I got a phone call last night from one of those hired survey companies asking me about the pipeline. Sounds like they were trying to figure out what kind of reassuring nonsense they could use to sway people for the pipeline. Anyone else get these calls or know who's behind them?

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... s_pipe_ruptures_in_j.html


Natural gas pipe ruptures in Jersey City, 37 homes evacuated

An apartment building with 37 units was evacuated today when a
contractor working in the building?s basement ruptured a natural gas
pipe, according to Jersey City Fire Director Armando Roman.

Several police and firefighter units responded to the call at 3:24
p.m. after tenants smelled the odor of natural gas at 2695 Kennedy
Blvd., he said.

Firefighters evacuated the building and shut off the valve for the
main gas line and then ventilated the building by opening windows and
turning on fans before PSE&G took over the situation, Roman said.

The tenants were allowed back in around 6 p.m., he said.

No on was hurt in the incident, but Roman said the volume of gas in the building would have been enough to cause a substantial explosion.

The US Guvernment is already screwing us at the airports by legalized groping and peeping (sorry for the off-topic, but I had to vent. Please do not reply to this comment...)

Somehow I am very pessimistic that we can stop this pipeline. It seems to me that we (the People) have lost what little control of our government we had.

From the quote below, it is clear that FERC is in bed with Spectra. I already wrote to FERC; if there is anything more I can do legally, I gladly will.

Federal agency says Jersey City can't use zoning to bar installation of natural gas pipeline, but city says passing ordinances will send message that regulators need to hear

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City can't block a natural gas pipeline by changing its zoning laws, according to the federal agency that oversees energy applications.

"Congress' intent is that you cannot impede interstate commerce, so we work closely with all stakeholders and try to work out something," Tamara Young-Allen, a gas and oil spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, told The Jersey Journal on Monday.

But despite this information, Jersey City officials said they plan to forge ahead with the amendments to block the proposed pipeline.

"While we recognize that municipal law may be superseded by state or federal laws, these changes to the redevelopment plans to prohibit a natural gas pipeline are one additional way for the mayor and the City Council to speak with a unified voice in opposition to this project, and to let those at the federal level who are making this decision hear that opposition," city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said.

Houston-based Spectra Energy has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to install a natural gas pipeline in parts of Bayonne and Jersey City.

The City Council voted 8-0 last week to introduce 10 ordinances that would bar the installation of natural gas transmission lines in redevelopment zones. Ward B Councilman David Donnelly was not at the meeting.

The city plans to introduce ordinances to block the utility in regular zones as well, officials said.

Spectra officials have not commented on the ordinances but released a statement saying the company hopes to continue working with Jersey City to build the pipeline and finalize the route.

Spectra officials have said the pipeline would generate about $2 million annually in tax revenue for Jersey City. The proposed route would follow Route 440 to the New Jersey Turnpike extension and cut through Newport to the Hudson River, where it would cross to Manhattan.

If adopted, the ordinances would prohibit natural gas pipelines in the following redevelopment zones: Bates Street, Caven Point, Grand Jersey, Greenville Industrial, Jersey Avenue Light Rail, Jersey Avenue Park, Jersey Avenue Tenth Street, Liberty Harbor, Montgomery Street and Morris Canal.

The items are expected to be up for a public hearing and adoption at Tuesday's council meeting.

Today on MSNBC - Fracking!

'Fracking' for energy in Northeast: boon or doom?
GOP election wins give momentum to backers; critics worry about water and EPA is studying impacts

HARRISBURG, Pa. ? To supporters, it's a 21st century economic boom that will benefit millions across the Northeast. To critics, it could be this century's biggest national eco-disaster, tainting water supplies for tens of millions.

The it is "fracking" for natural gas buried between the rocks of the Marcellus Shale, a formation that extends from West Virginia and eastern Ohio through Pennsylvania and into southern New York.

Some geologists estimate it could yield enough natural gas to supply the entire East Coast for 50 years.

Fracking, shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, injects millions of gallons of water, sand and toxic chemicals into each well to break apart the shale and release trapped gas.

A drilling boom has been under way since 2008 in the formation, the biggest known deposit of natural gas in the nation.

