Change in the Pipeline

I look around and see corporate sponsorships everywhere I look. The Xfinity Center in MA. A local farmer’s market now carries the corporate logo of their sponsor. The news is full of corporations getting this new opportunity for marketing, and that new promotional deal. I’m kind of tired of it myself.
To me farmer’s markets are about the local community, the work done by individuals, not by groups with tons of money. Americans have been taught that it is the power of corporations that make things happen, and that they can’t be fought. Here in MA we’re trying to stop a major energy company from destroying our landscape, our water supply, our home values, and our air quality. Many people, including those in the state have said “This is a done deal. Just let it go through.” I can’t believe that. I can’t believe that a company in Texas will reap the wealth of the energy prices, while we in rural Massachusetts and New York, suffer as those in Pennsylvania, Ohio, the Midwest, and the South have done. Not because we’re special, but because we have the benefit of learning from their efforts. Our nation has given over its control of our resources to the highest bidder, leaving us to deal with the after effects.
We know the after effects now; polluted waters, diminished property values, higher energy bills, higher mortgage and insurance rates, and the loss of access to land that homeowners pay taxes, but cannot use for production. Some of the owners may have large checks in their hands, but they will have to use that money to pay for trucked in water, replacement livestock, and the chances they can resell the land is minimal.
We, as individuals, as citizens, have to speak up for ourselves. We need to work together to be heard. We need to work as a community, as a region, to make things possible for our residents. As someone who grew up outside of Detroit I have seen personally how loyal corporations are to their home towns. GM was really loyal when it moved out of Flint, Pontiac, Detroit. Chrysler was really loyal when it moved overseas. They were followed by the High Tech Industry in the 1980’s as Wang, Texas Instruments, Digital all expanded west, until their bottom fell out, leaving in its wake thousands of employees with no way to move to follow the jobs.
But if we protect our communities, our neighbors, our land, with the energy of the people who love and live there, we can change things. That is why NCSC is sponsoring ¢hange Day on July 5, 2014. This the beginning of a National Movement to bring back citizen involvement, self-reliance, community connections. If we can provide energy locally, through solar, wind and hydro, we don’t need to rely on “Big Gas/Oil” to bring it to us. We don’t need corporations to help us survive. We need each other. Start a ¢hange Day event in our area. We’re having a Puppet Parade, and collecting coins to go toward our Sustainability Hub. What’s the need in your area? Have a ¢hange Day to collect funds to fight the Pipeline, or Fracking, or Hunger, or plain Listlessness. Support the National Movement with a $10 or $25 license to use the 2014 Logo. We’ll put your event on our website, and your neighbors can support ¢hange In your area. We’ll be helping each other Change things for the better.

Funds over Facts

It’s amazing how the thought of money seems to cloud a person’s hearing. In fact, it seems to ave effected the hearing of the entire New England States Committee on Energy (NESCOE.) Despite information sent to them by the Conservation Law Foundation, recent information from several studies linking fracking and pipelines with illnesses, seismic disruption and animal deaths. It also seems to be ignoring a recent study done by the energy industry stating the need for natural gas is not rising, and that many fracking sites and drilling operations have been shut down because they aren’t cost effective. But NESCOE recently responded to CLF’s attorneys, ignoring their comments and re-asserting the need for additional natural gas.

Why? Because for two weeks in the past winter there has been a shortage of natural gas to heat homes. This amount of energy could be created through several different mechanisms without burying hundreds of miles of pipeline. A simple request to conserve, as is frequently done during heat waves, water shortages and other temporary lulls, is the easiest way. In addition, increasing the amount of energy created by solar power, wind power, or a long term look at the myriads of micro-hydropower sources that dot New England’s countryside, are much more feasible, renewable and sustainable methods of creating that power.
The story of the pipeline has started to get more publicity, through a recent article in the Boston Globe, and one on the Associated Press wire, but we need people to understand the underlying issue. This is not about providing energy to poor, deprived residents. This is about bringing money into the pockets of people like Kinder Morgan. These corporations are destroying farm land, and families, by their hydro-fracking, and want to bring that produce through the pristine lands of Northern Massachusetts. They say it will bring jobs, but only short term jobs, which will most likely be filled by their own, already employed, workers. They say it will lower our electric rates, but since we’ll be paying for the pipeline’s construction out of a tariff on our power, our rates will actually rise.

