RINDGE — A federal agency has scheduled a meeting in Cheshire County for people to comment about a proposed natural gas pipeline.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold a “scoping” meeting about the Northeast Energy Direct project on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. at the Franklin Pierce University Fieldhouse in Rindge, agency officials announced Thursday afternoon. The meeting is intended for the federal agency to gather public comments, including any concerns people have about potential adverse effects on the environment.
In addition, the time
period for people to submit written comments about the proposal has been
extended to Oct. 16. The original deadline had been Aug. 31.
Written comments about the project can be submitted through the “documents and filings” section of the FERC website at www.ferc.gov.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Co. LLC, a Kinder Morgan company, is proposing to build a pipeline
carrying natural gas from shale gas fields in Pennsylvania through
upstate New York, part of northern Massachusetts and into southern New
Hampshire before going to a distribution hub in eastern Massachusetts.
The Northeast Energy
Direct pipeline would cross 71 miles of southern New Hampshire,
including the Monadnock Region towns of Fitzwilliam, Richmond, Rindge,
Troy and Winchester.
Liberty Utilities, which
is interested in buying natural gas from the pipeline for its customers,
is considering building a line branching off the pipeline to supply
fuel to the Keene area.
FERC officials have been holding meetings throughout the summer in all the states along the pipeline’s proposed route.
Originally, agency
officials had scheduled two meetings in New Hampshire, in Milford and
Nashua. The Cheshire County session comes following pressure from Gov.
Maggie Hassan and the public to add meetings on the project.
It also comes the day
after U.S. Rep. Ann M. Kuster, D-N.H, submitted letters to FERC and
Kinder Morgan outlining concerns she shares with her constituents about
the project.
“Many of my constituents
have raised questions about the (Northeast Energy Direct) project’s
impact on environmentally sensitive areas, public health and emergency
preparedness plans,” Kuster wrote in the letter to Kinder Morgan
officials. “I request that Kinder Morgan fully analyzes the specific
concerns outlined in this letter during the decision making process.”
Kuster represents the
state’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes a number of towns
along the proposed pipeline route in Cheshire and Hillsborough counties.
The commission has the power to decide whether to grant federal approval for the project.
Separate from the FERC
meetings, Kinder Morgan has scheduled five open houses this month to
provide information to people about the project.
One of those meetings will be held in Fitzwilliam on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at the VFW on Route 12.
The other open houses
will be held on Sept. 9 at Mascenic High School in New Ipswich, Sept. 15
at the Hampshire Hills Sports & Fitness Club in Milford, Sept. 16
at Rockingham Park in Salem, and Sept. 17 at the Merrimack American
Legion.
The meeting announcement
for Cheshire County comes after FERC officials originally submitted an
event permit application to the town of Swanzey seeking approval to hold
the meeting at the former Cheshire Ice Arena at the Cheshire
Fairgrounds in early September. Selectmen approved the permit.
However, FERC officials
decided to reschedule the meeting because of a concern that the date
would not provide the public enough advance notice to prepare for the
meeting, spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said last month.
She said Thursday that
staff with the federal agency try to find meeting venues that are
available, easily accessible and large enough to accommodate in excess
of 700 to 800 people.
“The Franklin Pierce University Fieldhouse fits that bill,” she said.
Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.
No comments:
Post a Comment