Riverkeeper praises Gov. Cuomo for leadership in demanding FERC stop construction on AIM gas pipeline next to Indian Point while state conducts its own risk assessment
For Immediate Release
February 29, 2016
Contact: Cliff Weathers, Communications Director
(914) 478-4501 ext. 239, [email protected]
Ossining, NY — On Monday, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration notified the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that state agencies will begin an independent safety risk analysis of Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market — also known as the AIM natural gas pipeline. The analysis specifically focuses on where the project would cross the 240-acre property of the Indian Point nuclear facility.
In a letter to FERC, signed by the Commissioners of New York State’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Health and Department of Public Service, the Cuomo Administration said that it will take hard look at the AIM project in light of a series of troubling events at Indian Point since last May. In addition, the state has asked that FERC move to halt construction and reconsider its approval of the project pending the completion of the state’s safety risk analysis. Federal regulators previously approved the pipeline and construction has begun.
In a statement regarding these developments, Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay said:
“The Cuomo Administration correctly put the safety of New Yorkers first. There are significant issues regarding the Algonquin Incremental Markets pipeline, but it is especially troublesome that it crosses the property of an aging and increasingly problematic nuclear power facility that has suffered a series of major malfunctions. The safety concerns with Indian Point are well known and well documented, and the stakes are too high for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commision to allow this project to proceed while four state agencies are evaluating the risks.
“The only prior risk assessment provided at the Indian Point site was done by its operator, Entergy, and reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Neither the NRC nor the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had required a truly independent assessment of bringing a high-pressure natural gas flow within feet of a critical nuclear facility’s infrastructure. There are legitimate concerns that Indian Point could become severely compromised — even catastrophically — in the event of a pipeline rupture, and the Cuomo Administration is taking the right steps in conducting an analysis.”
Riverkeeper also commends the efforts of grassroots organizations such as Stop Algonquin Pipeline Expansion (SAPE) and Sane Energy Project in bringing this issue to the attention of the public and government officials.