And why are the energy companies pulling back on exploration and drilling in some parts of the country? Because the gas leaks are so substantial the fields are “playing out,” sooner than they expected. The Marcellus Shale, the reservoir that Kinder Morgan will be piping through New England, is expected to be past profitability status by 2020. The pipeline won’t even be completed until 2018, if it goes through on schedule. After that time, what will come through? Probably oil, or the pipelines could just sit there, venting the Marcellus gas throughout New England, and they have no obligation to clean it up.
How does it come to happen that a government agency can so ignore the facts, and the wishes of its constituents in favor of the Texan voices? Because they don’t hear the voices of the people loud enough. Ms. Berwick’s husband is running for Massachusetts Governor, and his platform states that he is for” renewable energy and environment goals,” (from his campaign’s website.) He says he wants Massachusetts to be the first Carbon Neutral state, yet his wife is still a proponent of this pipeline that is not renewable, nor environmentally sound.

We need people to voice their opinions about the importance of the environment, alongside the need for required energy sources. The two are not at odds with each other, IF we think of the environment as we assess our needs. Air, water, food and security are not any less required than heat or power. We can change the way our country grows, but not if we keep looking to the same set of tools to build with.
If our country and our planet are going to be sustainable, we need to use our personal energy, and voices to add to the power sources that push us to more sustainable energy and choices. We can’t let the rustle of money and the comfiness of safety override the true need for sustainable energy, responsiveness to the voters and continuation of our planet and our lives .

For the Greater Good?

People up here in our Blasted Towns fear the coming of this pipeline, and many are afraid that it is unstoppable. But it can’t be. This is a part of the country where people have ruggedly created a life for more than 200 years. Why? Because it’s beautiful, rugged, clean and peaceful. Looking out my window I’ve seen fisher, bear, deer, coyote and wolf, all among my goat herd, behind my horse and donkey, and over my chickens. There’s room enough for us all out here, wild and tame together, but not if a tear comes through the landscape, breaking up the safety of the forest, forcing the predators out of their lairs panicking into towns looking for a place to hide.

This rip in the woods will come before the gas, as they clear the woods, blast the ground, and then put in the plastic pipe. Then they’ll cover it with what’s left of the rock and soil, and plant some sort of grass on it. Left to its own devices the forest would heal that scar with trees and brush, but Kinder Morgan wants to be able to service the pipeline whenever they feel the need to, so they’ll be keeping it from healing by using herbicides, and mowers, so that the roots don’t break or interfere with their “greater good.”

Who’s good is it? It’s not mine. I don’t have access to natural gas for my stove, and while I miss that in my cooking, electric, wood and propane are good enough options for me. That’s good news for me, since this pipeline will possibly destroy my water supply, cause damage to herd, ruin the natural sounds of the woods around me, and I won’t have access to this invisible gas. If it leaks, I won’t know it because the wonderful warning smell of leaking gas won’t be there yet. It will just run through my woods, destroy my sanctuary, and feed the pockets of Kinder Morgan in Texas.
It will serve some of my neighbors in Fitchburg, but wait, they already have a pipeline for natural gas!
Given that the city is a poster for economic inequality, with its empty houses and store fronts, surely those empty houses are only empty because they don’t have enough natural gas. May be it will help them? No, I don’t think so. It will help the towns east of us, the affluent cities and towns that already have natural gas, and aren’t asking for me. So who’s asking? So far Kinder Morgan hasn’t stated that it has any signors seeking their gas. It appears that the “good,” will come to those overseas, not in this country.

