Pilgrim Pipeline Opposition Grows As Oakland Passes Resolution 1

Pilgrim Pipeline Opposition Grows As Oakland Passes Resolution
Officials Take First Step in Protecting Residents from New Oil Infrastructure
Oakland, NJ –This week Oakland council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to oppose the Pilgrim Pipeline. In addition to opposing the newly proposed infrastructure, the resolution calls for a moratorium on surveying and project planning within the municipality and for a thorough environmental review to be conducted to assess the project’s environmental impacts. By passing this resolution, Oakland joins Parsippany, Montville and Watchung in taking the first step to protect its residents and environment from the potential impacts that would come with the construction and operation of a new pipeline in the community.

“The Pilgrim Pipeline puts our residents, our drinking water and our first responders at risk. The Ramapo River Basin Aquifer is Oaklands most precious resource and our town sits on top of a major fault line. Could you imagine an earthquake causing a rupture, leak or explosion? A pipeline spill could pollute our aquifer and render it undrinkable for decades. When executives from Pilgrim came to our previous council meeting they were unable to address any of our concerns, and just kept repeating ‘it’s safe’.” Passing this resolution became a logical choice for us, and an important first step in protecting our residents from this dangerous project” said Oakland Mayor Linda Schwager.

The Pilgrim Pipeline is being proposed to link Albany, New York, and Linden, New Jersey. The project would consist of two pipelines, one carrying crude oil to the Bayway Refinery in New Jersey and the other carrying refined products up to Albany. The pipeline would cross through environmentally sensitive areas critical for drinking water supply, including the NJ Highlands, and through densely populated communities.

Councilman Pat Pignatelli, a former public health official in the state of NJ, recalled working an incident where 1700 gallons of gasoline spilled into the Pequannock River in Riverdale NJ. He described his experience with the cleanup process as a “bureacratic nightmare” that took several years to complete, and stated “protecting Oakland’s drinking water is my primary motivation for voting to oppose this pipeline.”

The Pilgrim Pipeline would carry a particularly volatile form of “Bakken Crude” oil that’s extracted using the process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking.  The Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration reports an average of 280 significant incidents and spills from pipelines every year.

On Saturday, October 11th, over 100 local residents and community leaders will meet at the Ramapo County Reservation for a teach-in on the dangers of Bakken Oil Transport through New Jersey.

Who: Local officials, students from Ramapo College and William Paterson University, Moms, Faith Leaders, activists and other concerned Bergen County residents.

What: Teach-in on the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline and the dangers of Bakken Crude Oil, followed by a hike to the proposed pipeline site in the Ramapo County Reservation.

When: Saturday, October 11th at 11am
Where: Ramapo County Reservation, 620 Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah, in the grass field that borders the south end of the parking lot.

In a statement prepared for tomorrow’s event, Bergen County Freeholder Chair David Ganz had this to say “My colleagues on the Freeholder Board and I are greatly concerned about the exponential increase in the flow of Bakken oil through and across Bergen County in recent years, both by train and now potentially by oil pipeline. We continue to monitor the development of proposed new pipelines and have been working closely with our State legislators to make sure that when energy products are shipped through Bergen County it is done so safely and transparently. This is our responsibility as public officials, as the human and ecological cost of doing nothing is potentially devastating.”

“Nothing Pilgrim can say will mitigate the risks of a pipeline spill or explosion,” said Don Sena, a resident of Oakland who first approached the council about this issue back in May. “I would like to thank the Council members for their action to protect the citizens of Oakland and send a strong message that this is a danger to our citizens, our water and our environment.”

Mayor Linda Schwager, who introduced the resolution at Wednesday’s meeting, added “If it was just Oakland opposing the pipeline then it would have limited significance, but if all the impacted towns band together, we have a powerful voice.”