Controversy over the technique has been building, with momentum shifting towards supporters after the midterm elections earlier this month.

The GOP takeover of the U.S. House will almost surely doom efforts in Congress to impose federal regulation over gas drilling. Congress exempted fracking from federal clean water regulations in 2005.
In Pennsylvania, Republican Gov.-elect Tom Corbett is seen as a lot friendlier toward the gas industry than outgoing Democrat Ed Rendell, who has clashed with companies over both taxes and tougher new clean-water regulations.

Corbett opposes any attempt to slap a gas-extraction tax on the industry. Pennsylvania is the largest gas-drilling state without such a tax, and Rendell tried and failed to persuade the Legislature to approve one.

Corbett has also said he will lift Rendell's executive order preventing the issuing of any more drilling leases in state forests.

The huge commercial potential was underscored earlier this week when oil giant Chevron struck a $4.3 billion deal to buy Atlas Energy, a major Marcellus Shale driller.

Combining a new process of horizontal drilling with fracking, drillers are unlocking vast deposits there and in other formations around the U.S. such as the Barnett Shale in Texas ? a boom that could ensure cheap and plentiful natural gas for many years to come for homeowners, factories and power plants.

The drilling frenzy in the Marcellus Shale is also credited with enriching landowners and pumping new life into trucking companies, short-line railroads, quarries and steel-pipe makers, as well as the restaurants and hotels hosting out-of-state drilling crews.

An industry-financed study by Penn State projected that the boom would generate tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes in the coming years.

A 2009 report prepared for the Energy Department said sand and chemicals typically account for less than 2 percent of fracturing fluids, with water making up 98 to 99.5 percent.

However, the use of fracking is raising pollution concerns across the Northeast.

While the industry maintains that fracking has been proved safe over the decades, homeowners are coming forward with tales of wells producing brown, foul-smelling water or water polluted with methane and chemicals.

In the northeastern Pennsylvania town of Dimock, a hotspot of Marcellus Shale exploration, some residents no longer use their polluted well water and can light their taps on fire because of methane they say seeped into their wells because of drilling.

The Rendell administration intends to bill Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. the $12 million cost of installing a water line to serve 14 families in Dimock. Cabot denies the methane is connected to its drilling.

The gas drilling business got what it wanted in the election of Corbett, who received nearly $1 million in donations from the industry. Among his first actions this week was to name Christine Toretti, a national GOP committeewoman and owner of a Pennsylvania drilling company, as co-chair of his transition team.

Without giving specifics, Corbett on Wednesday promised a "reasonable" regulatory stand that protects the environment. He will be able to appoint a new head of the Department of Environmental Protection, which under Rendell has tried to aggressively deal with the problems brought by the gas rush.

"I look at this as an industry that's going to be here long after all of us in the room are gone," Corbett said. "It is going to be a great industry and we need to develop it properly. We need to develop it protecting the environment and growing jobs in Pennsylvania."

In the U.S. Congress, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., sponsor of a measure that would subject fracking to regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency, predicts a bleaker landscape now for his bill.

"If anything, there are more votes against it," he said Tuesday.

Whether events ultimately unfold to the industry's liking remains to be seen.

The election doesn't affect a web of federal, state and even municipal regulatory bodies that could stand in the way of drilling, industry analysts said.

The Pittsburgh City Council, for example, this week voted 8-0 to ban natural gas drilling within the city limits.

And the EPA could try to regulate fracking without congressional approval.

The federal agency is already studying whether the chemicals from fracking can get into drinking water supplies and asked drillers to provide lists of the chemicals they used. Eight of nine complied, the EPA said this week, the exception being oil services giant Halliburton.

The company also has faced renewed criticism over the provision in the 2005 energy law that prevents the EPA from regulating fracking. The exemption is commonly called the "Halliburton loophole," in reference to the company's pioneering role in fracking.

An energy task force convened by then Vice President Dick Cheney, a former Halliburton CEO, had urged the EPA exemption.

