 Borough President Vito Fossella stood with members of the fishing and boating community to express their strong opposition to the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a natural gas pipeline which would run under the length of the Raritan Bay.
“The concern we have is that the project will unearth or disrupt some of those sediments that are on the floor of the Raritan Bay right now,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference outside of the Mansion Marina in Great Kills. “If that happens, what will that do to the quality of the water?" This project would add a 17.4 mile “enhancement” to an already-existing pipeline that traverses the entire width of Staten Island. The “enhanced” pipeline will flow to Long Island, Queens, and Brooklyn with Staten Island bearing the risks and burdens while potentially paying a 3.5% increase for gas and service they will never receive. Borough President Fossella recalled spending time on South Beach as a child when the water and the beach were polluted. “Since that time, we have made a lot of progress to improve the quality of the water,” he said. “As a result, we have an ecosystem, fishing has gotten better, people are seeing seagulls and whales and dolphins that they never saw before. Again, where we have made progress, why would we turn back the clock?” In a letter written to Cheryl Sandrow at the state Department of Environmental Conservation last month, Borough President Fossella asked “if any other alternatives were studied or suggested for the proposed project before the sites of the Staten Island shoreland were selected.” “The waterway is a jewel, the Raritan Bay is a jewel -- let’s not tarnish it with an unnecessary project until and unless we get clearer answers,” said Borough President Fossella at the press conference. Comments are closed.
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