Support Vermonters for a Clean Environment.
- VCE has joined with the towns of Tinmouth and Middletown Springs and the citizens of the region to put on an opposition case in Act 250. Hiring lawyers and experts to compete with OMYA will be expensive and we need to raise a lot of money. Contributions are tax-deductible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Inc.
789 Baker Brook Road, Danby, VT 05739
(802) 446-2094 || vce@sover.net || www.vtce.org