The proposed pipeline would run 124 miles of 30-inch pipe. It would start in Susquehanna County, pass into New York and cut through Broome and Delaware counties on its way to connect with the already existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline in Shoharie County.
Both sides at the meeting were passionate. People spoke for over two hours.
The public forum was on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC’s draft environmental impact study of the proposed pipeline.
Rebecca Roter lives less then a half mile away from where the pipeline would begin. Roter says FERC isn’t doing enough to protect landowners.
“You at FERC have an opportunity to take America back for rural communities like mine or to give a corporate partnership eminent domain to steal American land. Do the right thing and deny this application.”
Union worker Dave Reynolds stepped to the mic wearing a neon-green shirt that read, “Our jobs are on the line.”
“I’ve been pipelining for about four or five years.”
Before working on pipeline projects, Reynolds grew up on farms in the region. And he says the oil companies have strict regulations that lower the risk of any environmental impact.
“I’ll tell you, the farms I grew up on we never had spill kits. We never had diapers. You know what we did; we kick dirt over the hydraulic fluid and walked away. All
the farms I’ve worked on in this area have polluted way more than any pipeline I have ever been a part of.”
The public comment period on the study ends today, then FERC will write the final regulations.