Spectra?s been mailing out these things that you can reply to with your support for the pipeline. On the back it has an image of the Star Ledger stating ?Yes to the Pipeline? and it would appear that the Star Ledger has an op-ed voicing support for the pipeline. Is this true? Or is this some shady misrepresentation of a letter that Spectra wrote to the Star Ledger? Or is it completely fake? I forget the date it was purported to come from.

Port Authority calls for Spectra?s gas pipeline to run under Kill Van Kull

Published: Thursday, June 02, 2011
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

David has a Goliath as an ally in opposing an energy giant?s proposal to run a natural gas pipeline under a Route 440 ramp leading to the Bayonne Bridge at Bergen Point.

Earlier this year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey joined Bayonne in opposing Texas-based Spectra Energy?s plans to lay a natural gas pipeline under the approach road to the Bayonne Bridge.

Instead, the agency wants the pipeline to run under the seabed of the Kill Van Kull.

A February letter stating the bi-state authority?s position was uncovered during a review of Spectra?s application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Port Authority fears that the location of the proposed pipeline would interfere with its own plans to raise the roadbed of the Bayonne Bridge. The roadbed over the Kill Van Kull has to be raised from 151 to 215 feet to allow newer container ships to reach the Ports of Newark and Elizabeth.

The stance of the authority coincides with that of Mayor Mark Smith who does not want the gas pipeline to run near any homes.

Spectra has faced tough opposition in Hudson County as it seeks approval from FERC to lay a 15.5-mile gas line from a gas compressor on Staten Island to Manhattan. The proposed route goes through Bayonne and Jersey City.
In the letter to FERC raising multiple concerns about the gas line proposal, Kenneth Swan, a deputy program manager with the Port Authority, called on Spectra to lay its 30-inch pipe under the span of Bayonne Bridge at a depth of 100 feet below the bed of the Kill Van Kull.

The Port Authority won?t know for sure what impact the pipeline will have on its project until it finalizes plans for the $1 billion project in 2014.

Swan?s letter also calls for a risk analysis that considers the ?worse case? of a gas explosion.

Citing ?multiple technical issues? including the drill?s ability to reach the right depth before heading under the bridge, Spectra wrote a response to the Port Authority letter in March saying the agency?s proposal is not ?viable.?

Spectra officials did not return phone calls to comment.

Citing safety and construction disruption, Smith opposed Spectra?s initial plan that would have routed the pipeline along West First Street. The route was amended to go under the Kill Van Kull at a depth of 60 feet below the bed.
But city officials said the new route was still ?unacceptable? because the pipeline would continue to cross the intersection of West First Street and Kennedy Boulevard.
Smith?s chief-of-staff, Stephen Gallo, said yesterday the city is in regular contract with Spectra officials, who have suggested a number of different routes.

?We are absolutely opposed to having the gas pipeline in residential city streets,? Gallo said.

Hello
Two years ago in western CT major changes were made to pipelines, operations of those pipelines and new compressors to move more gas and transfer gas between systems. The pipelines started causing High levels of Low Frequency Hum and reasonant vibration inside our homes which occurs 24/7 through out the entire region. depending on gas transmission loads. BTW- Bergen county- I have identifed the same hum in Fairlawn as of about 6 months ago, within 2 miles of the lines through Hachensack and Paramus.

The gas fired turbines are causing burner rumble that shakes neighborhood homes. Push for electric motors.

I suggest you put FERC on the spot and dig deep into this. BTW- you have no impact at this point the process has already rolled you over.

FERC, the gas companies, EPA refuse to investigate claiming this stuff is unregulated. Our legislators seem unwilling to address.

Refer to FERC dockets CP07-457-000, CP02-31-000 for some information if it hasn't been removed.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy says the high pressure natural gas pipeline proposed to go through Jersey City would create safety and economic concerns.

=========================

Pipeline has no place in N.J.'s Jersey City

Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 5:43 AM
By Jerramiah T. Healy
Star-Ledger Guest Columnist

Sixteen-hundred-and-twenty-five. That?s the number of miles between Jersey City and Houston, Texas, home of Spectra Energy, the corporation that wants to run a high-pressure natural gas pipeline through 6? miles of our city, close to several schools, high-rise public housing and luxury condos, ball fields, office buildings and hospitals, putting our residents and our city?s future development in harm?s way. From meeting with Spectra, it is clear they have not taken into full account the impact such a project would have on Jersey City and the state of New Jersey.

