Residents living near downtown Jersey City got the opportunity on Tuesday to learn more about a natural gas pipeline a Texas company wants to run through the city – as well as through Bayonne and near southern Hoboken.
The few who attended the hearing came away saying they were unimpressed.
Spectra Energy Corp., based in Houston, Tex., held an “informational meeting” at Public School 9 on Mercer Street, at which company representatives outnumbered the sparse turnout from the public.
“I would prefer the pipeline did not come through the city at all.”— Kirsten Greene
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There is already political and community opposition to the project.
City Councilman Steven Fulop made his opposition known to the project in an interview with the Jersey City Reporter last month. Fulop is worried about a pipeline explosion and other hazards, especially in light of an explosion in his hometown of Edison in March 1994 of a different company’s pipeline after a contractor hit the pipeline during an excavation. Fulop recently gave his support to an internet group formed to provide updates on the project and a forum for the public to air their concerns.
Fulop has a surprising ally in this fight against the pipeline. His frequent political adversary, Mayor Jerramiah Healy, also came out against the pipeline. He sent a Jan. 29 letter to U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, which is currently posted on the city’s website (cityofjerseycity.com).
“I am in opposition to the line’s creation in light of the potential hazards that it may pose upon completion,” Healy wrote, “the negative effects of which would potentially be felt, not only by the residents of Jersey City, but also by the New York metropolitan region and possibly the world’s financial markets.”
Piping up on project
Downtown Jersey City resident Dale Hardman has formed a web group through Google, Jersey City Gas Pipeline (http://groups.google.com/group/jerseycitygas/), which functions as a forum for residents to post their concerns or learn more about the pipeline project being proposed by Spectra.
Hardman said he has not been able to attend the informational meetings in Jersey City but has done his research on Spectra and gas pipelines in general by visiting websites such as SpectraEnergyWatch (http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/). He believes that residents across the city need to inform themselves on the hazards that a pipeline project brings.
“I don’t think people realize the amount of toxins that are released in the air when there is blow-off, because when gas is transmitted there is so much pressure going through the pipes,” Hardman said.
Hardman also expressed skepticism at Spectra’s informational meetings, saying they should do a presentation to a large audience at a site such as City Hall on Grove Street or Middle School 4 on Bright Street with a Q&A, rather than their current approach.
At Tuesday’s informational meeting, Spectra officials dressed in blue shirts with the company logo showed maps of proposed routes for the pipeline. The residents who attended said they were less than impressed after the showing.
Local documentary editor
Kirsten Greene, a video editor who lives with her husband and her two children near Hamilton Park, came with a friend to the meeting. Greene, who is part of the Jersey City Gas Pipeline group, learned about pipelines and the process of extracting gas from underground, known as fracking, while editing a documentary on the subject.
Greene said her research has shown that such projects have ruined many communities in the U.S.
She did not feel that her concerns about the pipeline were addressed by Spectra officials. She said the city will have to “get some attorneys” to fight this project.
“I would prefer the pipeline did not come through the city at all,” Greene said.
Two upcoming informational meetings on the pipeline are scheduled in Bayonne: Monday, March 15, from 6 – 8 p.m., at CWV Post 1612, 18 West 23rd St., Bayonne; and Wednesday, March 17, 6 – 8 p.m., at Trinity Church (Trinity Parish in Bergen Point), 141 Broadway, Bayonne.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.