Pipeline opponents vow to stay active

The fight against natural gas pipelines in Massachusetts has not subsided in the wake of Kinder Morgan's announcement that it was suspending its Northeast Energy Direct project.

More than 150 anti-pipeline protesters gathered outside the State House Tuesday to call for an end to other proposed pipelines across the state, their chants of "No to pipelines" and "Yes to clean energy" drowning out the notes of "America the Beautiful" blasting from a Laborers International Union of North America that displayed pro-pipeline messages while waiting in traffic nearby.

In late April, Kinder Morgan said it would suspend spending and construction on a pipeline that would have run through parts of the state, ending in Dracut. The company cited inadequate commitments from prospective customers. In July 2015, the company's board had authorized Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company to move forward with a $3.3 billion investment in pipeline capacity from Wright, New York to Dracut.

Kathryn Eiseman of the Massachusetts Pipe Line Awareness Network, told ralliers that the suspension marked "a milestone and a victory, but not yet a complete victory."

"We need a clean break from that," she said, also speaking against Kinder Morgan's Connecticut Expansion project that would bring a 3.8-mile pipeline loop to Sandisfield.

Activists vowed to stop Spectra Energy's West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline project and said they have trained 300 volunteers who are willing to risk arrest by physically halting work at construction sites. Forty-four have been arrested so far, said Marla Marcum of Resist the Pipeline.

After demonstrating on the State House steps, ralliers attended a Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change hearing on the Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline. Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton is scheduled to testify. - Katie Lannan/SHNS