Jersey City is New Jersey?s second largest city, with a population of nearly 250,000, making it one of the most densely populated cities in America. Recently, we have seen our city transform, becoming the economic engine of New Jersey. Fortune 500 companies such as Goldman Sachs, TD Bank and Fidelity Investments have located here, primarily in our downtown, known as Wall Street West. The development of residential, commercial and office properties has surged, and families are choosing Jersey City to live, work and raise their children.

Jersey City also is an employment center, with our population more than doubling during the weekday work hours, delivering hundreds of millions of income tax dollars into our state coffers annually. Important transportation infrastructure, including PATH train service, the Hudson Bergen Light Rail system, NY/NJ Waterway ferries, the Holland Tunnel the New Jersey Turnpike are located in our city, as well as major highways, which serve as emergency evacuation routes for the entire New York metropolitan area.

Our opposition ? and that of thousands of our residents ? to the proposed Spectra pipeline is not simply a ?NIMBY? issue, but is one that is grounded in concrete safety and future economic development concerns. Our research indicates that while natural gas pipelines do exist in cities, the high level of pressure (up to 1,200 psi) proposed for this pipeline has not been built in a city of our size. This is an added threat to those we face every day, without a natural gas pipeline for a target.

In the wake of 9/11, many of Jersey City?s transit systems were classified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as critical Tier 1 and Tier 2 Homeland Security infrastructure because of their vulnerability to terrorist attack, and Jersey City itself was classified as one of seven Tier 1 urban regions considered to be at the highest risk of terrorist activity. Since 2001, we have been the recipient of more than $12 million in federal homeland security funding.

A pipeline breach, whether by intentional terrorist action or sheer accident, would have devastating consequences given Jersey City?s population density. Moreover, the city would absorb a disproportionate share of the impacts associated with the construction and continued operation of the proposed project, while not receiving any corresponding benefits.

The safety issues that this pipeline presents, coupled with the fact that it would turn back the clock on the revitalization the city has worked so hard to achieve, raise serious concerns. Why would a developer invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a project adjacent to a volatile pipeline?

One project that would be obsolete is a planned development site containing nine high-rise buildings with more than 6 million square feet of apartments, offices and retail space ? land that the pipeline would run directly beneath. According to the Rutgers ECON economic forecasting model, as a result of this one lost project, Jersey City would forfeit $26 million a year in property taxes, while New Jersey?s losses would be $273 million in tax revenue and 11,141 jobs every year for the life of the pipeline.

The project?s primary purpose is to deliver gas to ConEdison?s New York customers. Service to New Jersey was not originally contemplated and is entirely speculative. PSE&G has stated, in writing to the city, the pipeline ?is not being constructed to meet PSE&G?s current demand.?
While everyone would like to see a drop in energy prices, including that of natural gas, there is no evidence that this will happen, and certainly the serious safety and economic development concerns for Jersey City and the state outweigh the unsubstantiated benefits.

Jerramiah T. Healy is the mayor of Jersey City.

By MICHELLE J. ROBINSON (PIX11) Staff reporter 2:22 p.m. EDT, April 24, 2011 BRENTWOOD, L.I.(PIX11).? Fire investigators say a gas leak triggered that huge explosion Sunday morning in Brentwood, that razed a house and could be heard and felt up to a circumference of seven-miles. No one was killed; but there were some minor injuries. They say the Suffolk County house on 4th Street was flattened, when it blew apart around 10:40 a.m.; no one was inside, since it was being renovated in preparation to be sold. Work was being done on the house as late as Friday. Investigators say the blast was so tremendous, debris was scattered all over the neighborhood. And according to the ambulance chief, 21 people were taken to the hospital, suffering from respiratory problems, high-blood pressure and anxiety. Police and fire officials used bomb-sniffing dogs to rule out a bomb, and employed thermal detection equipment to check the basement for victims. Meanwhile, reports say the local Red Cross is providing temporary housing for at least nine people, whose homes were seriously damaged in the explosion.  

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Who cares? F 'em. They don't live here.

Perhaps not so "clean"...



Chronicle Online

April 11, 2011
Natural gas from fracking could be 'dirtier' than coal, Cornell professors find

Howarth

By Stacey Shackford
Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale could do more to aggravate global warming than mining coal, according to a Cornell study published in the May issue of Climatic Change Letters (105:5).

