Stopping the Kinder Morgan Pipeline

by Nancy Price

On behalf of Earth Democracy’s Global Warming/Sustainable Energy committee, Hattie Nestel and I call on WILPF members and branches in NY, MA and NH to join local and state campaigns to stop the hazardous and unnecessary Kinder Morgan Tennessee Gas Pipeline, also known as the Northeast Energy Direct project, before it is too late! 

The 429-mile pipeline $5 billion pipeline, estimated to be operational by Nov. 2018, will bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale through NY, MA and NH to distribution companies in New England.  The original route through southern Massachusetts was changed after political and public outcry  to now go from northern Massachusetts into southern New Hampshire before coming back to a gas hub at Dracut, 30 miles north of Boston. .

This past January, the StopNED Coalition was created joining broad-based state and the many local community and watershed groups together. As StopNED states:

A gas pipeline is being forced upon us that will take our property by eminent domain, tax us to pay for its construction, destroy our protected and treasured open spaces, increase the risk to our personal safety, and jeopardize our state’s ability to meet its carbon emission commitments. We envision stopping the unnecessary pipeline, and meeting our needs by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, increasing efficiency, expanding renewable technologies, and mandating repairs of existing infrastructure.

The People Are Leading!

Like many WILPFers, this is not Hattie’s first campaign on an issue she cared deeply about. On Monday, September 28, 2009, as reported in the Rutland (VT) Herald, she was one of  “four elderly women,” members of the Vermont Yankee Shut It Down Affinity Group,  living downwind of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor,” who walked through the open security gates and were arrested.

Like many of us might, Hattie writes of learning about the pipeline, how she took action, and why “I am willing to give it my all” to stop it. Here’s a wonderful interview about her experience on the Pipeline Pilgrimage walk through six New Hampshire towns, even after knee replacement surgery.  

Now, Hattie and local opponents in the Northfield, Mass., area after participation in marches, weekly vigils, the Pipeline Pilgrimage, writing letters to the editor and elected officials, and travelling to D.C. to protest at a FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has authority over interstate pipelines) meeting, are considering non-violent civil disobedience training for eventual blockades and sit-ins when needed.  

This may be what it will take stop Kinder Morgan from building a 80,000 horsepower compressor station, the largest in the country, 1500 feet from Holly Lovelace’s home in Northfield.  Watch Hattie’s video interview as Holly explains the devastating impact the station, set on 200 acres, will have on her home and rural property. At other compressor locations, water sources are polluted from benzene; there are cancer clusters, and residents with skin rashes, migraines and other health issues.  

Videos of personal stories are an excellent way to educate and mobilize the public. As Hattie writes: In July, 2014, I went on a “NO PIPELINE” walk across the state and heard peoples’ anguished stories. In August, I decided their stories had to be heard and began doing videos of individual homeowners and politicians about the environmental and financial disaster this pipeline would be to us in Massachusetts. In September 2014, I began to learn how to use a video camera to record these stories and by June 2015, I had recorded 36 interviews airing on 30 TV Community Cable Access stations across the state.

Most recently, Monday, August 31, opponents were dealt a blow when the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved 20-year contracts for three large local gas distribution corporations to buy natural gas from the pipeline. This approval makes it easier for Kinder Morgan to demonstrate “need” for the project and, perhaps, approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  

But, the Leaders Will Follow!

First, on August 28, the Health Board of the Franklin County, Mass., town of Conway ordered Kinder Morgan to stop all pipeline-related activities within its borders, joining more than 50 other area communities that have passed similar cease and desist orders or resolutions opposing the pipeline.

Second, Hattie reports: lots of our local officials are with us in Massachusetts, including state representatives and senators, as well as Congressman McGovern. This is not just because of increasingly well organized resistance. It is also because Kinder Morgan’s well-documented  poor pipeline safety record is “fueling” opposition. 

Still Hattie says, “Not much noise yet from Senators Markey or Warren, though we are working on them.”

Third, at the July 29 FECR public scoping meeting this collective resistance paid off with a victory!  After 100 members of the public, six western MA state representatives, and MA Congressman McGovern demanded a slow-down of the Environmental Impact Report process, FERC agreed to extend the public comment period to Sept. 29 for the public meeting and Oct. 16 for written comments.

Conclusion:  Clearly, after several years, grassroots organizing against this pipeline, though  not reported in the major newspapers, nor even much in the Boston Globe, the pace is quickening. The broader public and elected officials are much more engaged and joining the opposition. Because the threat to the environment and beauty of the rural New England landscape is so great, there is a new-found commitment to collectively solving New England’s energy needs with sustainable and renewable technology for the sake of people and nature.

Now you can sign a petition to MA Governor Charlie Baker that reads: We call on you to pursue clean renewable energy policies and prevent new natural-gas pipelines and new fossil-fuel infrastructure from being built in the Commonwealth.

For specific questions on grassroots organizing, please contact Hattie at hattieshalom@verizon.net or 978-790-3074. If you have a story you’d like Earth Democracy to cover in the October eNews, please email Nancy at nancytprice39@gmail.com. 

PHOTO: Signs against the compressor. August 20, 2015 Vigil, Northfield, Mass. Hattie Nestel third from left.  Photo by Renee Theberge