Initial results from the EPA study are expected in 2012.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40135664/ns/us_news-environment/

Jersey City moving to head off gas pipeline Houston company wants to build by changing zoning laws in 10 zones designated for development

Wednesday, November 10, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City officials are trying to prevent a Houston-based company from building a natural gas transmission pipeline within its borders by changing its zoning laws.

There are 10 ordinances up for introduction tonight that would bar companies from building natural gas transmission lines in redevelopment zones, and city officials said ordinances prohibiting the pipelines in regular zones would be introduced at a future meeting.

"Any of the redevelopment plans that the pipeline is potentially going to pass through, we have added the language that is going to prohibit natural gas transmission pipelines," planner Kristen Russell said at Monday's caucus meeting.

Spectra Energy plans to submit an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission next month to run a natural gas pipeline through parts of Bayonne and Jersey City.

Spectra spokeswoman Marylee Hanley released a statement on the ordinances.

"We are committed to continuing conversations with city officials to listen to their concerns and to talk about various items such as the numerous safety measures we've built into the pipeline design, the benefits to Jersey City such as jobs and property tax relief, and the general need for the pipeline," she said.

Spectra officials have said the pipeline would generate about $2 million annually in tax revenue. The proposed route would follow Route 440 to the New Jersey Turnpike extension and cut through Newport to the Hudson River, where it would cross to Manhattan.

If adopted, the ordinances would prohibit natural gas pipelines in the following redevelopment zones: Bates Street, Caven Point, Grand Jersey, Greenville Industrial, Jersey Avenue Light Rail, Jersey Avenue Park, Jersey Avenue Tenth Street, Liberty Harbor, Montgomery Street and Morris Canal.

Council members, many of whom have publicly opposed the pipeline, didn't comment on the proposed changes.

In a statement, Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said the ordinances are in line with the city's stance on the proposed pipeline.

"We have expressed our opposition to the proposed natural gas pipeline and are committed to doing whatever possible to keep the route out of Jersey City," he said in a statement.

Live performance by Carol Lester at the historic Loew's theater in Jersey City, NJ after last nights screening of GASLAND.

When a Rig Moves In Next Door

New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and TOM ZELLER Jr.
Published: November 6, 2010


IN the sparsely populated pastures of De Soto Parish in Louisiana, the ability to extract gas from shale ? which can involve a process known as fracking ? has been welcomed as an economic windfall. Some residents call it a gift from God.

Some Pennsylvanians fear pollution from gas drilling. But in states accustomed to its risks, the industry is seen as an economic lifeline.

But 1,400 miles to the north, in Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania, shale gas development has divided neighbors, spurred lawsuits and sown deep mistrust. Along Grove Avenue in Montrose, the county seat, a billboard looms overhead, advertising the services of a personal-injury law firm. ?HURT by DRILLING?? it asks.

Natural gas currently satisfies nearly a quarter of the nation?s power needs. And with vast methane reserves now available in previously inaccessible layers of shale deep underground, its position as a cornerstone of the domestic energy supply may well be secured for decades ? if the public supports it.

Support for drilling has proved fairly easy in many states, including Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. But it has met with major resistance in the Northeast. In Pennsylvania, lawsuits over drinking water and other potential environmental issues are driving up production costs on what is known as the Marcellus Shale, and the governor recently ordered a moratorium on new drilling permits in state forests.

Jerry Dugas, a veteran driller originally from Louisiana, is now a well superintendent for Cabot Oil and Gas in Pennsylvania. ?They have been drilling oil and gas wells in the South for the last 100 years,? he says. ?Everyone there is accustomed to seeing all of this stuff and they understand what?s going on, so it?s nothing new. That?s the environment I grew up in.?

?Once I came up here,? he adds, ?it became real clear to me real quick that this is a whole other animal.?

The differences between De Soto and Susquehanna, both historically poor locales that are now rich fountains of natural gas, arise from a mixture of culture, geography and history. Understanding those differences may prove nearly as important as geology in determining how much gas will ultimately be produced ? and at what cost.

BILL WILLIAMSON, a retired telephone factory worker, relaxes in a rocking chair on the porch of his farmhouse in Stonewall, a town in north-central De Soto Parish. The town sits 10,000 to 13,000 feet above a rich underground gas deposit known as the Haynesville Shale.