While natural gas has been touted as a clean-burning fuel that produces less carbon dioxide than coal, ecologist Robert Howarth warns that we should be more concerned about methane leaking into the atmosphere during hydraulic fracturing.

Natural gas is mostly methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas, especially in the short term, with 105 times more warming impact, pound for pound, than carbon dioxide (CO2), Howarth said, adding that even small leaks make a big difference. He estimated that as much as 8 percent of the methane in shale gas leaks into the air during the lifetime of a hydraulic shale gas well -- up to twice what escapes from conventional gas production.

"The take-home message of our study is that if you do an integration of 20 years following the development of the gas, shale gas is worse than conventional gas and is, in fact, worse than coal and worse than oil," Howarth said. "We are not advocating for more coal or oil, but rather to move to a truly green, renewable future as quickly as possible. We need to look at the true environmental consequences of shale gas."

Howarth, the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology, Tony Ingraffea, the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering, and Renee Santoro, a research technician in ecology and evolutionary biology, analyzed data from published sources, industry reports and even Powerpoint presentations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

They compared estimated emissions for shale gas, conventional gas, coal (surface-mined and deep-mined) and diesel oil, taking into account direct emissions of CO2 during combustion, indirect emissions of CO2 necessary to develop and use the energy source and methane emissions, which were converted to equivalent value of CO2 for global warming potential.

The study is the first peer-reviewed paper on methane emissions from shale gas, and one of the few exploring the greenhouse gas footprints of conventional gas drilling. Most studies have used EPA emission estimates from 1996, which were updated in November 2010 when it was determined that greenhouse gas emissions of various fuels are higher than previously believed.

"We are highlighting unconventional gas because it is a contemporary problem for us in upstate New York, and because there is a big difference between developing gas from an unconventional well and a conventional well, for the mere reason that unconventional wells are bigger," Ingraffea said.

He noted that the hydraulic fracturing process lends itself to more leakage because it takes more time to drill the well, requires more venting and produces more flowback waste, he said.

"A lot of the data we used are really low quality, but I'm confident they are the best available," Howarth said. "We want to go out into the Marcellus Shale and do micrometeorological fluxes of methane at the time of venting and get a real number on this, which has never been done. We're optimistic we can get funding and do that over the next year."

"We've tried to be conservative all along; we're not trying to be hyperbolic in our statements," Ingraffea said.

"We do not intend for you to accept what we've reported on today as the definitive scientific study in regards to this question. It's clearly not," he added. "What we're hoping to do with this study is to stimulate the science that should have been done before. In my opinion, corporate business plans superseded national energy strategy."

Stacey Shackford is a staff writer in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

And that is a very big hole to watch. Lots of off-duty work.

I assume the police will be paid to stand around and guard this construction like any other construction project. Of course they want a company with deep pockets to do construction in the city.

How much did Spectra pay the JC POBA for this endorsement?

Where can we find the POBA donor info?

The police are only concerned with our safety.

The police approve of the pipeline.

Therefore, the pipeline must be safe!

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

War of words - Gas pipeline company, opponents flood residents with information

by E. Assata Wright
Reporter staff writer Hudson Reporter
Apr 10, 2011

In recent weeks city residents have been the targets of a media war waged by both supporters and opponents of a proposed natural gas pipeline that is currently planned to be routed through Bayonne and Jersey City and near the southern border of Hoboken.

In one corner is Spectra Energy, the Houston-based company that wants to build the pipeline, and more than a dozen union groups. Spectra and the unions claim the pipeline will create thousands of much-needed jobs in the region.

In the other corner are activists and public officials who oppose the pipeline, arguing that it will create a safety hazard in the region that will negatively affect economic development.

In the middle are residents who increasingly find fliers in their mailboxes, robocall messages on their answering machines, and advocates carrying petitions on the streets.

Pushing back

If approved by the federal government, the 15.5-mile pipeline will carry 800 million cubic feet of natural gas per day through Hudson County to New York City customers of Con Edison.

Spectra began its resident-focused PR campaign in January after pipeline opponents launched the grassroots ?No Gas Pipeline? website last year. Since the beginning of the year, Spectra has sent at least three mailers to Jersey City and Bayonne residents, and has partnered with union groups to create a pro-pipeline video that has been posted to the internet.

Among the unions that have endorsed the pipeline are the New York State AFL-CIO, the Building and Construction Trades Council of New York, the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, Laborers Local 731, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, the Hudson County Board of Business Representatives, and the International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 825 and 15.

