About the Valley Lateral Pipeline
There's a new pipeline proposed for Orange County--the Valley Lateral Pipeline--to carry fracked gas from Pennsylvania to an Orange County power plant. Because of the work of front-line communities and concerned citizens like you, New York State has already acted once to shut it down. But the state was overruled by the feds--and we know we cannot count on President Trump's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to do the right thing. New York can appeal the ruling, and we need your help to make that case.
The power plant is very close to completion, and needs only a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to drop a the 7.8 mile Valley Lateral Pipeline – a connector line – to the Millennium Pipeline and begin operations. The Valley Lateral Pipeline, if constructed, will risk an area of complex wetlands where the DEC is in the process of updating its wetland maps. The Pipeline will also slash across multiple streams, aquifers, and protected farmland, providing the power plant with fracked gas from Pennsylvania, burning approximately 130 million cubic feet of gas and spewing 7 million tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent pollution annually. We can’t stand to let our air quality worsen and risk our water for the greedy needs of the oil and gas industry. So now is the time to let the Governor and DEC know, we won’t be quiet on this issue--please sign the letter below to urge DEC to do the right thing.
Sign-on Letter to Mr. Thomas Berkman, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Deputy Counsel:
Dear Mr. Berkman -
Everywhere we look we're seeing climate change's devastating impacts--hurricanes, forest fires, and entire communities destroyed. In the face of this environmental and human tragedy, New York needs to stop permitting fracked gas infrastructure projects.
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) did the right thing when it denied the Valley Lateral Pipeline's plans to proceed with permitting, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) overruled. We need DEC to challenge FERC's order--stand up for New York's rights and our communities.
Further, DEC needs to rescind Millennium's Eastern System Upgrade permits. Moving forward with fracked gas infrastructure while fighting climate change and its impacts makes no sense--New York can and should do better.
Sincerely,
