We challenge AIM pipeline approval
Riverkeeper and a coalition of ten organization and a dozen individuals in four states filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging approval of the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Project natural gas pipeline expansion by federal regulators. Specifically, on March 28, 2016, we appealed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the project and denial of our request for a re-hearing of that decision.
The AIM Project expands and upgrades more than 37 miles of natural gas pipeline and related infrastructure in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The stated purpose of the pipeline is to move natural gas to market in the Northeastern United States. It will not benefit consumers in New York.
In New York, the AIM Project will result in 15 miles of pipeline construction, all within the Hudson River watershed and New York City drinking water supply watershed. The project will cut through 39 waterbodies and 77 wetlands. The AIM Project will also involve the placement of a new, high-volume natural gas pipeline under the Hudson River. The pipeline will be located adjacent to Indian Point nuclear power plant, presenting a potential safety concern that has not been adequately addressed by FERC. The new pipe is being installed in close proximity to the nuclear plant, approximately 1,600 feet from nuclear reactors and 105 feet from vital structures that are necessary to prevent core damage and the major release of radioactive materials to the environment.
The AIM Project is the first of multiple planned upgrades to the Algonquin pipeline system that will result in a near complete expansion of the system. The second and third projects – the Atlantic Bridge and Access Northeast Projects – will also be constructed through portions of the Hudson River watershed and NYC watershed. Together, the three projects will result in construction and expansion of 166 miles of pipeline, two new compressor stations, one new liquefied natural gas storage facility, and upgrades to multiple compressor stations and associated facilities along the Algonquin system in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine.
Riverkeeper and coalition members are represented in this lawsuit by the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant in Washington, DC.
Click here for our petition for review in federal court.
Riverkeeper’s prior comments on the AIM Project:
Motion to Intervene of Riverkeeper, Inc.,
Riverkeeper Comments on Algonquin Incremental Market Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Riverkeeper Supplemental Comments on Algonquin Incremental Market Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Riverkeeper Letter re Call for an Independent Assessment of the Risk to Indian Point Energy Center Associated with the Proposed AIM Gas Transmission Pipeline
Riverkeeper Comments re Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification
Request for Rehearing of Riverkeeper, Inc.
Riverkeeper Letter Reiterating Request for an Independent Risk Assessment
Letter from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