A gas rig operated by Encana, the Canadian gas giant, was busy drilling just beyond Mr. Williamson?s front yard.

?God made everything,? he says, reflecting on the rig. ?He made the minerals in the ground and the trees on top of the ground, and he put them there for a purpose. It?s in our best interest to use the resources.?

Mr. Williamson and his wife, Nancy, a retired nurse, live on 34 acres of mostly grazing land. An air horn blows loudly at the nearby gas rig. But the Williamsons, who, like most of their neighbors, earn tidy incomes from gas drillers? leasing their land, don?t seem to notice.

Oil and gas booms ? and subsequent busts ? have been common in De Soto for much of the last 100 years, and the economy has struggled since cotton farming gave way to dairy farming, which then gave way to logging and paper mills.

By the 2000s, De Soto, with a population of about 28,000, was one of the poorest parishes in the state.

Then came the shale.

?People went to bed one night poor and woke up the next day rich, enabled to buy a Cadillac and pay cash,? said Mayor Curtis McCoy of Mansfield, the parish seat. ?It?s kind of like the show ?The Beverly Hillbillies.? ?

Farmers who once lived check to check are now extremely comfortable, if not downright wealthy. New cars, recreational vehicles and trailers are parked in nearly every driveway. Vinyl siding has been applied to weather-beaten cottages and clapboard houses.

Homeowners have typically earned signing bonuses of $350 to as much as $30,000 an acre from the gas companies, as well as royalties that can last for decades. Many earned additional hefty checks for giving right of way to piping companies.

More here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/bus ... vironment/07frack.html?hp

Quote:

We are doing just that behind the scenes.

Yes I agree, let's lobby the NJ Governor. Hoboken and Bayonne have also declared their opposition. How about lobbying them to also seek intervenor status, or asking them to help with the NJ Gov lobbying?

Quote:

Quote:

Good points T-Bird. I basically copied the statement from our site relative to a blog made there by another. Since you and I have had discussions on this matter and knowing that you have intimate knowledge on not only the bid process by Spectra for Con-Ed's requirement, but also extensive knowledge of the gas industry sector, I defer to your expertise. If you don't mind, I'd like to actually use them on our site, word for word. What do you say? We will give you attribution either as "T-Bird" or your real name. Your call.

That response is entirely too coherent for JClist. Please remove and insert a rant.

Quote:

No, the increase in demand for natural gas is the major reason why ConEd wants to build a pipeline to its 14th street plant. ConEd wants Spectra to build that line through Jersey City because Spectra was the low bidder - a function of being the only pipeline company to submit a proposal that did not stay in the river. By going through Jersey City, it can lay the line much more cheaply than if it had to take a route that utilized the river to a greater extent.

There is more than enough gas to fill this extension with or without the Marcellus Shale gas. ConEd would want it built either way. The fact that gas is coming from a closer source (Pennsylvania/NY vs. Texas/Gulf of Mexico) makes it cheaper and more attractive, but the economics would support the extension without Marcellus gas. For that matter, there is abundant gas production that comes from WV, OH and western PA (and has been since the 1860s) that is unrelated to the Shale gas - that too could supply the line absent the Shale.

While Gasland is an important film and sheds needed light on many questionable/dangerous practices of the energy industry, it really deals with an issue that is largely separate from the pipeline through Jersey City.

Here is the audio Quote:

Quote:

Only Mayor Healy and NO Gas Pipeline have "declared" their intent to intervene. Only intervenors have legal standing before Federal Courts who have ultimate jurisdiction over FERC rulings. Coming out against the project is a start but anything less than intervention is just conversation.

Call Governor Christie and Demand the Attorney General declare to intervene at first legal opportunity (likely Dec according to FERC).

Call Governor Christie's office at (609) 292-6000.
Suggested script:

My name is ______ and I live in Jersey City. Please demand the Attorney General intervene at FERC to stop the natural gas pipeline, proposed to run through Jersey City, Only intervenors can overturn a FERC ruling through the Federal Courts.

