The meeting room at the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Hall was filled to capacity for a public hearing about the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project.
The proposed gas line would pump highly pressured natural gas, fracked in Pennsylvania, through large pipes buried a few feet underground through Stephentown and into Massachusetts.
One by one town residents got up and told board members in no uncertain terms that they were against the Texas based company Kinder Morgan expanding the capacity of the interstate Tennessee pipeline through their community.
The meeting, however, was largely for information gathering as Stephentown Supervisor Lawrence Eckhardt explained. He said board members, who already received a high volume of emails and letters, wanted formal testimony from residents before they conferred with their lawyer on what Stephentown’s official position would be.
The Stephentown Town Board will announce their formal resolution on the NED pipeline project on April 20th.
