Gas Pipeline Causing Concerns

By Adriana Cappelli

A  44-mile section of pipeline, called the Northeast Upgrade, is becoming part of a longer pipeline moving natural gas extracted from northern Pennsylvania to a terminal in Mahwah, N.J. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental group, urged the Delaware River Basin Commission to study the potential impacts, arguing that the project would result in the loss of forest and the degradation of wetlands if construction were allowed to continue.

I think that local and federal government should take a closer look at the potential risks that this pipeline construction would bring to our environment.  First of all, miles of flora would be taken away along with the wildlife that resides in the potential building area. 

Matt Smith, an organizer for Food and Water Watch, said that the forested region is known for giving a home to endangered species such as bald eagles, rattlesnakes and other species that nest through the spring. 

On March 5, Ramapo College students in conjunction with Smith protested as a group of activists continued camping near a section of Ringwood State Forest in the hopes of saving trees from being cut down as construction on the line moves ahead.

The group of about 50 Ramapo College students carried a mock pipeline on a march from the campus along Route 202 to Ramapo Valley County Reservation, according to www.northjersey.com.  Speakers at the park talked about the dangers of shale gas, released in a drilling process that uses chemical liquids to crack rock, the disruption of the forest and wildlife, and the chances of water pollution.

Contractors from Tennessee Gas began cutting down trees in Ringwood State Park on Feb. 6 to build the 7.6-mile pipeline expansion project from West Milford across Ringwood and into Mahwah.