A mother’s plea to Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte:
Sen. Shaheen and Sen. Ayotte, you are well aware that the Kinder
Morgan gas pipeline route through Richmond was recently moved from
nearby woods to a route right through six homes, including my own. I
cannot understand how both of you can be aware of a mother’s fear for
her children and still ignore us. I just can’t believe that you
apparently have chosen not to help.
Sen. Shaheen and Sen.
Ayotte, what we and our neighbors are asking of you is quite simple and
should be very easy to accomplish. Simply have the pipeline route
returned to where Kinder Morgan originally wanted it and away from our
homes. Yet we hear nothing from you offering to intercede on our behalf.
The pipeline is going
through our yard because a group of Connecticut millionaire investors
were able to exert influence over the process and have the pipeline
route changed from their heavily cut woodland “posted against any public
use” to a route through our houses. The Connecticut group represented
its land as public access recreation land that needed protection, which
is absolutely untrue. Are you supporting them?
Our two children found an
idyllic hilltop wonderland of grand pines, hemlocks and streams
providing countless opportunities for playful adventure. For us we found
the perfect home, private, safe and surrounded by the woods we love
and, most importantly, safety for our children. It would be the home our
children would grow up in.
Today that is all at risk
of being destroyed by the Kinder Morgan gas pipeline proposed to go
through our yard within feet of our home. There will be a 150-foot-wide
path of destruction, the gas pipeline itself and we will be located in
what Kinder Morgan calls an “incendiary zone.”
Not only will we be
surrounded by heavy construction, blasting and clear-cutting, once that
nightmare has passed we will have a dangerous pipeline carrying volatile
gas right by our home. Kinder Morgan’s safety record for the pipelines
it owns across the country is abysmal. Yet I am supposed to raise my
family in this environment. This is every parent’s worst fear, you must
realize this.
In addition, the new
route goes through land that is open to the public and is used for a
wide range of activities and is an extremely fragile ecosystem
supporting endangered species, wetlands, streams and springs feeding our
wells.
Like most people, we have
a mortgage and our home is our biggest investment. When we bought this
house and took on the extra expense required to live here, we had no
regrets. This was primarily a decision made for our children.
Never could we have
imagined being part of this nightmare. Yes, our house may survive this
destructive construction process but the wonderland our children
discovered and have reveled in every single day since we came to live
here and our sense of safety will be destroyed forever.
Today our house is
unsellable because of the potential pipeline route and its value will be
drastically reduced if the pipeline does go through. Like our
neighbors, we are not able to pack up and walk away from our home. If
our homes even survive.
It seems sometimes
political leaders become insulated or removed from the regular people
and families they represent. Yes, I understand the Iran nuclear
negotiations are important but so are my children and my neighbors’
grandchildren and the disabled man two doors away and we are in need of
your help. We may not be as glamorous as international negotiations but
Sen. Shaheen and Sen. Ayotte, we also matter.
KATLYN KENNEDY
38 Scott Mountain Road
Richmond
