Page 2
Spring 2012
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
Rockaway Gas Pipeline &
&
ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ &ŝĞůĚ D ĞƚĞƌͲ
ŝŶŐ^ƚĂƟŽŶ͗
t ŚĂƚ dŚĞLJ / Ͳ
N'T Tell You...
/
ǁ ĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ t ĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ
ŶŝŐŚƚ ;ϰͬ
ϮϱͿ Ăƚ &ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ &ŝĞůĚ͘
There was one Tuesday night (4/24)
in Rockaway. There was virtually no
ƉƵďůŝĐŝƚLJĂďŽƵƚ ƚŚĞƐĞ ŵĞĞƟŶŐƐ͘
dŚĞ
ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ǁ ĂƐ Ă ƉŽƐƚĞƌ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂŶĚ
there were LOADS of experts there
both from the pipeline company
;
t ŝůŝĂŵƐͿ Θ ĨƌŽŵ E ĂƟŽŶĂů ' ƌŝĚ͘
Many were flown in from other
states. All of them were very well
versed in the project and very, very,
very nice. So right away, I'm thinking
a) There's going to be major money
flowing in and around this project
and b) They want to make sure that
ƚŚĞƌĞ ŝƐ E K ƉƵďůŝĐ ŽƉƉŽƐŝƟŽŶ͘
,
ĞƌĞ
is a link to the site for the project:
ŚƩ Ɖ͗
ͬ
ͬ
ĐŽ͘
ǁ ŝůŝĂŵƐ͘
ĐŽŵͬ
ǁ ŝůŝĂŵƐͬ
ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐͬ
ŐĂƐ
-
pipeline/expansion-
projects/transco-expansion-
projects/rockaway-lateral-project/.
In a nutshell, they want to tap into
ĂŶ ĞdžŝƐƟŶŐ ƵŶĚĞƌǁ ĂƚĞƌ ƉŝƉĞůŝŶĞ͕
ůĂLJ
Ϯ͘
ϳ ϵ ŵŝůĞƐ ŽĨ ƉŝƉĞŽŶ ƚŚĞƐĞĂďŽƩ Žŵ
(
they blow the sand out of the way
to make a shallow trench, then fill it
in) and 2.79 miles of onshore pipe-
ůŝŶĞ͘
dŚĞ ŽŶƐŚŽƌĞ ƉŽƌƟŽŶ ǁ ŝů ďĞ
tunneled under Riis Park and Jamai-
ca Bay, then end up in a metering
ƐƚĂƟŽŶ ǁ ŚŝĐŚ ǁ ŝů ďĞ ĐŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƚĞĚ ŝŶ
one of the old hangers at Floyd Ben-
ŶĞƩ ͘
K ŶĐĞ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶĂů͕
ƚŚĞ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ
will
be controlled remotely
ĨƌŽŵ͘
͘
͘
dĞdžĂƐ͘
WĂƌƚ ŽĨ &ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ
will be dug up so the pipeline can
come in so let's hope they find noth-
ing more noxious than old horse
bones. Then they are going to dig up
Flatbush Ave. all the way to Avenue
U to lay more pipe, that will be
hooked up to a line on Avenue U.
Since an easement is involved, NYS
ĂŶĚ E z ǁ ŝů ďĞ ŐĞƫ ŶŐ Ă ďŝŐ ĨĂƚ
check. As they blow miles of sand
out of the way, there is no guaran-
tee where it is going to be carried.
Given the currents, it will probably
move to the west, but if a good
storm comes up, who knows where
it will end up. Smothering a produc-
Ɵǀ Ğ Į ƐŚŝŶŐ ƐƉŽƚ ƉĞƌŚĂƉƐ͍
Ƶƚ ǁ ŚŽ
cares, destroy some habitat then
ƚŚƌŽǁ ƐŽŵĞ ŵŝƟŐĂƟŽŶ ŵŽŶĞLJ
around and everyone will be happy.
About a year and a half ago, many of
ƵƐ ĂƩ ĞŶĚĞĚ Ă ŵĞĞƟŶŐĐŽŶǀ ĞŶĞĚ ďLJ
ƚŚĞ ZĞŐŝŽŶĂůWůĂŶ ƐƐŽĐŝĂƟŽŶ͕
;
ZW Ϳ
regarding a Blue Ribbon Panel's rec-
ŽŵŵĞŶĚĂƟŽŶƐ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ĨƵƚƵƌĞ ŽĨ
&
ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ ͘
dŽ ĞŶƐƵƌĞ ĂŶĚ ĞŶͲ
hance the environmental and histor-
ical integrity of Floyd Benne
Ʃ
,
the
only uses proposed in the Blue Rib-
ďŽŶ WĂŶĞůΖƐ ƌĞƉŽƌƚ ǁ ĞƌĞƌĞĐƌĞĂƟŽŶĂů
and historical. Even the NYPD and
ĞƉƚ͘
ŽĨ ^ĂŶŝƚĂƟŽŶ ĨĂĐŝůŝƟĞƐ ƚŚĂƚ
have been there for decades were
to eventually have their footprints
reduced so as not to detract from
ƚŚĞ ƌĞĐƌĞĂƟŽŶĂů ĂŶĚ ŚŝƐƚŽƌŝĐĂů ĂƐͲ
pects. I even pulled out that
ŵĞĞƟŶŐΖƐ ĚŽĐƵŵĞŶƚƐ ƚŽ ĐŽŶĮ ƌŵ
this. At the Blue Ribbon Panel
ŵĞĞƟŶŐ͕
ůŝŬĞŐŽŽĚ ůŝƩ ůĞĐŚŝůĚƌĞŶ͕
ǁ Ğ
all sat around our big round discus-
sion tables, put on our thinking caps,
and talked about what WE would
like to see at Floyd: Birding - yes!