Mayor Healy has declared to seek Intervenor standing. We ask the Governor to demand our New Jersey Attorney General declare to seek intervenor legal standing with FERC before upcoming deadlines are announced.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/2010/oct ... false-frak-here-frak-now/

Today

30 Issues: Hydrofracking

Frack Here, Frack Now!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A sign in downtown Hudson, NY (Michael Counts)

WNYC reporter Ilya Marritz discusses the controversy over hydraulic fracturing in areas of upstate New York and elsewhere along the Marcellus Shale, how the issue frames the relationship between New York City and the rest of the state, and where the candidates stand on the issue.

820 Am -or 93.9 FM

Spectra are using classic divide and conquer tactics. Hoboken and Bayonne have come out against this project. I'm sure neighborhoods in PA also are against this. Any way we can get everyone on the same page to magnify the opposition across county and state?

Hoboken City Council, in unanimous vote, opposes Spectra proposal to run gas pipeline through Bayonne and Jersey City, then along Hoboken border and under river to Manhattan

Friday, October 22, 2010
By KATIE COLANERI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

HOBOKEN - The City Council voted Wednesday to officially oppose the proposed natural gas pipeline that would at a certain point run underground near the Jersey City/Hoboken border.

First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano proposed the resolution, which was passed 8-0 with Councilman Rhavi Bhalla absent. The city councils in Jersey City and Bayonne have already voted to oppose the pipeline.

In January, Houston-based Spectra Energy proposed the construction of a natural gas pipeline that would run from Staten Island to Bayonne, along Route 440 and the New Jersey Turnpike Extension/Route 78 into Jersey City. The line would cut through 18th Street on the border of Jersey City and Hoboken before running under the Hudson River to service New York City.

"We are within the blast zone . and I wanted to do a preemptive moratorium," said Castellano, citing last month's pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif.

Earlier this month, Mayor Dawn Zimmer sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in which she endorsed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's suggestion to put the pipeline in a shallow trench in the Hudson River, avoiding the mainland altogether.

NO Gas Pipeline is pleased to announce the screening of Gasland here in Jersey City! Join us for a screening of Gasland, the documentary which exposes the dangerous drilling practice known as "Fracking" which is used to extract natural gas from shale. Fracking is polluting our water supply with toxins ? Fracking is happening in the Marcellus Shale (adjacent to New Jersey) and it endangers our water supply. The increase of the supply of natural gas in the region is the major reason why Spectra Energy wants to build a pipeline through the middle of Jersey City. We also will have a panel discussion featuring Mayor Healy, Councilman Sottolano, Fulop, Richardson and others following the screening. Date: November 6 Time: 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM Doors Open 3 PM Location Loew's Jersey Theatre 54 Journal Square Jersey City, NJ 07306 (map) 201.798.6055 http://www.loewsjersey.org Price: $10 Donation, Children under 15 accompanied by an adult are free About the film "The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown." Awards * Special Jury Prize ? Sundance * Best Documentary ? Environmental Media Awards * Special Jury Prize ? Sarasota International Film Festival * Grand Jury Prize ? Yale Environmental Film Festival * Artistic Vision Award ? Big Sky Film Festival * Audience Award ? Thin Line Film Festival Praise "...one of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years." - Variety "On the want-to-see- scale, GASLAND tops the list" - Washington Post "Riveting" - LA Weekly "GASLAND just might be the best film of the year." - The Huffington Post "Over the past 8 days I was lucky enough to view 40 films...The most important film I saw was the documentary GASLAND...This examination of air quality and more specifically drinking water under attack from NYC to Ft. Worth was very eye opening." - USA TODAY GASLAND is "well done. It holds people's attention. And it could block our industry." - Oil and Gas Journal President of the Natural Gas Supply Association "VOLCANIC?With humor and inquisitiveness, Fox has delivered 2010's most alarming wake-up call." - Hammer To Nail "When something emerges like Josh Fox's GASLAND, a work of art which also happens to educate quite effectively...this is why festivals, even the big ones, are capable of surprises, because wonderful things do seep through the cracks. Precisely because it was purely personal...and that it was as concerned with aesthetic matters as issues, GASLAND may also be some ideal of that cherished sub-genre in many festival circles, the environmental film, which tends to leave art behind for the topic it's addressing." - Cinemascope ========================================== FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 21, 2010 NO Gas Pipeline Benefit: GASLAND film at Loew?s Theater November 6 The recent tragedy of San Bruno has led NO Gas Pipeline to announce a benefit screening of GASLAND the Sundance award-winning documentary, and dais discussion with Mayor Healy, council persons Sottalano, Fulop, Richardson and others to discuss why they are against a natural gas pipeline proposed by Spectra Energy on November 6th. The increase of the supply of natural gas in the region is the major reason why Spectra Energy wants to build a pipeline through the middle of Jersey City. Mayor Healy recently declared his intent to seek intervenor standing as soon as legally possible which should come in December when Spectra Energy files their formal application. NO Gas Pipeline, represented by The Eastern Environmental Law Center, the only public interest law firm in New Jersey, will also intervene. Only by intervention may someone have legal standing and sue to over-turn Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rulings in federal court who have jurisdiction. NO Gas Pipeline now seeks to have Governor Christie have the New Jersey Attorney General intervene as did Connecticut Attorney General, Blumenthal, who won against FERC in 2007. The film benefit is being produced by NO Gas Pipeline and sponsored by Jersey City Independent, JCList, WiredJC and the City of Jersey City, Division of Cultural Affairs. CONTACT Dale Hardman & Stephen Musgrave 347-789-7508 nogaspipeline@gmail.com www.nogaspipeline.org

