Constitution Pipeline Seeks Permits in Mburgh

The Middleburgh Town Council has no interest in entertaining representatives of the proposed Kinder-Morgan pipeline, but at the same time it has no choice but to deal with Constitution Pipeline as they move forward in their project. 

Town Highway Superintendent Dale Nunamann informed Town Councilpersons on Thursday evening that Constitution Pipeline is seeking two driveway permits to access acquired easements off of Keyser Road in the municipality.  

Originally slated to cut through Keyser Road to place the pipe, Mr. Nunamann reported that the natural gas company is going to instead bore underneath the road so that the pipe can just be slid in without disturbing the surface. 

Having received the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's blessing in December, Constitution Pipeline has been busy obtaining the necessary easements and permits to move forward with its controversial 124-mile pipeline.

On a related note, representatives of Kinder-Morgan reached out to Town of Middleburgh officials about potentially meeting to discuss town projects the energy giant may be able to assist the municipality with in the future. 

Uninterested in their assistance, Middleburgh council-members voted unanimously to not meet with any representatives of Kinder-Morgan. The motion was made by Councilman Frank Herodes and approved 4-0.

In other business, town council members:

• Voted unanimously to move up the monthly May town board meeting from Thursday, May 14th to Thursday, May 7th in order to avoid conflict with the 2015 Lincoln Day Dinner.
• Referred three potential Joint Town and Village Planning Board appointees to Planning Board Chairman Steve Coonradt for the board's recommendation in filling a vacancy. The three interested applicants are Joe Conneely, John Diaz, and Betty Wayman. 
• Heard from Town Highway Superintendent Dale Nunamann that the highway department is planning to "go over top of what we got" and resurface town roads this summer to stay ahead of road deterioration. 

Tennessee Gas Announces Public Houses to Address Second Pipeline

Laying the groundwork for a second natural gas pipeline to come through Schoharie County, Kinder-Morgan's North East Direct (owned by Tennessee Gas) has announced a series of public houses to address the public's concerns on their project. 

Slated to follow a similar path of that of Constitution Pipeline, which has received the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's blessing, Tennessee Gas has begun the process of plotting their own gas transportation route to reach new energy hungry markets.

Two public houses are scheduled to be held in Schoharie County: April 6th in Schoharie at the Days Inn & Suites and April 14th in Richmondville at the Radez Elementary School. Neither date has an announced time as of publication.

Center for Sustainable Rural Communities representative Bob Neid told The Schoharie News in an email exchange on Wednesday that, "I believe this is not just an environmental issue it is an economic and class issue as well. "

He would further comment that he thought, "Low income rural communities with little political clout are being exploited and abused."

The Schoharie County Board of Supervisors has taken a series of stands against the incursion of additional pipelines in recent months, with one resolution being passed just last month signaling their opposition to the use of eminent domain against county residents.

County Board Says No to Eminent Domain by Pipelines

SCHOHARIE - A divided Schoharie County Board of Supervisors voted Friday afternoon to oppose efforts by natural gas companies to utilize eminent domain as a means to secure easements through the properties of county residents for a series of unpopular pipelines. 

Introduced by Schoharie Supervisor Gene Milone, who had advocated against the expansion of natural gas pipelines since coming on the board in 2012, the measure was hotly debated by legislators, but ultimately approved by a healthy 10-4 margin. 

It was opposed by the following supervisors: Sandra Manko of Sharon Springs, Leo McAllister of Cobleskill, Phil Skowfoe of Fulton, and Harold Vroman of Summit. Neither supervisors Amber Bleau (Wright) nor William Smith (Broome) were present at the vote.

The resolution, citing efforts by both Constitution Pipeline and Tennessee Gas Pipeline to expand their presence in Schoharie County, will be sent by the county board to Assemblyman Pete Lopez, State Senator James Seward, Congressman Chris Gibson, and FERC. 

Sending an email to supporters on Saturday morning heralding the news, the Richmondville based Center for Sustainable Rural Communities applauded "those who stewarded this resolution forward and the members of the County Board who supported it."

Correction: this piece originally accredited Blenheim Supervisor Shawn Smith with introducing the resolution, when it fact it was Gene Milone. It has been corrected.