Pramilla Malick – chair of New York state-based Protect Orange County, is fighting for landowners who are slated to be affected by a pipeline project.
After receiving approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Valley Lateral Project, Millennium Pipeline Company has held eminent domain proceedings since November 2016.
The project involves the installation of about 7.8 miles of 16-inch diameter pipe between Millennium’s mainline and the CPV Valley Energy Center under construction in Wawayanda, according to a report by WAMC.
“So this is clearly not a case of public need but rather corporate greed. Millennium and CPV are basically trying to short-circuit the process because they don’t actually have all of their permits yet,” Malick said in the WAMC report.
“And it’s typical of Millennium’s bullying tactics. They’ve been bullying us since 2006 in our community,” she added.
Malick has been fighting the CPV plant for years and has environmental concerns about Millennium’s pipeline project.
“There’s a number of ecological concerns. We have endangered species habitat. We have wetlands. Wetlands are critical to water quality,” Malick said in the report.
“And when you put a pipeline in, it doesn’t just impact that landowner, it impacts the entire community because we all depend on groundwater resources. So if the pipeline contaminates the groundwater, it impacts all of us,” she further said.
The combined-cycle gas power plant is expected to produce 650-megawatts, said the report.
Malick, also urged that “It’s extremely important that the water quality certification proceeds with complete and full evaluation of the impacts before any approvals are issued.”
Langdon Chapman – Orange County attorney said in a statement, “It made more sense to see if Millennium gets all of its required permits before granting an easement over county land which, in this case, is a railroad bed.”
Chapman said it struck him as putting the cart before the horse otherwise.