Answers to two questions are key to approving a new gas pipeline in Connecticut:
1) Is there a problem?
2) Do proposed solutions to the problem create collateral damage?
In the case of the Connecticut expansion of the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, the answers are NO — supplies of natural gas this winter will NOT run out and YES — contamination of our water supply is feared.
How then can proponents of the pipeline — the governor, elected officials of affected towns, the legislature — ignore two documented facts:
1) Using data from Bloomberg News and other business publications, “by Nov. 1, the start of the heating season, gas inventories could reach new highs.”
2) In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Metropolitan District Commission, which provides safe, clean drinking water to 400,000 people in Connecticut reports “the proposed pipeline could potentially impact MDC’s public drinking water supplies in West Hartford and Bloomfield… the initial environmental review process is deficient, …potential impacts to vital resources are not being addressed…and … more public input is essential.”
It’s time for Connecticut residents to act. Contact your elected representatives and town officials and demand town meetings and public forums to address the construction of a new gas pipeline.
Jane Biral lives in Bloomfield.