But surely they’ll have to pay to do this damage to our planet? Not if the proposed tariff goes into play. All of us who are “on the grid,” whether we have the natural gas or not, will have increased electrical bills to pay for the infrastructure of this pipeline. That’s certainly for the common good, right?
For the common good, in my mind, includes nature in the “common.” Putting more chemicals into the air and water isn’t for anyone’s good will. Destroying habitat, increasing human/animal interaction, adding anything in to the air to help warm it, isn’t in anyone’s best interest.

If we are going to continue to live on this planet we have to look at the mistakes that we’ve made getting to this point, ie. Air, water and noise pollution. We need to stop repeating the actions that don’t the global “common good,” at heart. If our government wants us to be truly energy independent we need to not only look at the source of the energy, but the impact of that energy. Constant expansion is not wise growth. Working to maintain, strengthen and protect the resources that we already have is much more sustainable, and economically wise, than constant outward growth.

If this country is truly to live up to its ideals, then this pipeline, and the hydro-fracking that will feed it, must be stopped. Why? Because that’s what the people want. The people who will feel the effect of it aren’t the moneyed energy moguls, but the farmers, foresters, and families who live in these rural areas. We are the protectors of our local planet resources. We have shown that we can live happily with the resources we have on hand. If not, then we would have moved before now. The corporations play urban and rural populations off each other, telling the urban dwellers that the rural people are roadblocks to their needs. But truly, the city folks are much more self-sufficient than they believe. We need to work together, as “the people,” to say that our health, our planet, our neighbors are more important than our cooking needs. Our planet has to be more important than our wallets, or else we’ll all be living in our wallets, and I don’t know about you, but my wallet is pretty low on resources these days.
But our planet is full of resources, and that doesn’t have to include a pipeline full of natural gas or oil. Please let’s stand up for ourselves, and the Earth, and be smart about this issue. My neighbor the bald eagle can’t vote, but I can speak on his behalf with my vote and my voice. I hear you neighbor! I’ll do what I can.

What are we fussing about?

Those of in the Blasted Towns want to make sure you realize that our problem with the TPG pipeline is not because it’s in our backyard. It’s because it’s in ANYONE’s backyard.

I’m going to break this down into several parts because it is not a simple issue. I’ll just take one area here. This area of the Commonwealth, like the areas in New York State, is the headwaters of water supplies for good sized cities. In my town alone, we are in the watershed headwaters for the Souhegan River, a river that serves southern New Hampshire leading up to Milford, NH, and on to the Merrimack, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. We also have the Millers River, which flows west to the Pioneer Valley, providing water to Massachusetts’ richest growing soil, and winds up in the Connecticut River. We also have the beginnings of the Nashua River, which flows through Fitchburg and eventually winds up in Nashua, joining with the Merrimack River. The Merrimack is the water source for Nashua, NH, Lowell, Lawrence and many other Massachusetts cities. So damaging the quality of the clean water up here will effect both the quality of the water that reaches these cities, and possibly the amounts.
Kinder Morgan states that they plan to bury the pipeline up to 30’ down, and intend to go UNDER the Connecticut River, which at one place is listed as being 99 feet deep. The problem with this idea – bedrock. The Northern Tier of Massachusetts is granite, as any farmer can tell you, or any contractor who tried to build a house. “The biggest crop in Mass is rocks,” is often heard in agricultural sectors. When you want to get down more than a foot in these areas you often meet resistance, as in ledge. The only answer for this level of resistance is blasting, across more than 100 miles of rocky ledge Massachusetts.

