Albany

Environmental groups were emboldened this week in opposition to National Grid's Albany Loop natural gas pipeline project after the Cuomo administration blocked approval of a downstate pipeline that also was being backed by the utility.

On Wednesday, the Department of Environmental Conservation denied a water quality certificate to the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, proposed by Williams Cos. to bring natural gas supply to the New York City market.

The agency said the 23-mile natural gas Williams pipeline, which would have been laid underwater across New York Harbor and go past Coney Island and the Rockaways, would "result in significant water quality impacts from the re-suspension of sediments and other contaminants, including mercury and copper."

The DEC said the project would also disturb shellfish beds and the "benthic," or sediment surface ecosystem.

"DEC conducted a comprehensive review of the NESE application and supporting materials, as well as the more than 14,000 public comments received on the project, before reaching this decision," the agency said in a statement.

Environmental and social justice groups that delivered petitions to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office at the Capitol on Monday opposing the Williams project and other natural gas pipeline expansions say the same arguments that were used against the New York City project can be used against National Grid's so-called E37 project, a 7-mile expansion of its "Albany Loop" that brings natural gas around the Capital Region.

The $70 million project would connect National Grid's system in Bethlehem to its Troy Gate Station on Bloomingrove Drive in North Greenbush with a pipeline extension that would be built under the Hudson River.

The E37 project is currently being examined by the state Public Service Commission, and National Grid is hoping to begin construction in the fall.

It's unclear when the PSC could make a decision on whether or not to approve the project.

However, there has been enough public interest in the project, and enough people asking the PSC to extend the comment period so that more people could be heard, that last month the PSC extended the comment period from April 24 until May 24, which is Friday.

The PSC will hold what's known as a procedural conference on June 6 that will set the schedule for a future vote by the commissioners, which is months away.

"New York state should carefully look at the (E37) project for the same reason that they carefully looked at the Williams pipeline, specifically that the (E37) pipeline will go under the Hudson River," said Robert Connors of Canaan, co-founder of Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline.

National Grid, which says the Albany Loop extension is needed to satisfy requests by new commercial and residential customers for natural gas hookups as well as meet increased demand from existing customers, says that the denial of the Williams pipeline's water quality certificate doesn't impact its Capital Region proposal.

"There is no impact..." National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella said. "These are two separate projects on two separate gas systems."

Although the New York City pipeline was proposed by a separate company, National Grid had supported and advocated for the regulatory approval of the Williams pipeline. National Grid provides natural gas service to the New York City area, so it sees the extension of the Williams pipeline tied to its future ability to expand its customer base.

"Williams will evaluate and address the issues cited in the denial decision and will resubmit the application quickly," Stella said. "Until we have greater certainty around the project's application approval timeline, we will continue to advise all new commercial and residential applicants in downstate New York that our ability to provide firm gas service is contingent on the timely construction of (the Williams pipeline)."

Connnors, who also runs a group called Community Advocates for a Sustainable Environment, says that National Grid is trying to scare people into thinking their homes or businesses could lose natural gas supply if either pipeline isn't built.

Connors and other environmental advocates push for the use of electrically powered heat pumps to cool and warm buildings, not natural gas. The groups fear the expansion of fracked natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania and other states if more capacity is built into the transmission network.

"National Grid is fear mongering by saying there's a threat of supply disruptions if they don't build the pipeline," Connors said, "when in fact there are alternatives in both cases: renewables, energy efficiency and more effectively regulating demand."

National Grid has the support of a wide variety of business groups and chambers of commerce to build the Albany Loop connection. They say the pipeline is needed for economic development and expansion.

"Without competitively priced and reliable energy, our business, current employees, their families and future growth at our site is threatened," Doug Martin, vice president of operations at Adirondack Beverages in Scotia, wrote the PSC in support of the Albany Loop project.

The $70 million price tag for the Albany Loop project was approved by the PSC in National Grid's 2012 rate case, although the commission still has the final say whether the project can proceed.

Mothers Out Front is another local group that ties the expansion of natural gas pipelines to climate change.

"Mothers Out Front in the Capital Region feels this decision on the Williams pipeline highlights the dangers the proposed E37 Albany Pipeline loop will have on the Hudson riverbed and surrounding communities if approved by the PSC," said local Mothers Out Front organizer Megan Root. "Similar to the Williams pipeline, National Grid has failed to present reliability and resiliency need for the E37 Albany Loop Pipeline to the communities it will serve."