NY Attorney General Objects To Cutting Trees For Pipeline

Above Photo: Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com

ALBANY, N.Y. – (AP) — New York’s attorney general filed objections Thursday to the Constitution Pipeline Company’s request to cut trees along the proposed route of its 124-mile natural gas pipeline, citing the lack of a state water quality permit and pending requests for a rehearing of the federal agency order that cleared the way for the project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipeline in 2014 with certain conditions, including a water quality permit from the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. No timetable has been given for a decision on a water permit.

In objecting to the company’s request, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked FERC to deny permission to start any work until a state water quality permit is issued and the commission decides on numerous motions on rehearing its 2014 decision. Several of those requests argue that FERC failed to conduct an adequate environmental review. Schneiderman also said the planned clearing of trees could cause irreparable harm to thousands of acres in New York.

Constitution Pipeline Company, a partnership formed by Cabot Oil & Gas, Williams Partners and Piedmont Natural Gas Company, asked FERC last week for permission to cut trees along the pipeline right-of-way from Pennsylvania’s shale gas fields to upstate New York.

It said that for the company to meet a commitment to complete the pipeline by the end of this year, tree-cutting has to be finished by March 31 to avoid harm to birds and bats during the spring and summer breeding season. Regulators set the condition that the company can only clear forest land between November and the end of March.

The company said earth-moving and pipeline construction wouldn’t start until all permits are in place, and asked FERC to make a decision on its tree-cutting request by Friday.

Pipeline spokesman Christopher Stockton said Thursday that if the tree-cutting request is denied, the project won’t be able to meet its goal of going online during the fourth quarter of 2016.

The company says the pipeline will deliver enough low-cost shale gas to serve about 3 million homes in high-demand areas of New York and New England.