Federal officials could soon allow a controversial gas piping project to move forward

After initially being denied key permits by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, a regional gas pipeline company aims to soon begin construction on a controversial stretch of new piping in a town near the Hudson Valley.

Millennium Pipeline Company wants to build about 8 miles of new piping to supply the Competitive Power Ventures Valley Energy Center in Wawayanda, New York, with gas via Millennium’s mainline.

Wawayanda is located in Orange County, about 70 miles northwest of New York City. The company’s mainline runs through Orange County.

NYDEC initially denied Millennium key permits because agency officials said an environmental review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was lacking. FERC did not account for the project’s downstream greenhouse gas emissions, the state conservation agency said.

FERC, though, recently voided that decision, saying the NYDEC failed to make a ruling on the project within the time designated by the Clean Water Act. The DEC “waived its authority to issue or deny a water quality certification,” FERC said in a statement released Friday.

Michelle Hook, director of public relations for Millennium, said the gas company will try to obtain a final notice from FERC to move the project forward. But whether the federal agency allows construction to start soon remains unclear, she said.

“Whether the New York DEC will fight, that remains to be seen. We don’t know,” Hook said.

If FERC grants the notice, Millennium must wait until the end of bat roosting season to start construction. Bats prepare for hibernation during the roosting season, which ends at the beginning of November.

“We have been delayed. Our entire timeline has been pushed back,” Hook said about the Valley Lateral project. “The plant was originally scheduled to go online in February of 2018, and our goal was to try to help them meet that date because they have customers they have agreed to supply that need that power.”

Environmental concerns, though, still surround the project. Robert Friedman, a policy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he believes the new pipeline could harm nearby communities. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental activist organization based in New York City.

“It will have negative harms, not just for local residents, but across the region,” Friedman said. “You have to consider the fact that this fracked gas is coming from Pennsylvania, and there are communities that are actually suffering because of water pollution from the fracking process.”

Hook said Millennium is aware of concerns and will continue to work with the NYDEC to protect waterways near the project.

Friedman said the project’s future is still uncertain.

“(FERC’s decision) could very well mean that this pipeline is permitted and goes forward,” Friedman said. “The DEC could challenge this decision by FERC, and that very well could happen, but we won’t know for a little bit what actually happens.”