Pipeline proposal draws criticism in Massachusetts

WINDSOR, Mass. – A proposed natural gas pipeline expansion has drawn opposition from more than a dozen towns in the state near the potential path of the 250-mile project, The Associated Press reported.
The plan calls for expanding a pipeline system that already stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northeast. The six New England governors support the project as a means of increasing the region’s supply of natural gas.
A section of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline already enters the state at the New York line and runs along the edge of southern Massachusetts. The proposal by pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Energy Services of Texas calls for a new section to be built along the northern part of the state, ending in Dracut, north of Boston, where it would connect with a network of transmission lines owned by other companies, the AP said.
According to the report, opponents have raised concerns about potential risks to the environment, including forests and wildlife-management areas. They also cite the effects of the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used elsewhere to extract gas by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals.
On May 19, the Berkshire Hills town of Windsor became the 14th municipality in Massachusetts to pass resolutions opposing the project after surveyors requested access to residents’ properties as part of the siting process, the AP said. •

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