http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35756-a-pipeline-defeated-how-a-small-town-saved-itself
A Pipeline Defeated: How a Small Town Saved Itself
Sunday, 24 April 2016 00:00
By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout | Op-Ed
In the dungeon that was the winter of 2014 here in my New Hampshire
home, a pair of representatives from the natural gas pipeline company
Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas arrived in the town of Rindge, just down the
road. They were there to meet with the town administrator about a
proposed natural gas pipeline route that would cut the town in half,
along with several other towns, as it made its way to the sea.
The two were almost comically young -- I have shoes older than those
guys -- and yet they were cloaked in an arrogant air of power that is
only found in people who think working for a corporate juggernaut
somehow gifts them authority. They walked into the meeting room and
before a word was spoken, one of them officiously looked at his
wristwatch, then looked at the administrator and said, "We have 14
minutes for you."
That's how it was between Rindge and Kinder Morgan after that cold
winter night in 2014. The company lied, delayed, danced, dodged and did
everything they possibly could to put off the New Hampshire locals who
had a few questions about the whole thing, and did so for almost two
years. The town fought back, along with a coalition of other towns who
would be deeply affected by the construction of this pipeline. It was a
long slog, but on Wednesday the word came down: Kinder Morgan had
officially "suspended further work and expenditures" on the pipeline plan.
In short, Rindge and the other towns won. For now, anyway.
The background in brief: Kinder Morgan (KM) wanted to build a pipeline
to transport the fruits of fracking from Pennsylvania through New York
and New England. It would traverse a portion of western Massachusetts
and all of southern New Hampshire, terminating in the seaside town of
Dracut, where the gas would be loaded onto LNG tankers for sale in
Canada and overseas. Not one breath of the gas would be made available
to the affected residents. In fact, the towns were expected to pay a
tariff for the privilege of hosting the line.
KM initially tried to have the pipeline built along the northern border
of Massachusetts, but their plan was roundly routed by residents who
wanted nothing to do with it. Plan B for KM was to run the thing across
southern New Hampshire to Dracut; they assumed the residents of this
sleepy little state would not put up much of a fight. In that, they were
badly mistaken. KM ran straight into the teeth of a very patient buzzsaw
up here in the Granite State, and on Wednesday they decided it was too
expensive to push the fight any longer.
Why so much resistance? This pipeline project brought together a truly
remarkable confederation of anti-pipeline activists and groups that are
usually at each other's throats: libertarian Free Staters, Greens,
conservatives, liberals, because the pipeline cut through all their
concerns like a septic artery carrying poisoned blood. The reasons
behind the fight were legion for all camps involved.
For conservatives and the libertarian Free State types, the issue came
down to property rights. KM was looking to use the power of eminent
domain to take the land they wanted for the construction of the pipeline
if they couldn't get direct permission from the property owners. Beyond
that was the "incineration zone": a 900-foot radius that would be
utterly obliterated if the pipeline decided to blow up.
Homeowners within the blast zone were not only looking at the
possibility of flaming death, but the reality that their home and
property values would be profoundly diminished because they were hedged
against a potential bomb. How do you put that in a "For Sale" ad?
"Bucolic two-story colonial, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, screened
porch, 10 acres, and you might die screaming." Not so good for the
resale value, that.
For the environmentally-minded, the issue was starkly plain. In order to
lay this pipeline, a 175-foot-wide swath needed to be cut across the
length of New Hampshire's southern border. The path would, as proposed,
pass through wetlands and conservation areas, and would lay flat a whole
hell of a lot of trees. The pipeline itself would carry the product of
fracking, one of the most poisonous processes ever devised.
Beyond that is the fact that New Hampshire is made of granite, and
granite requires blasting for a project like this. Explosions are not a
fun thing to hear day after day; they have a way of fraying the nerves.
Also, a great many New Hampshire residents draw their water from wells,
and blasting has a strong tendency to kill wells with the seismic
impact. Finally, there the simple fact that pipelines leak: all of them,
sooner or later, count on it, end of file, which brings us back to the
"incineration zone" again.
For the leadership of the affected municipalities, one of the central
problems was traffic. The proposed pipeline route was going to blunder
through a number of vital roadways, and not one of the towns affected
could get a straight answer from KM about how disruptive it was going to
be. There was a Donald Trumpish aspect to KM's response to direct
questions: It's gonna be great folks, trust me, it's gonna be great.
Nope.
KM's intentions would not have been thwarted without the long, dedicated
efforts of activists like Maryann Harper. Harper is spokesperson for the
organization New Hampshire Pipeline Awareness, and did yeoman's work
educating affected residents on what they were dealing with while
pushing back against the pipeline plan in town meetings and other
assemblies. Truthout spoke to Harper on Thursday about the experience of
fighting KM in general, and where matters now stand.
"It was hard to get concrete answers from Kinder Morgan," said Harper.
"The maps they brought to meetings were inaccurate, old. They did these
'open-houses' for residents and ran them like a trade show, dismissing
all concerns. Opponents of the pipeline had to educate ourselves. The
opposition groups were called 'awareness groups.' We did it evenings and
weekends because we all work full time."
"This is the new normal for resisting these pipeline projects,"
continued Harper. "People wanted to find one big thing that would defeat
Kinder Morgan. Instead, we gave steady resistance, and in the end it was
death by a thousand cuts. It's not over. Kinder Morgan has not yet
officially withdrawn their application for the pipeline." When Truthout
asked how Harper was feeling about the whole thing, she replied, "Tired
but happy."
Truthout also spoke to Roberta Oeser, who sits on the Board of Selectmen
for the town of Rindge. "The town in general is very pleased," said
Oeser, "but there are still a lot of concerns in the towns that are
affected. House Bill 1660, the eminent domain law, needs to be addressed
to keep residents from having their land decimated. We want that
protection afforded to anyone affected by future gas line production.
While I'm very pleased, the cork is still in the champagne bottle until
the application is withdrawn from FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission]."
Kinder Morgan still lurks. That still-live FERC application means they
are capable of trying to run this mess again until the application is
officially withdrawn. That being said, KM has cut loose its public
relations contractors along with other subcontractors for this project.
This is a positive sign; one does not throw away the nails before
building a house. For the time being and the foreseeable future, the
so-called "Northeast Energy Direct" pipeline through New Hampshire is a
dead stick.
Hearken to me well, friends and neighbors. Kinder Morgan, the inheritor
of Enron with friends in all the high places, got broken over the knee
of some snow-country folks with keen eyes, sage wisdom and infinite
patience. The next time you find yourself thinking corporate power is
indomitable, remember Rindge, New Hampshire. The plodding durability of
devotion may not be glamorous, but by God and sonny Jesus, it gets the
sidewalks shoveled down to the grit when the snow flies, and every so
often sends some power company suits sailing over the horizon like so
many windblown leaves.
We won. For now.
Onward.
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