About Kinder Morgans Pipeline Proposal

Northeast Energy Direct is a

project in the early exploratory phase.
Kinder Morgan company is asking
the state to provide a large subsidy so
that a high-pressure 30 or 36
natural gas pipeline can be installed
in Dracut & Tyngsboro as a new
branch of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline
network. Construction could begin as
early as January 2017.

What are the dangers to Dracut?

The company has chosen Dracut as the site of a large
compressor. This station would add noise pollution
24 hours a day. It would exhaust nitrous oxide gas
from compression turbines, and flammable methane
when the pipeline system is periodically vented. It
could render a 25 to 30 acre section of East Dracut
inaccessible, due to the need for a large buffer zone.

Second, Kinder Morgan wants to clear a 75 to 100
foot path removing trees and disrupting conservation
lands, wetlands, Water District land for pumping
stations, and the Dracut/Tyngsboro State Forest.
Having so much pipeline in town creates added risk
of major accidents. One almost occurred during
excavation on Loon Hill Road in 2010 (reported in
the Lowell Sun, 10/21 and 10/25/10).

Third, the New England States Committee on
Electricity has endorsed a new tariff to increase
utility bills in all 6 states in New England to pay the
pipelines $2.7 billion cost. The proposed pipeline is
so large that most of the gas could be exported (see
goldborolng.com). The cost of natural gas from
Pennsylvania may be cheap now. But watch what
happens when the output of fracking wells goes
down. Prices are expected to go up before the
pipeline is complete with or without export pressure,
according to gas industry publications.
1



Is this really needed?

New gas capacity is planned along two existing rights
of ways (southern MA, Maine coast) that can render
this pipeline unnecessary (see pngts.com ,
spectraenergy.com). Energy conservation programs
already in place saved enough gas to fuel 52,000
homes in the last three years.
2
Stopping gas leaks in
metro Boston would save enough gas to fuel 18,000
homes.
3
The new building code effective July 1, 2014
saves even more. New technologies (i.e. LED bulbs,
distributed generation, smart meters) reduce the need
to use gas fired power plants to generate electricity.

Can it be stopped?

The short answer is yes. Kinder Morgan has not even
decided on whether to apply for this pipeline and if
we can get our state to reject the tariff in June or July,
the pipeline could be dead. Our group is planning to
explain this at Town Meeting on June 2. Please join
us as we work together to apply to stop this pipeline
and work toward other solutions to our energy needs.
----------------
1
Labyrinth Consulting Study, 4/10/2014.
2
http://www.mass.gov/eea/pr-2013, 12/22/2013.
3
www.clf.org/intothinair report, page 22.

Prepared by: Dracut/Tyngsboro Pipeline Awareness Group. Contact: julie_jette@comcast.net
More Information: http://massplan.org and Facebook group: http://tiny.cc/stopdracutpipeline