Activists needed to fight the Millennium Pipeline Company’s proposed Eastern System Upgrade Project, which poses an unacceptable risk to people, homes, and businesses right here in the Catskills!
This proposed expansion includes two new noisy, dirty and dangerous 22,400 horsepower natural gas compressor stations. One is proposed in Sullivan County, in the Town of Highland, and the other would be an addition to the existing Hancock Compressor Station, in Delaware County.
HERE ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR INTERVENING WITH FERC.
First create a word document and save it as a PDF -- you'll need it later in the process. Copy the "MOTION FOR LEAVE TO INTERVENE" below into a Word document. It was written by a Bethel student so you will need to personalize it with your own information and your own views on the project -- how it will impact you and be bad for your community. To save your Word file as a pdf, click “Save as” and when you get the save screen, there are two bars at the bottom, “File name” and “Save as type.” If you click on the arrow at the end of the “Save as type” bar, there is a drop down list where you can choose “PDF” and it will save your file as a PDF. At step 15 (“Upload pdf’) in the instructions below, you will click “browse” and find the pdf document on your computer that you created and saved. This is what you will upload.
Here are Step by Step Instructions from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network on How to Intervene Online for a FERC Pipeline Docket.
If you have not yet registered on the FERC website with your email address, you will have to do so in order to log in or register:
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Go to the FERC.gov website
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On the top of the website, click on the tab called Documents and Filings
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Select Eregister
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Login or register
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On the left side of the screen, select the tab for Efiling
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On the main section of the screen, three columns will appear. On the left of the three columns, select
general
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Then on center of the three columns select intervention
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On the right of the three columns, select motion to intervene
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Click next
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Enter docket number (ex: Millennium Docket Number: CP16-486)
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Click next
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Under the Select column, click the plus sign
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Click next
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In the description box, write Motion to Intervene of [your name] for the Millennium Eastern System
Upgrade Project
15. Choose file: upload PDF (must be PDF!) (see sample text below)
16. Click upload
17. Click next (you don’t need to select anything else)
18. Affiliation box: If you are affiliated with an organization, write it here, if not, leave this space blank
19. Enter contact email
20. Click next
21. Add a signer, select yourself
22. Click next
23. Provide/edit the description of your submission as you choose 24. Confirm that information is accurate
25. Click submit
And here are links to two videos that will also guide you through the process
https://vimeo.com/179209477 - Register with FERC
https://vimeo.com/179214813 - File Motion to Intervene
Please use any or all of these aids, but PLEASE file as an intervenor by Thursday, September 1st. If you've ever questioned whether one person can make a difference, this is an action where it absolutely can and does. If you have any questions, please email our office or phone us at 845-439-1230.
Thank you for all you do.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Millennium Pipeline Company Docket No. CP16-486-000
Eastern System Upgrade Project
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO INTERVENE
Pursuant to Rules 212 and 214 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 C.F.R. sections 385.212 and 385.214 (2007), I, Karen London, file this motion to intervene in this proceeding.
On July 29, 2016, the Millennium Pipeline Company (“Millennium”) filed its application under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. section 717f and section 157 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s regulations, 18 C.F.R. section 157.1 et seq., for the proposed Millennium Eastern System Upgrade Project (the “Project”), FERC Docket No. CP16-486-000.
I. Communications and Service
All communications, pleadings, and orders with respect to this proceeding should be sent to the following individual:
[your name]
[your address]
[your phone number]
[your email address]
II. Interest of Petitioner
The construction, operation and ongoing maintenance of the proposed Project will have negative impacts on my home, family members and community in Sullivan County, NY.
I live with my family approximately 3 miles from the proposed site of the Highland Compressor Station. We moved to this area and built our house here attracted by the rural, pristine environment, far from any industrial activity. Like most homeowners in the area, my family relies on our well for water and therefore depends upon the continued purity of the aquifer. As such, we were comforted when our town, as well as the surrounding small towns, enacted with strong citizen support, zoning laws which prohibited high-impact industrial uses, including compressor stations. The towns adopted such restrictive land use prohibitions to protect the health and well-bring of its citizens as well as its pristine air and water given that the local economy is heavily reliant on “nature tourism” and second homeowners.
I am concerned about the project’s impacts on the health of my family, particularly my elderly mother who lives with us and who has heart and respiratory problems. I am aware that the compressor stations in Highland and Hancock will emit hazardous air pollutants such as Toluene, Zylenes, and Benzene among others. Millennium’s operations in Minisink have caused health problems among residents living near that smaller compressor station and those health concerns have been documented by physicians. In a NY county already ranked 61 out of 62 in terms of poor resident health, we cannot risk the one thing our county can claim--our clean air and water. The potential for accidents, fires and explosions is another concern given our heavily forested area and our reliance on volunteer fire and EMS services.
With the creation of Bethel Woods for the Arts ten years ago, Sullivan County, NY, an economically depressed rural county, has begun to see some economic improvement and has “leveraged” the attraction of the arts center and the area’s scenic beauty. But I am concerned that the proposed Highland compressor station would adversely impact our areas’ high-value forests and endangered and threatened species that residents and visitors alike treasure. We regularly observe bald eagles flying and fishing over Toronto Reservoir and other water bodies as well as an amazing diversity of birds and other wildlife within close proximity to the proposed Highland compressor station site.
I believe that the proposed Eastern System Upgrade Project puts at risk the property value of my home and others in the affected communities, the health and well-being of my family members and others living near its planned infrastructure, the forests and wildlife populations, the aesthetic and recreational beauty of the habitats in and near the proposed Project infrastructure, and the economic well-being of my county.
Further, I am actively engaged in this permitting process that is reflected in the current application and I possess important and informed perspectives which have and will continue to serve the public interest.
III. Conclusion
Wherefore, I, [your name], respectfully request that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission grant my Motion to Intervene as a party with full rights to participate in all further proceedings.
Respectfully submitted,
[your name and address]
