Just seven years ago, Superstorm Sandy ripped into the Rockaways, devastating my neighborhood of Breezy Point, and showing how vulnerable New York is to the climate breakdowns that are now a part of daily life in coastal communities like mine.
So when an out-of-state company came into our community proposing to build a climate-wrecking fracked gas pipeline right off our shoreline, I was outraged. Despite an escalating climate crisis, Williams Companies is hellbent on building the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a fracked gas pipeline that would extend from New Jersey, under Raritan Bay, and into the waters near our homes. The gas that would be transported by the pipeline is a potent climate pollutant that would supercharge future storms that threaten our coastal communities.
Doubling down on fracked gas — at a time when climate experts are practically begging world leaders to get off of fossil fuels for good — is not only maddening, it’s dangerous. It’s an especially insulting move for our community, which has already lost so much at the hands of climate change.
The pipeline also threatens our community in other ways. Its construction would kick up mercury, copper and other harmful contaminants from the seafloor. Together with countless others, including fellow former first-responders, I swim in the ocean throughout the year for exercise. Who will pay my medical bills when our beloved waterways become contaminated? The beach and surrounding waters belong to us, not a private corporation.
We also share these waters with abundant marine life. I’ve seen firsthand that our waterways are rebounding after decades of abuse. Last year alone, 272 whales were spotted in New York City’s waterways, compared with just five in 2011. The area that the pipeline would tear through is home to other species, too — like dolphins, turtles, fish and oysters. All of these creatures could be poisoned by contaminants stirred up from the pipeline’s construction.
These threats are compounded by Williams’ extremely poor safety record. In the last 11 years alone, Williams’ projects, from Alabama to Pennsylvania, have been fined by federal enforcement agencies for unsafe practices. Their pipelines and associated infrastructure have caught fire 10 times, and there have been multiple explosions in their facilities. These incidents have resulted in six deaths and injured over 100 people. This is not a company that has our community’s interests in mind.
There is a better path forward.
The state legislature recently passed the most ambitious climate bill in the country, and Gov. Cuomo is expected to sign it. The bill requires that 70% of the state’s electricity come from renewable energy by 2030 and that 9,000 megawatts of wind capacity be installed off our shores. These are huge and historic steps that will bring jobs to our communities without resigning us to contaminated waters and more frequent intense storms.
Cuomo has the power to stop this pipeline. If he wants to protect our communities and New York’s waterways from harm, and truly supercharge New York’s clean energy future, the decision is easy: Stop the Williams fracked gas pipeline.
Power is a life-long resident of Breezy Point in the Rockaways, a former 9/11 first responder, and a retired deputy chief in the New York City Fire Department.
