UPDATE: CBS News Report from the meeting:
Pilgrim Pipeline Community Meeting in Oakland, Opportunity to Learn More About New Project
On Tuesday evening, May 20th, 6:30pm at the Oakland Public Library, a coalition of environmental and community groups will be hosting a community meeting to educate local residents on the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline. The project would link Albany, NY, and Linden, NJ, with a bidirectional oil pipeline. Bakken crude oil would travel down to Linden and refined products would travel north to New York State. Bakken oil is produced by fracking in North Dakota and is highly explosive, threatening local communities with the risk of spills and accidents. At the meeting concerned residents can learn more about the rights of landowners when approached by the pipeline company, the source of the oil and its consequences for our climate, and the environmental impacts of pipeline construction and operation.
“The upcoming community meetings are an opportunity for local, concerned citizens to learn more about the Pilgrim Pipeline project and how they can become more involved. The Pilgrim Pipeline project would bring an extreme, dangerous fuel source into both densely populated and environmentally sensitive areas along its route. This infrastructure would create a serious risk and communities along the route need to know what the impacts will be and what rights they have,” said Kate Millsaps, conservation program coordinator, NJ Sierra Club.
Bakken oil transportation presents significant risks in all forms. Bakken crude oil is highly explosive and toxic. Moving this fuel by barge, rail, or pipeline would result in significant public health and environmental impacts. All forms of transportation are prone to accidents, spills, and human error. Constructing the pipeline would not replace rail or barge shipments, but would be used to expand the region’s capacity to move oil. With the growth in use of shale oil, the pipeline will be in addition to the other forms of transport.
The Oakland meeting is one of three upcoming community meetings focused on the Pilgrim Pipeline:
Tues. May 20th at 6:30pm at the Oakland Library, 2 Municipal Plz, Oakland, NJ 07436
Tues. May 27th at 6:30pm at the Parsippany Main Library, 449 Halsey Rd, Parsippany, NJ 07054
Tues. June 10th at 6:30 at the Forest Road Park Building, Fanwood, NJ 07023 Directions
A map of the project is below:
Since you lifted the map off the Pilgrim Pipeline web site, you could have at least provided a link to their project page http://pilgrimpipeline.com/ so people could read about the project and see EPA facts.
Keep in mind that the pipeline feeds the oil refineries in NJ that provide you and I with a reliable source of local gas that keeps the price at the pump low. The refineries pay NJ taxes and provide excellent middle class jobs.
Every day tank trains carrying the oil roll through Bergen County. Would you rather have the oil in railcars or in pipelines, that’s the choice. I vote for pipelines.
Editor’s note: The Oakland Journal did not lift any maps. This was sent in as a press release. This is the link to the map that was sent to us from the Sierra Club: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/sites/default/files/Pilgrim%20Pipeline%203d%20map.pdf
If the Pilgrim Pipeline company were to hold a meeting in Oakland about the project we would be happy to post the details for that.