Green groups gear up for fight against Pilgrim pipeline
By Richard Moody
Plans to build an oil pipeline along the New York State Thruway and Interstate 287 connecting Albany to Linden, N.J. is receiving push-back from environmental groups in both states who say the pipeline will not reduce the risk of oil spills and related disasters and would cause property values to decrease.
A coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Riverkeeper and 36 other groups are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to block plans to build the proposed 178-mile two-way oil pipeline designed to carry North Dakota Bakken crude oil from the Port of Albany to northern New Jersey.
The groups say the company building the pipeline, Connecticut-based Pilgrim, is pitching the idea as a safer alternative to other modes of oil transport, such as train and barge, but said there is no evidence the pipeline would be safer or reduce the use of trains. Trains carrying oil have become a major political issue with several derailments, the most recent taking place in Lynchburg, V.A., where a train carrying Bakken oil derailed and caught fire, emitting dark smoke into the air, polluting the James River and forcing evacuations of nearby residents.
"Whether you ship the oil by rail, barge, or pipeline it is still dangerous to the region. To tie an area that has already been so devastated by climate change to more greenhouse gas emitting fuels hurts our environment, our economy, and our future," said Jeff Tittel, director for the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club.
http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2014-05-27-88063.113122-Green-groups-gear-up-for-fight-against-Pilgrim-pipeline.html