?We wanted to make sure the public was informed about the project and its substantial benefits to the community,? said company spokesman Tim White last week. ?We have focused some aspects of our outreach in Jersey City, but we are very involved in other communities along the proposed pipeline route as well.?

One flier mailed recently touts job creation among the pipeline?s benefits. On the flier Spectra states the project ?will create more than 5,000 regional jobs...including more than 2,300 in Jersey City alone.?

The remaining 2,700 regional jobs could be created in Bayonne, Linden, or Manhattan.

While pipeline critics have scoffed at the numerical estimate and at the claims of the pipeline benefiting residents, White said the benefits should not be brushed aside.

Pointing to a study done by Rutgers University?s Edward J. Bloustein School of Public Policy, White said, ?Hudson County residents will benefit from additional jobs, additional tax relief, lower energy bills, and cleaner air. The pipeline will increase the capability to deliver natural gas to New Jersey leading to reduced energy bills, potential for conversions from coal and oil to cleaner burning natural gas and substantial property tax benefits to the region on an annual basis once the pipeline is placed in-service.?

One of the criticisms of the pipeline is that, as currently planned, it will provide natural gas to customers in New York, not New Jersey. But White said the company has reached out to ?power generators and other end users along the pipeline route to explore?interconnection possibilities? for Garden State residents.

In an earlier mailer the company responded to residents? safety concerns about the project, noting the pipeline ?will be made of thick, modern steel [and will be] monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure safety.?

The company, which is obviously geared up for a big public relations battle to win support for the pipeline, includes on the mailer a toll-free number so interested residents can learn about ?additional?ways to support the project.?

Critics not to be outdone

Spectra?s stepped-up outreach to local residents has not gone unnoticed by pipeline critics, who have also increased their grassroots efforts.

Opponents successfully used such social media tools as Facebook, Twitter, and old fashioned e-mail to encourage residents to file for ?intervenor status? with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency that must approve Spectra?s plans before the pipeline can be built.

Being an ?intervenor? gives anyone who files for the status the right to sue the federal government if the pipeline is approved.

And the opposition continues to circulate its ?No Gas Pipeline? fliers in downtown businesses and at places like the Loews Theater in Journal Square.

Downtown resident Devin Card said he has signed up to help others in the community oppose the pipeline and plans to volunteer some time to the No Gas Pipeline effort.

?You see what happened in California. Who would want a gas pipeline running underneath their house or wherever they live?? he asked.

Last September eight people were killed and dozens were injured in San Bruno, Calif. after a natural gas pipeline exploded there, destroying an entire residential neighborhood.

Card said he plans to build opposition by handing out anti-pipeline fliers later this month outside the Loews and by hosting a showing in his home of the film ?Gasland,? a 2010 documentary about natural gas extraction.

?While we don?t have the millions of dollars that Spectra does to hire lobbyists and public relations firms, or to spend on television ads and glossy mailers, we do have the ability to talk directly to the people of Jersey City on a daily basis about why we are opposed to this natural gas pipeline coming to our city,? said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy last week.

Healy is among several Hudson County and New Jersey public officials who oppose Spectra?s plans.

?We can also take official action, which we feel has an even stronger impact, such as filing for intervenor status and having the City Council adopt a resolution opposing this pipeline,? Healy said.

?We will continue to work with our state and federal legislators to build additional opposition,? he added. ?Currently, we are airing a piece on local television with our experts discussing the impact this pipeline would have on homeland security, our aging infrastructure, and future economic development. Our research shows that if this pipeline is built in Jersey City, future residential and commercial development would not be built, sacrificing thousands of construction and permanent jobs for Jersey City residents. We will continue our media outreach on these issues and through our partnership with organizations such as NoGasPipeline.org.?

White said he ?cannot determine? how much money Spectra has committed to the pro-pipeline PR campaign since the effort is ongoing.

FERC could render a decision on the pipeline by the end of this year.

say "yeah I'll sign" and then scribble across the entire page, wiping any signatures they might have collected. Draw a dick for good measure.

Is there any point in giving bogus names on the spectra petitions as in will it cause more problems for them in the long run if it turns out that a percentage of the signers are bogus? I had people approach me yesterday & made sure to take up a good 20 minutes of their time before I told them that I wouldn't sign and then I started to wonder about maybe if I should have geven a false name since it took up a good 20 minutes of my time to.

