Large-scale developers of residential, mixed-use and civic projects are also experiencing significant financial hardship from the moratorium. The LI Herald reported back in June that the Mayor of the Village of Lynbrook has said that there are multiple businesses in the village that are ready to open, but can’t do so without gas service, causing “a tremendous hurt to the village.” According to Vision Long Island, a nonprofit smart growth advocacy group, the moratorium is having an economic impact on downtowns and small businesses that has gone mostly unreported. In a Press Release announcing its decision to deny the permit application for the NESE, the DEC said that “construction of the proposed project would result in significant water quality impacts from the re-suspension of sediments and other contaminants, including mercury and copper” and “would cause impacts to habitats due to the disturbance of shellfish beds and other benthic (bay-bottom) resources.” Many have been critical of National Grid’s actions, claiming that the moratorium is nothing more than a political ploy to get the pipeline approved.Īs the standoff between the State and National Grid continues, residents and businesses, and even the region’s economy, are suffering hardship from the inability to connect to natural gas service. Other opponents claim that the pipeline will have significant adverse impacts on the environment. Some opponents of the pipeline, including Governor Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, argue that it would further the region’s reliance on fossil fuels and is incompatible with the state’s goals to shift to renewable energy in the coming years. In July 2019, National Grid’s residential customers received an email stating that it would not be able to expand gas service unless the NESE pipeline is approved, and urged customers to sign a petition “to express support for this critical energy project” that would be sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the DEC, and federal, state and local elected officials. If completed, National Grid says the pipeline would increase the company’s capacity by 14 percent. The NESE would deliver an additional 400 million cubic feet a day of fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania, through New Jersey, and beneath Raritan Bay and Lower New York Bay, to an existing connection located three miles off the coast of Rockaway, Queens. The NESE seeks to expand the existing 10,000-mile Transco pipeline system that currently serves the northeastern and southeastern states. Since that time, National Grid has denied about 2,600 requests for gas service from new residential, commercial and industrial customers.Īccording to National Grid, the region’s demand for natural gas is expected to rise by 10 percent over the next decade and, without the NESE, its existing infrastructure simply does not have the ability to handle this increased demand. The moratorium was imposed following a Decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) denying a water-quality permit for a portion of a proposed 23-mile underwater gas supply pipeline, known as the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project. In May 2019, National Grid – the utility company that provides natural gas to approximately 1.8 million customers in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island – announced a moratorium on the processing of applications for new gas service.
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