Model airplanes - yes! A hanger
where you could watch old planes
being restored - yes! Community
gardens - yes! etc, etc. When I men-
ƟŽŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůƵĞ ZŝďďŽŶ WĂŶĞů ƚŽ Ă
E ĂƟŽŶĂů ' ƌŝĚ ƌĞƉ͕
ƚŚĞLJ ƐĂŝĚ ƚŚĞƌĞ
ǁ ĂƐ Ă ΗƋƵĞƐƟŽŶ ŽĨ ŝŶƚĞƌƉƌĞƚĂƟŽŶΗ
about what "historical" and
ΗƌĞĐƌĞĂƟŽŶĂůΗŵĞĂŶƚ͘
/
Ŷ ƐŚŽƌƚ͕
ƚŚĞLJ
were going to try and B.S. their way
ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ͕
ƚŽ ũƵƐƟĨLJǁ ŚĂƚ ƚŚĞLJǁ ĞƌĞ
doing. The RPA knows if a pigeon is
planning to poop on the sidewalk,
yet at the Blue Ribbon Panel
ŵĞĞƟŶŐ͕
ƚŚĞƌĞ ǁ ĂƐŶΖƚ Ă ǁ ŽƌĚ ĂďŽƵƚ
ƚŚŝƐŵĞƚĞƌŝŶŐƐƚĂƟŽŶ͘
s ĞƌLJĐƵƌŝŽƵƐ͊
GIVEN WHAT WENT DOWN AT THE
BLUE RIBBON PANEL MEETING, IT IS
ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS THAT
THIS METERING STATION IS EVEN
BEING CONSIDERED.
Of course, the really nice, knowl-
edgeable people from out of state
painted a wonderful picture for us of
how perfect this whole project is.
But as we all know, in the real world,
stuff happens. Already this summer,
there have been brush fires in Stat-
en Island, New Jersey and else-
where. There are frequent brush
fires in Marine Park and a history of
Į ƌĞƐ Ăƚ &ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ ͘
dŚĞ Į ƌĞ ŚLJͲ
ĚƌĂŶƚƐ Ăƚ &ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ ĂƌĞ ƉƌŽďͲ
ůĞŵĂƟĐ͘
t ŚĞŶ / ŵĞŶƟŽŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŚLJͲ
drants, the pipeline people turned
white. I guess they thought that no
ŽŶĞ ŬŶĞǁ ƚŚŝƐ ĚŝƌƚLJ ůŝƩ ůĞ ƐĞĐƌĞƚ͘
There aren't that many hydrants and
ŵĂŶLJŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĞdžŝƐƟŶŐŽŶĞƐ ũƵƐƚ ĚŽŶΖƚ
work. Brush fires are bad enough,
especially when the wind comes
howling in off the water. Put a gas
ŵĞƚĞƌŝŶŐ ƐƚĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŵŝĚƐƚ ŽĨ Ăů
of this and BOOM! However, we
ǁ ĞƌĞ ƚŽůĚ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĞƚĞƌŝŶŐ ƐƚĂƟŽŶ
can be shut down - from Texas. But
of course, even if new gas can be
prevented from coming in to the
ŵĞƚĞƌŝŶŐ ƐƚĂƟŽŶ͕
ƚŚĞ ŐĂƐ ƚŚĂƚ ŝƐ ĂůͲ
ready in there remains there. And if
for some reason, the remote shut
ĚŽǁ Ŷ ŽĨ ƚŚŝƐ ƐƚĂƟŽŶ
-
from Texas -
does not work, everything is TOAST.
Haven't we heard about nuclear
power plants that were supposed to
shut down and didn't because some-
thing went wrong??? But we were
ĂƐƐƵƌĞĚ ƚŚĂƚ ŚĞƌĞ͕
Ăƚ &ůŽLJĚ ĞŶŶĞƩ ͕
everything would be perfect. Floyd
can be desolate, especially at night.
What about security? Why should
ƚĞƌƌŽƌŝƐƚƐ ŐŽ ƚŽ D ĂŶŚĂƩ ĂŶ ǁ ŝƚŚ Ăů
of the security there when they
could just come out to Floyd Ben-
ŶĞƩ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŵŝĚĚůĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŶŝŐŚƚ ĂŶĚ
have a blast (literally!)
AND...The folks who will operate the
pipeline have a history of acci-
dents ..."The Williams Transco natu-
ral gas pipeline, an 11,000 mile pipe-