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That's all so much eyewash, BS,sop to those who believe corporate interests of Spectra and their like, Spectra who paid out over $1 Billon to shareholders last year, a 34% increase from last year, are spending almost $900 million, $60 Million a mile, give a rat's patooty about safety.

Here's a clue: THEY DON'T!

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somebody came to my door yesterday with a Yes petition. she gave me the standard line about jobs and cheap energy. when I politely asked her where those jobs would go once the ditches were dug, she had no answer. when I asked how cheap energy for NYC would benefit Jersey City, she hemmed and hawed. when I asked her if she could personally guarantee that there would be no explosions in the near or distant future, she thanked me for my time and left my porch.

"I just had a Spectra Energy employee come to my door to get me to sign a petition to put in the pipeline. I hadn't heard about it until then. I was skeptical, so I didn't sign it. I'm glad I didn't."-Michael

Stop Spectra - Volunteers needed for Volunteer Expo April 26 @ Loew's Theatre

FERC will be releasing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) soon that will be the last time the public may comment on Spectra's proposed gas pipeline route through Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken to NYC.

NO Gas Pipeline will need volunteers to collect signatures for our city-wide petition . The Volunteers Expo on April 26th from Noon until 8PM at Loew's Theater at Journal Square will give us an opportunity to both gather signatures to petition that day as well as sign up volunteers to help us city-wide. We need you to work any amount of time that day to help out at our table and signing up volunteers through the crowd or directing them to our table.

Please contact Dale Hardman by phone or email below if you can help us all Stop Spectra by volunteering April 26th, anytime from Noon to 8PM.

Thanks for all you do and I will see you that day at Lowe's for the Volunteer Expo!


Dale Hardman & Stephen Musgrave
347-789-7508
nogaspipeline@gmail.com
www.nogaspipeline.org

Twitter: http://nogaspipeline.org/twitter
Facebook: http://nogaspipeline.org/facebook

Good point. Sections are built inside a FEMA flood plain in downtown JC.

1. Do they have FEMA flood insurance like most homeowners?
2. Are their flood safety procedures tested and working on all the pipeline and infrastructure? (And I don't mean to Japanese standards.)

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I liked how they were saying "safe, safe, safe" as I was watching Japan's nuclear crisis unfold. Yeah, safe until it blows up.

These high pressure lines were never intended to go through highly populated areas. Christie axed the tunnel because he thought it would cost too much for NJ. This project is to benefit NY and NYC so why isn't he being outraged about this? This just makes NJ a pass thru for NYC -- how many businesses are going to leave JC and NJ if this gets built?

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Governor Christie has not "officially" spoken out one way or the other. Christie filed as a formal intervenor (legal standing) against the proposed LNG facility at Perth Amboy as did our own law firm, Eastern Environmental Law Center.

Christie said he was "fulfilling my campaign promise." Christie later vetoed the entire project under "his veto authority under the Deepwater Port Act to prevent construction off our shore," Christie also said, "I will not subject our State's shore and economy to the environmental risks that are inseparable from such a project."

Apparently Christie's comments don't apply to Jersey City.

Lobbyist close to Christie, hired by Spectra, recently contacted our lawyer asking us to meet with them at the Marriot Hotel located at Newark Airport. NJ Sierra Club and NO Gas Pipeline met with them in person while Food and Water Watch and Atlantic Sierra Club were on speaker phone.

Sign up on our site for Alerts(click my signature below) to find out the outcome of that meeting as a blog will be posted soon.

Spectra energy does not have my support.

And, I hate that commercial. "Jobs, Jobs, Good paying jobs in Jersey City."

I want experienced people installing a gas pipleline in my backyard and not my neighbor who needs a job.

Does anyone know the state's stance on this issue? Have they taken one?

Here are some crazy photos of the gas explosion in Minnesota this past weekend.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/disp ... 17/photos-explosion-fire/

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That's cause IT IS ED GONZALEZ! They're probably all Spectra or union construction workers not from Jersey City, imo.

too dangerous to put by the holland tunnel and path, but just dangerous enough to put under some houses.

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Are communities really bought this cheap? A whole $1000? That's about 3 cents per JC student. $1000 isn't even petty cash for this company, it's pocket change. If this corporation were the "Person" they supposedly are by law, they wouldn't even stoop to pick it up off the sidewalk.

More reason to kill this project. Imagine repercussions in a densely populated area like Jersey City.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03 ... on-fireball_n_837111.html