Hoboken opposes gas pipeline plan, citing danger to PATH system

Saturday, October 16, 2010
By KATIE COLANERI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hoboken has added its voice to the chorus opposed to a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run through Jersey City to Manhattan.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer formally opposed the plan in a letter dated Oct. 1 to Kimberly Bose, secretary of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The pipeline, she argued, "contains great risks for Hoboken and the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area."

Houston-based company Spectra Energy has met much resistance in its attempt to woo Hudson County municipalities since January into allowing the construction of the pipeline, which would run from Staten Island to Bayonne, along Route 440 and the New Jersey Turnpike Extension into Jersey City. The line would cut through 18th Street on the Hoboken/Newport border before moving under the Hudson River to New York City.

Zimmer said that if there were a pipeline disaster, like the explosion that occurred Sept. 9 in California, Hoboken would not be able to sustain a shutdown of the PATH system. The gas line is expected to run underneath the PATH lines.

Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy and hundreds of residents have spoken out against the pipeline in recent months.

"I am completely against the pipeline coming through Jersey City," said Zimmer. "I fully support Mayor Healy's position."

Tim Occhipinti, candidate for the 4th Ward City Council seat, hosted a community meeting Thursday night at his campaign headquarters for Hoboken residents along with members of the Jersey City group "No Gas Pipeline."

"They have been raising awareness about the dangers of the pipeline, and we must join their effort," he said in a statement. "This is an important issue that deserves our immediate attention."

Thank you propscene, that is info exactly what I would have expected.
I hung up on them after the "we are conducting a servey..."
It does no goood to holler at the desperate morons forced to take these $7 an hour jobs...unless the calls come from overseas where they might be $ .70 an hour jobs.


Yes the Cheney Energy Task Force did a good job making sure that there were NO regulations on any energy company...all in the first two months of the Bush presidency, and the current congress and president are too frightened of big money to rewrite the regulations.

Gotta love the Guttenberg Planning Board, ruling that PAST gas explosions are not germaine to the subject of NEW gas lines. So only AFTER a pipeline has exploded can it be entered into evidence about its safety. THe people of the Galaxy have enough clout in Guttenberg to toss out the planning board by next week...they should do so.

Gosh, how appealing: squeezing a tiny housing complex in the little plot atop a gas line between the Galaxy (an AMAZING housing complex, BTW...sorry I didn't buy in) and a sewage treatment plant.
"Gee mom, why does this apartment always smell like shit mixed with gas?"
"Don't worry honey, I'll just light a match and see where the smell is coming from."