What happens when pipelines cross through wetlands and areas that hold ground water? According to the National Institutes of Health in their 2010 report on pipeline construction in China:
“Moreover, pipeline crossing construction is shown to not only compromise with the integrity of the physical and chemical nature of fish habitat, but also to affect biological habitat and fish behavior and physiology (Lévesque and Dubé 2007), which will result in the avoidance movement of fish, altered distribution of populations (Newcombe and Jensen 1996) and reduce population size and species. Acipenser schrencki, Huso dauricus andBrachymystax lenok are national key protected animals (level II), which are facing extinction. They distribute in Huma River National Protection Reserve, which is the only high latitude and cold temperate zone provincial nature reserve of aquatic wildlife in China. B. lenok and Lota lota are main protection objectives of Pangu River Nature Reserve, which is the national fish genetic resources reserve in the high latitude cold zone. The disturbance or damage of pipeline construction or operation on these fish species are significant loss of geography and ichthyology. Moreover, Huma River is an important breeding site of Oncorhynchus keta, which is the endemic species of Amur-Heilong River basin. The altered water quality may cause the reduced yield of O. keta. Although the disturbances of pipeline construction are not long-term, the altered fish population distribution and movement cannot be recovered in short-term.” (Effects of Pipeline Construction on Wetland Ecosystems: Russia–China Oil Pipeline Project (Mohe-Daqing Section; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3357716/)
Yes, this is in China, but it’s the same planet. This is an area dotted with trout streams, as well as clean water. Our rocks harbor not only precious drinking water, but also reservoirs of arsenic and radon, which can be released into the water, or the air, as those deposits are disturbed.

The proposed route for the TPG Northeast Expansion, or as it’s called now, the Northeast Energy Direct program, goes under and through numerous bodies of water. It also will cross through many miles of granite and other ledge which protect aquifers, reservoirs and existing wells. While the issue of need will be discussed later, please remember that of all the water in the WORLD, only 1% is drinkable, fresh water. With the rate we’re using water for carbonated beverages, fracking, cooling and other unnecessary projects, how long will our water hold out? Where will you get your water when the rivers that feed the reservoirs starts to contain contaminants such as we protect up here in These Blasted Towns.

Who Are the Blasted Towns?

Along the Northern Tier of Massachusetts there is a part of the Commonwealth that has been relegated to "summer places," "small towns," and now, potentially, pipelines. Kinder Morgan, through its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, wants to bring a buried pipeline for natural gas through these towns, forests, and fields, to connect with the Eastern Massachusetts, more urbanized area. It is more than likely that this gas will be exported, so that Kinder Morgan and any other contracted energy company, could make money while they destroy the soil, towns, water and air of these areas.

When Kinder Morgan came through decades ago to drop the Constitution line, or other pipelines were put into New England, there was no established Internet, as there is now. Each town felt that they had to deal with this independently, and as news between these isolated towns did not travel as quickly, the companies could advance steadily to their goal. That's not true anymore. We have an Internet to connect our towns and cities. We have literate, intelligent residents who know how to use networking tools, and many of us have chosen to leave cities and 9-5 jobs in favor of a more self-reliant life where our individuality is a positive force, not a drawback. We are the residents of "Those Blasted Towns," and we are facing the energy corporations with facts, questions, and steadfastness.

Where are the "Blasted Towns?" They start in Upstate New York, where open farmland is proposed to be opened up to bury gas pipelines to take gas to urban areas in the East and "across the Pond." In Massachusetts we start at the NY/MA border and travel along the route through the Berkshires, Pioneer Valley, and to the Vermont and New Hampshire border towns. Once it reaches Dracut, the pipeline will connect south to the North Shore towns of Lynn, Salem, and potentially south to Boston and onto Rhode Island.

We'll be posting updates on town meetings, TPG presentations, and welcome photos, videos and other information from people affected in "Those Blasted Towns," by blasting, burying, or what has happened in the areas where pipelines are already existing. We will also be explaining how natural gas will serve, or not serve, our communities, the planet, our neighbors, and our lives.

This is not a place for name calling, or illogic. It's a place to educate people about what's happening, what we can do, and why we should do something? AGree, or disagree, as long as its civil, I'll post it here.
For more information about the pipeline visit www.MASSplan.org or the other sites listed there. There are lots of organizations working on this issue, each with their own take. I represent North Country Sustainability Center, Inc. and my job is to disseminate information. It's your job to make a decision for yourself what to do about it. Ok?

Pat Stewart,
Pres/Ex.Dir
NCSC,
Farmer/Abutter of Proposed Pipeline in Ashburnham