Cuomo. (Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor)
By SCOTT WALDMAN 3:26 p.m. | Apr. 22, 2016 follow this reporter
ALBANY—The Cuomo administration has denied the water quality permits for a controversial pipeline in what has become another primary test of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s environmental legacy.
On Friday, which is Earth Day, the state Department of Environmental Conservation denied the water quality certificate the pipeline developers need to begin construction. Most of the pipeline’s federal permits have already been approved and the project developers have already shipped all of the pieces into the state and even began clearing trees in Pennsylvania.
Though the administration has approved other pipelines, the Constitution pipeline application did not contain adequate information to determine whether it would meet water quality standards, the DEC’s chief permit administrator, John Ferguson, wrote in the rejection.
“The Application fails in a meaningful way to address the significant water resource impacts that could occur from this Project and has failed to provide sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with New York State water quality standards,” wrote John Ferguson, the “Constitution's failure to adequately address these concerns limited the Department's ability to assess the impacts and conclude that the Project will comply water quality standards.”
Administration officials pointed to the inadequate depth of the pipeline in streams, as well as what they described as a “lack of detailed project plans.” They accused the Constitution developer of intentionally providing vague or incomplete responses to DEC questions.
The Constitution pipeline would have crossed hundreds of bodies of water and involved the clearing of between 100,000 to 700,000, according to figures provided by the developer and those provided by environmental groups.
Developers expected the approval for more than a year, and ordered the fabrication of the pipeline. Much of it is sitting in pieces in storage, including in the Albany region, ready to be deployed for a construction process that was to have taken about a year or less.
Friday's decision was a "disappointment," said Christopher Stockton, a spokesman for William company, the pipeline's developer.
"We are in the process of analyzing the stated rationale for the denial," he said in a statement. "Once that review is complete we will assess our options, which may include an appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”
The denial would be perhaps the most significant environmental decision to come out of the Cuomo administration since it banned fracking last year. It had been closely watched amongst environmental groups, as well as within the energy industry, because states rarely reject intrastate gas pipelines.
The administration delayed making a decision on the proposed $1 billion Constitution pipeline for more than two years. In that time, environmental and community groups turned the 124-mile pipeline, which would have connected gas from Pennsylvania’s robust fracking industry into a network of pipelines that terminate in Schoharie County, into a powerful symbol of the fossil fuel industry that causes climate change.
As with fracking, environmental groups immediately said they would use the rejection to convince other governors to take a similar stand on the pipeline industry.
“Governor Cuomo's rejection of the Constitution Pipeline represents a turning of the tide, where states across the nation that have been pressured into accepting harmful gas infrastructure projects by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may now feel emboldened to push back,” said Roger Downs, conservation director of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter. “Cuomo’s leadership could inspire a domino effect of related pipeline rejections as other states begin to put the protection of water and our climate before flawed energy projects that do not serve the public interest.”
Proponents argued that Constitution was essential, as New York increasingly turns to natural gas for electricity and heat. They also argued that it would create jobs, and bring in tax revenue to an economically-challenged area of the state. Indeed, even top Cuomo administration officials, including Public Service Commission Chairwoman Audrey Zibelman have said the energy grid will need more pipeline capacity in the future.
Predictably, the decision angered industry. The rejection will cost New York jobs and put further strain on the state’s energy grid, said Heather Briccetti, president The Business Council of New York State.
“We are incredibly disappointed that the administration allowed fear-mongering to once again lead the way,” she said. “The decision to deny the approvals necessary for the construction of the Constitution Pipeline will have a direct and immediate negative impact on our state’s economy.”
Earlier this week, the $3 billion Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, which would have stretched 400 miles from Pennsylvania through New York to New England was scrapped by its developers because of low gas prices and a lack of customer commitments. But that pipeline was also met with tremendous opposition by environmental and community groups, as well as Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and an extensive legal battle was likely.
Pipelines are largely the purview of the federal government, and the state DEC has typically worked with developers to approve them. Earlier this week, DEC acting Commissioner Basil Seggos said he could not recall another pipeline that had been rejected by the state in recent years.
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