Impact to open space and conservation land

‍ •The main line from NY to Dracut would cross more than 50 areas of priority habitat (areas identified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program)

•72 miles of core habitat

•Over 1500 acres of forested, agricultural and open meadow land would be taken during construction

•30.9 miles of core waters  — 230 wetlands, 118 waterbodies, including 15 outstanding resource waters, 13 public water supplies, 2 scenic rivers, and 4 wellhead protection areas

•Horizontal drilling would take place under rivers; trenching would occur in other wetlands

•Blasting would occur in areas with ledge and granite

•Tennessee gas uses an ‘Integrated Vegetation Management Plan’  which includes use of herbicides and pesticides on Right of Ways (ROWs)- You may also find this information in the mass.gov EEA section Vegetation Management & Yearly Operation Plans  – scroll down to Tennessee Gas Pipeline – Vegetation Management Plan (2011-2015)

‘The proposed pipeline will be constructed through ecologically sensitive lands mapped within BioMap II and Priority Habitat (as designated by the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program), UMass’ Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System, and state -designated Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

It also will be cut through locally designated and state funded open space lands owned and managed by municipalities, land trusts, and private organizations such as Mass Audubon and local watershed organizations, as well as state lands managed by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The pipeline will result in a permanent fifty foot wide swath of about 250 miles in length, much of it through ecologically sensitive lands, on which trees could not grow and structures not be built. There have been no public hearings to assess the harm to natural resources that will result from the project and no public process to identify appropriate alternative routes for the pipeline or evaluate if a pipeline of that magnitude is needed.’ -from a May 8, 2014 letter to Governor Deval Patrick from the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC)

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Environmental organizations challenge ongoing Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Pipeline Projects:

Washington,  DC: In  a  decision  issued  June  6, 2014,  the  United  States  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  ruled  that  the  Delaware  Riverkeeper  Network,  the  NJ  Sierra  Club  and  New  Jersey  Highlands  Coalition  were  correct  in  their  legal  challenge  to  the  Tennessee  Gas  Pipeline  Company’s  Northeast  Upgrade  Project  and  ordered  additional  analysis  and  review.

Read more:

Press Release Delaware Riverkeeper Network, New Jersey Highlands Coalition, New Jersey Sierra Club

Decision US Court of Appeals – Delaware Riverkeeper Network ET AL, Petitioners v. FERC, Respondent and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Intervenors

Pipeline Watch Training Module – Detailing the installation of the Tennessee Gas pipelines in PA – the ‘Northeast Upgrade Project’