Published in the November 5, 2015 edition
By DAN TOMASELLO and BOB TUROSZ
LYNNFIELD — Energy giant Kinder Morgan’s community meeting on the proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) natural gas pipeline went off without a hitch at Spinelli’s Function Facility in Lynnfield Oct. 29.
Kinder Morgan held the event as it prepares to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by Nov. 20. The forum was held as part of an ongoing public relations campaign to convince FERC to approve the project as well as win public support.
While the event was billed as a community forum, it actually resembled more of a college fair. Kinder Morgan set up different stations where people could read maps, watch slideshows and ask the energy company’s representatives questions.
The event’s attendees were welcomed to the meeting by nine Peabody police officers, who were tasked with making sure the open house did not get out of hand. According to Lynnfield Police Chief David Breen, protesters at a similar open house in Northfield staged a “die-in,” where protesters laid down on the floor.
There were no die–ins at Spinelli’s, but appetizers were served.
Abutter opposition
There were a few North Reading residents at the forum, but a larger number of Lynnfield homeowners attended.
Lynnfield’s Arthur Douglas, 14 North Hill Drive, said the Lynnfield Lateral portion of the pipeline abuts his property. He said Kinder Morgan representatives have requested to survey his property, but Douglas “formally denied” the request.
Douglas said he wasn’t buying Fore and Kinder Morgan’s arguments that New England needs more natural gas because he said “electric consumption in Massachusetts has been going down since 2010.”
“My fear is they want to transport the gas to Beverly, liquefy it and ship it to Europe,” said Douglas. “According to the figures I have seen, there is an (gas) overage for most of the year. There are approximately four or five days during the winter when there is a shortfall of gas in this area. And (Kinder Morgan) is trying to say they are building this pipeline to cover four or five days of shortfall and the other 361 days there is going to be an overage. What are you going to do with an overage? They are going to bring it somewhere and sell it.”
“I question the need and I question the routing of it through residential areas,” said Douglas. “I think there should be a better option because there are existing pipelines in Massachusetts that are under utilized. If they can agree with other companies, they can use each others’ pipelines and it would not require an additional pipeline.”
AJ Qualtieri, 18 North Hill Drive, said the pipeline’s current route would run right through his property. Similar to Douglas and other North Hill Drive residents, he has denied Kinder Morgan’s request to survey his property.
“It splits the back of the yard and impacts a number of the trees that are within the backyard and subsequently, it hits a lot of our neighbors,” said Qualtieri. “It’s a really huge pipeline that is going to be smack dab in our yard. Safety is a big concern for us in the neighborhood and everybody in town.”
Qualtieri also said he does not believe the NED project would reduce the neighborhood’s energy prices.
“We don’t have gas, so its not going to lower our energy bills,” said Qualtieri. “It’s going to go wherever.”
Qualtieri said he was skeptical of Kinder Morgan’s assertions the project would benefit the town, state and region.
“These guys are trained professionals and this is what they are here to do,” said Qualtieri. “They are here to answer questions and have a salesmen approach when answering the questions. As a result, they are very polished because they have answered similar questions at other forums. We are hearing regurgitated information, some of which might be true and some which is most likely false.”
Lynnfield Selectman Chris Barrett said the forum was a positive development.
“I thought it was good there were a lot of residents who showed up,” said Barrett. “But I want Kinder Morgan to answer hard questions and not hide behind exhibits scattered around the room that we can get online.”
Ipswich River Watershed Association Executive Director Wayne Castonguay raised a number of concerns about the pipeline’s impact on the Ipswich River and many North Shore communities’ water supply. He also dismissed Kinder Morgan’s assertions the project would be constructed safely.
When asked for his take on the event, Castonguay commented, “(Kinder Morgan) certainly know how to put on a show.”
North Reading sent a full complement of town officials to the forum: Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto, Selectman Jeff Yull, Fire Chief William Warnock and Town Engineer Michael Soraghan.
Yull declined comment on the pipeline and deferred questions to Gilleberto.
“I think its been billed as a community forum,” said Gilleberto. “From my conversations with Kinder Morgan, we were told to expect an environment similar to the open house they had in Andover. We tried to advertise this on the town website and in the Transcript to let residents know about it so they can come here to Lynnfield and ask questions about the project.”
Gilleberto said local officials are keeping tabs on the project.
He said the town has been in conversations with Kinder Morgan and received indications that the North Reading pipeline route will be “very similar” to what’s been publicized in the last eight or nine months, following the National Grid right of way from the northwest to the southeast side of town.
“There was some concern there would be an alternate route, but at this point that will not be the case. We are eagerly awaiting additional details and certainly it would be our preference not to have the pipeline come through town at all but we did not get any communication that would be the case.”
The town made a request to Kinder Morgan, through Congressman Seth Moulton’s office, that a representative from FERC be present at the Peabody forum, but FERC did not choose to attend, Gilleberto said.
“The town continues to monitor the project and is continuing to request information from Kinder Morgan about this project and its impact on North Reading,” said Gilleberto. “We felt it was important to have broad representatives at the forum both to learn about the project from Kinder Morgan as well as to be available to any residents who may have questions.”