Heads Up! They are *not* from FERC or the city's lobbying firm. I answered the questions in the poll tonight as well after finally giving up and picking up the phone to find out what unlisted # was bothering me all day. The woman I spoke with kept repeating that she was only working for National Research and that they just conduct polls and don't share or know who their clients are. I kept saying "this is helping Spectra figure out how they can better sell this, right?" which she denying, repeating her "we are objective" mantra. The last 10 or so questions, if you can stand to get that far, are definitely weighted toward making the respondent feel more favorable about Spectra: things like "What should Jersey City spend all the money they'd be getting from Spectra on, education, parks, infrastructure, or lower taxes?" A quick search shows this: http://www.nationalresearchinc.com/ is the company. Quote: We'll conduct the right research, among the right audience and we'll ask the right questions. We'll give you an in-depth analysis, and then we'll work with your communications and marketing team to translate our insights into good, sound messaging. Think of our product as a "road map" that helps you get from Point A to Point B. We'll show you the path. Strategic insights yield successful outcomes. It all starts with good opinion management.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... en_neighbors_fear_ri.html


North Bergen neighbors of proposed project express fears over its proximity to high-pressure gas pipeline
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
By KARINA L. ARRUE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

NORTH BERGEN - Nearly 60 people attended a special Planning Board meeting last Wednesday about a proposed development on River Road that would rest near a high-pressure gas pipeline.

Apple View, LLC, the five-story, 59-unit project planned for 7009 and 7101 River Road, would be wedged between the Woodcliff Sewage Treatment Plant in North Bergen and the Galaxy Towers in Guttenberg.


If plans are approved, the project would be 20 feet from the pipeline easement. The pipeline is part of a system that moves natural gas from Texas to New York City and is owned by Williams Gas Pipeline.

"The biggest concern of the Galaxy is a project that is safely constructed and (that we) not have an accident like what recently happened in California," Galaxy Towers Condominium Association attorney John Lamb said, referring to the Sept. 9 pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., in which eight people died and many homes were obliterated.

"I'm one of the people who would be killed if the gas pipeline explodes," Jeremy Raben, a resident of Tower 3 at the Galaxy, said during the questions portion of the hearing.

In the third hearing on the topic since June, Calisto Bertin, the engineer representing Apple View, continued his testimony and gave an overview of the proposed storm drain system for the development.

When Raben asked Bertin questions about the 1994 Edison gas pipeline explosion that resulted in one death and left over 100 people homeless, Planning Board attorney Steven Muhlstock ruled the question out of order.

"Questions about the Edison blast are not relevant to this application," Muhlstock said.

When Raben asked Bertin how Apple View would handle something similar to the recent San Bruno tragedy, Muhlstock objected again.

"We don't deal with what ifs," he said, which caused an uproar in the crowd.

"I think this planning board is doing a disservice to the community by not asking inquisitive questions about the safety of this gas pipeline as it relates to the construction," said North Bergen resident Peggy Wong.

Attorney Carmine Alampi, who represents Apple View, has said in the past that the gas pipe is "no concern."

Lisa Mahle-Greco, a geotechnical engineer working for Apple View, is slated to testify at the next hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, at North Bergen Town Hall, 4233 Kennedy Blvd.

A fifth hearing is scheduled for Nov. 11.

I've been getting calls from an "unknown number" for the past few nights, but never picked up (I usually don't pick them up, if its important, they'll leave a message!)... now that I know, I will answer and give them my two cents.

I participated in the survey. THe line was scorching by the time the poor guy finished.

Published today by Associated Press (via Yahoo)

Natural gas pipeline crisis plans kept from public

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_pipelin ... 0BHNsawNuYXR1cmFsZ2FzcGk-

"WASHINGTON ? The emergency plans for companies operating natural gas pipelines like the one that exploded in San Bruno, Calif., killing eight people and destroying a neighborhood, are effectively off-limits to the public and industry watchdogs because the federal pipeline safety agency doesn't keep copies in its offices...."

If it comes up as "private number" it is probably a pro-pipeline organization counting votes in a way that suits their interests.

Did anyone ask "Who do you represent?" or "Who is paying for the survey?" An "I don't know, I only work here" should be highly suspect. It could be followed up by "Where is HERE?"


I have not received any such call.