PUTNEY — Last Thursday, like every other Thursday in the recent past, a group of area residents stood together along Gulf Road in Northfield, Mass., fighting for the future of their neighborhood, their town, and the climate.
Kinder Morgan, an offshoot of the late and not-lamented Texas corporation, Enron, is planning to build a large pipeline from the New York–Massachusetts border in the Berkshires, to the town of Dracut, Mass.
The route includes our very nearby neighbors to the south and east: Northfield, Mass.; Winchester, N.H.; and a number of other towns.
The Gulf Road location is slated for a compressor station, one of many that would be a part of the proposed pipeline. This large, loud, bright, and polluting facility would run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Northfield residents have many concerns about this pipeline. I joined the demonstration last Thursday and spoke with a number of locals so I can share some of the reasons they were protesting with Windham County readers.
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Judy Wolter, a Gulf Road resident whose home is about 2 miles away from the compressor site, has clearly researched the effects of these pumping stations.
Wolter says that while a pipeline is allowed to leak gases at all times, as long as the level is too low to cause an explosion, the largest amounts of pollutants are released in planned “blowdowns”: quarterly releases of billions of cubic feet of toxins, including methane, benzene, toluene, radon, and others.
She lists the effects of these poisons, including headache, nausea, sinus infections, bruising, and far more serious diseases, including cancers, autoimmune disorders, thyroid disease, and many other serious health threats.
These chemicals are known to be endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins, carcinogens, feticides, and mutagens.
Even in the world of companies that build and maintain pipelines, Kinder Morgan has a particularly bad safety record. While I never thought I would be citing The Wall Street Journal, a number of people have read an article that states that Kinder Morgan is putting safety last, well after profits for shareholders.
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Bill Kilpatrick, who lives within 1 mile of the compressor location, feels the major threat to his home is that the blasting will disrupt the flow and cleanliness of the water in his and others' wells.
The area is not on a town water line, and all those living along Gulf Road depend on well water. He also is concerned about the constant air pollution. He told me that people are being offered compensation for their homes only if their home or land is on the path of the pipeline or too close to the compressor, but they are told that they have no choice in the matter, and will lose their homes or land whether they choose to accept compensation or not!
Another local protestor, Denise, who lives on the edge of the impact zone, is concerned about the effluent, her water, and that all this disruption may be for pipelines that are used for a short period of time. The Marcellus Shale, from which the gas would be piped, is a finite resource, and many people feel that it is already being exhausted.
Susie Secco is involved because the pipeline is slated to go through her land. She is completely opposed to the taking of private land.
Tony, an opponent who also lives on Gulf Road within the blast zone, has no offer of compensation. His home was a hard-earned reward after many years of savings; he moved here for quiet, peace, nature, and the community.
He is not sure how he could continue living here if this compressor goes in. He is amazed that “people who live here have no vote on this.”
A number of people were also concerned about the values of their homes. This is not a wealthy area, and a few people told me that most of those living in the area have most of their assets in their property.
If property values tank, which many feel is already happening, some will be left with little. If the around-the-clock noise, light, toxins, or effects on the water quality make people's lives unbearable, many will have no place to go.
It appears that in the United States, the concept of eminent domain has become something that any large corporation can use to take land and rob communities of their clean air and water.
The Northfield Selectboard opposes the project, and several board members have been very vocal about the issue. Northfield and a number of other Massachusetts towns, including Montague, Deerfield, Ashfield, and Conway, have passed resolutions formally expressing that view.
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Most of us who oppose the network of pipelines the oil and gas industry is attempting to impose on our country - from the Keystone XL to this local intrusion in our region - recognize that this project is exactly the wrong way to move ahead in energy policy.
This pipeline is the largest addition to the fossil-fuel infrastructure in decades. The industry knows that if it builds this huge pipeline network, the investment will encourage greater drilling and more use of this fuel, especially with the frequent advertising about how clean natural gas is!
If we are to minimize the potentially disastrous effects of climate disruption, we must move toward renewable energy.
Local groups, including the Safe and Green Campaign and Post Oil Solutions' Climate Change Café, are working with those opposing the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Activists from these groups have been involved with the struggles of our neighbors through participation in rallies, hearings, vigils, and walks, and by inviting those engaged in this struggle to come to Brattleboro to speak.
Post Oil will be presenting a “Night of Solidarity” café featuring musicians and speakers from the target area at the Brooks Memorial Library at 6 p.m. on Oct. 27. Please join us.