December 6, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: RESIDENTS EVACUATE HOME ON HUNGRY HILL

Fremont Center ~ At approximately 9:30 at night on Thursday December 5, a family on Hungry Hill Road in the Town of Hancock, Delaware County evacuated their home after a Millennium Pipeline Company employee knocked on their door and advised them to either leave the area within ten minutes or stay inside while the company vented natural gas into the atmosphere. The spokesperson said the process would be very noisy and last several hours. The family lives near the site where Millennium is constructing a new compressor station.

The Hancock Compressor Station is being built in the midst of a vacation community on land Millennium acquired after it destroyed the septic system, contaminated the water well, and caused structural damage to a house on the site during its pipeline expansion in 2007 and 2008.

Safety concerns, air contamination, noise, and impact on property values were among the objections sited by area residents who spoke out against the project before it was granted a license by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). At an August 2, 2012 hearing, residents pointed out that the compressor station is being built on a narrow, winding road that has only one means of egress in the winter. In emergencies, residents said, Millennium would be forced to rely on the Long Eddy Volunteer Fire Department in Sullivan County, which has only seven active members and lacks a foam truck like the one that had been used to put out a compressor station fire in the Broome County Town of Windsor earlier that summer. Another resident pointed out that the compressor station would release huge volumes of contaminants into the atmosphere, including formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and cancer-causing volatile organic compounds. The methane released into the atmosphere by Millennium on Thursday night is a powerful greenhouse gas.

According to Millennium spokesperson Mike Armiak, the incident occurred after there was a problem with equipment being used to make a connection to the pipeline. Cora Edwards, Chair of the Sullivan County Public Safety Committee said, “We take these incidents very seriously given the compressor station’s proximity to our county and to the Delaware River.”

For further information contact: [email protected] (845) 468 7063

For a description of the August 2, 2012 public hearing see Clear And Present Danger: The Hungry Hill Compressor Station



Please share this link, cut and paste to Facebook and Twitter:  http://bit.ly/1cfBNZE

For more information email [email protected] or call (845) 468 7063

Public awareness is the key to our success. Two out of three people who
find out about fracking think the risks aren’t worth the rewards, so spread the word!

We’re an all-volunteer organization, every penny we receive is used to fight fracking.

Is your organization signed onto the American Clean Energy Agenda?

Catskill Citizens respects your privacy, we will never share your contact information.

To unsubscribe from this email list, please email [email protected] and type unsubscribe in the header.