ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Developers of a 124-mile pipeline designed to transport natural gas to the Northeast from Pennsylvania's shale fields said Monday they'll challenge New York's rejection of a critical permit.
The Constitution Pipeline Company said the denial letter from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation includes "flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations" and is driven by politics rather than science.
The DEC on Friday denied a water quality permit, saying the project fails to meet standards that protect hundreds of streams, wetlands and other water resources in its path. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project in December 2014, conditioned on the state permit.
The company, a partnership formed by Cabot Oil & Gas, Williams Partners and Piedmont Natural Gas Company, can appeal the state decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Spokesman Christopher Stockton said the company is considering that option.
"In spite of NYSDEC's unprecedented decision, we remain absolutely committed to building this important energy infrastructure project, which will create an important connection between consumers and reliable supplies of clean, affordable natural gas," the partners said in a joint statement.
Among other things, DEC said Constitution failed to provide site-specific plans showing how deep the 30-inch pipeline would be at each of the 251 streams along its route. Constitution said Monday that it provided detailed drawings and profiles for every stream crossing, including depth of the pipe. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Rachel Gaudio, a legal fellow with the New Haven-based Connecticut Fund for the Environment said that if Tilcon’s plan is approved, it would create a precedent for eroding protected sites.
“We believe that it would set a precedent where everybody will say that they will do some great thing like building a reservoir and then ask to make use of this land,” said Gaudio. “Meanwhile, there have been no studies that show we have any need for a reservoir or what the environmental impact of its construction would be.”Tilcon plans to move its operation onto Class 1 and Class 2 protected aquifer land owned by the New Britain Water Department. This would extend the 100-year operation by another 40 years. Tilcon, the second-largest taxpayer in Plainville, would create a forested buffer around the new site, providing 157 acres of open space to Plainville, 95 to New Britain and 75 to Southington. Once operations are concluded, Tilcon has proposed transforming the quarry site into a reservoir.
Additionally, blasting operations would be moved 1,000 feet away from Plainville homes. Tilcon is currently authorized to blast within 300 feet of homes. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
East Hampton High School construction reaches midway point
EAST HAMPTON >> The contractor handling the high school renovation is gearing up for a major effort this summer.
With luck, when students return to the school in the fall, the project will be 75 percent complete, the project construction manager told the School Building Committee. “This is probably the busiest summer we are going to have,” Charles E. “Chuck” Warrington Jr. told the committee during its regular monthly meeting Thursday. “In general, overall, the project is proceeding very well and is right on track.” Warrington is the project manager for Colliers International. We’re probably 50 percent done now,” committee member Cynthia Abraham said. The six classrooms adjoining the existing library/media center are substantially complete. All that remains to be done in those classrooms “are punch-list items,” Warrington said. Downes Construction, the general contractor, is “preparing to do the whole entire front wing” once the school closes for the summer, Warrington said. That will mean moving the administration offices out of the high school and relocating them to the Memorial School over the summer, Warrington said. “There’s going to be a lot intensive work,” he said. “This is ‘crunch time’ for Downes.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
East Haddam Swing Bridge emergency repair work begins
EAST HADDAM >> Emergency undercarriage construction will be taking place through the end of June on the East Haddam Swing Bridge.
The Coast Guard, which is in control of the operation of the Route 82 bridge across the Connecticut River, has issued a temporary schedule change, according to a press release. It will allow the state Department of Transportation, which owns the bridge, to perform emergency repairs to electrical systems that have the plagued the historic structure, the statement continues. Repairs will include complicated mechanical and electrical work, which will correct failures of the bridge emergency drive system, which will cause periodic lane closures. The DOT will be supplying message boards to warn motorists in advance.
During this time, the bridge will only open on demand until June 30, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and there will be a two-hour notice from the boater requesting its opening. The bridge will only be opening at the request of the boater, not on the hour and half-hour and will allow marine traffic as normal. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Planned Windsor Locks mall appears dead
One of two proposed outlet malls for the Hartford region appears dead.
According to Windsor Locks First Selectman Chris Kervick's Facebook page, Indiana retail developer Simon Property Group has told the town that it is suspending efforts to recruit tenants to its proposed Hartford Premium Outlets on a 76-acre former tobacco parcel on Old Country Road, at the junction of I-91 and Route 20.
Simon Property's option to buy the land expired Monday and the developer was unwilling to extend it, Kervick said in the posting.
Meantime, Chicago-based Horizon Properties Group confirmed at that time that it too was proceeding with plans to erect its 410,000-square-foot Outlet Shoppes at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
The announcement is a sharp reversal from late March, when Kervick boasted in a Facebook posting at the time that Simon's Windsor Locks mall project was still a 'go.'
"The level of retailer commitment was robust early on," Kervick said, "but they told me that a weak holiday season seemed to take the wind out of their sails. They just couldn't get the number of commitments needed to make a go of it."
Deal Watch Today could not immediately reach Simon officials for comment. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Esty brownfields legislation passes Senate
The U.S. Senate has passed the Brownfields Reauthorization Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored in the House by U.S. Reps. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) and Chris Gibson (R-NY), as part of a larger legislative package. Now it needs House approval.
The Brownfields Reauthorization Act will help communities revitalize and remediate "brownfields" – abandoned, often contaminated former industrial properties. The bill was included in the Energy Policy Modernization Act, which passed the Senate today by an 85-12 vote.
Esty said on average, every redeveloped acre of brownfields yields about 10 jobs for local economies. "Cities and towns in central and northwest Connecticut like Meriden, New Milford, Torrington and Waterbury have miles of abandoned industrial sites that are just waiting to be restored into economic assets," she said.
The bill expands eligibility for EPA Brownfields grants to certain nonprofit and community development groups, including governments that acquired brownfields prior to the program's creation in 2002. It also authorizes new multi-purpose grants to streamline the process and create greater certainty of long-term financing for multifaceted projects. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE