New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision last week to finally approve the Williams Cos.’s natural gas pipeline into New York City left a bitter taste for environmental advocates who opposed the Tulsa company’s request.
Some felt “betrayed,” as stated by Alex Beauchamp, the northeast region director at Food and Water Watch.
“By granting the water quality certificate, the governor has not only sided with the oil and gas industry but just as troublingly sided with President Trump,” said Beauchamp. “It’s deeply disappointing.”
Another opponent is Katherine Nadeau, deputy executive director of the advocacy group Environmental Advocates NY. She said the pipeline “poses serious risks for our water, our marine life, and our health and safety,” adding, ““Each new pipeline takes us backward, and locks us into decades of fossil fuel dependence that we can’t afford.”
Another environmental advocate, Mark Izeman, senior strategist and attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council maintained the pipeline will tear up more than 20 miles of the harbor floor as it crosses the Hudson River separating the two states.
“This would undercut billions of dollars that New York and New Jersey have invested to improve water quality,” he said, reported Inside Climate News.
Williams had been attempting to win approval for several years to build the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline on a 24-mile route from New Jersey into New York City. Company president and CEO, Chad Zamarin said in response to Hochul’s approval, the project “reflects our commitment to deliver clean and reliable energy, while lowering energy costs and supporting economic growth and environmental stewardship.”
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