BY ALBERT AMATEAU | The Hudson River Park Trust board of directors on Monday voted to approve the easement across the Gansevoort Peninsula for Spectra Energy’s high-pressure, 30-inch-diameter, natural gas pipeline.
The approval was opposed by only two votes, from Lawrence Goldberg, an appointee of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and from Paul Ullman, an appointee of Governor Cuomo.
At a show-of-hands vote at the June 18 meeting, Pamela Frederick, another Stringer appointee, also voted “no” but changed her mind at the roll call and was among the eight “yes” votes.
The approval will allow Spectra’s gas pipeline that would cross the river from Jersey City to cross the peninsula at Gansevoort St. and the riverfront walkway, which are under Trust jurisdiction although the peninsula is used by the Department of Sanitation.
The pipeline would then cross under the West Side Highway to a Con Edison underground vault east of the highway near Gansevoort St. Con Edison plans to extend the pipeline north to its natural gas feeder line near W. 15th St.
The easement also calls for Spectra to pay the Trust $2.74 million for the 30-year term of the agreement.
While opposed by some environmental organizations and local groups, including Community Board 2, because of safety and environmental concerns, the pipeline has the strong support of the Bloomberg administration. The city hopes that relatively clean-burning natural gas will replace highly polluting No. 4 and 6 heating oils in some 10,000 buildings in the city.
Madelyn Wils, the Trust’s president, noted that the authority received 682 communications about the easement, most in opposition. But civic groups, including Citizens for a Better New York and the League of Conservation Voters, are for the pipeline and the easement.
Ullman, a West Village resident, persistently asked Spectra representatives at the June 18 meeting about emergency plans in case of an explosion in the 650-foot-long section of pipeline that would cross Gansevoort Peninsula.
Pipeline officials chose to answer the question by repeating the details of how the pipeline exceeds U.S. safety standards, including the .75-inch thickness of the steel instead of the recommended .63 inches. Spectra will also maintain a 24/7 patrol of the pipeline route.
A city official told the meeting that a Fire Department official said the department plans to develop emergency protocols when the pipeline is complete.
Goldberg reminded the meeting that C.B. 2 and area environmental groups are opposed to the pipeline because it would encourage hydrofracture gas drilling in the Marcellus shale region of New York State’s Southern Tier.
However, Diane Taylor, chairperson of the Trust board of directors, said the fracking issue is not within the Trust’s purview.
The pipeline is to operate at a pressure of 350 pounds per square inch. When it is completed by 2014, initially it will be filled with water less than 650 pounds of pressure per square inch, as part of the testing process. However, the pipeline will be built to stand pressure of more than 3,500 pounds per square inch, Spectra officials said.
There are four other pipelines that bring gas into the city, but the Spectra pipe will be the first new one in 40 years. The line will extend from Linden, N.J., across the Arthur Kill to Staten Island and across Kill Van Kull to Bayonne, N.J., and up to Jersey City, where it will cross the Hudson to Manhattan.
Public testimony wasn’t allowed at the Trust’s Monday meeting, but opponents were in the audience. Daniele Gerard, president of the Three Parks Independent Democrats on the Upper West Side, said later that the club had urged the Trust to vote against the Spectra easement, or at least postpone the vote to allow time for more questions.
Louis Kleinman, a member of the New York Waterfront Alliance, said he had concerns about the provisions for emergency remote-control gas shutoff.
The pipeline has already received the approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
