What is TGP Northeast Expansion?

The Northeast Expansion is a project

in the early exploratory phase. Kinder
Morgan company is asking the state
to provide a large subsidy so that a
high-pressure 30 or 36 natural gas
pipeline can be installed in Dracut
and Tyngsboro as a new branch of
the Tennessee Gas Pipeline network.
Construction of this project could
begin as early as 2017.

What are the dangers to Dracut?

The company has chosen Dracut as the site of a large
compressor. This station would add noise pollution
24 hours a day. It would exhaust nitrous oxide gas
from compression turbines, and flammable methane
when the pipeline system is periodically vented. It
could render a 20 to 40 acre section of East Dracut
inaccessible, due to the need for a large buffer zone.

Second, the proposed path would clear a 50 to 75 foot
right-of way removing trees and disrupting
conservation lands, wetlands, Water District land for
pumping stations, and the Dracut/Tyngsboro State
Forest. Having so much pipeline in town creates
added risk of major accidents. One almost occurred
during excavation on Loon Hill Road in 2010
(reported in the Lowell Sun, 10/21 and 10/25/10).

Third, the New England States Committee on
Electricity has endorsed a new tariff to increase
utility bills in all 6 states in New England to pay the
pipelines $2.7 billion cost. The proposed pipeline is
so large that most of the gas could be exported (see
goldborolng.com). The cost of natural gas from
Pennsylvania may be cheap now. But watch what
happens when the output of fracking wells goes
down. Prices are expected to go up before the
pipeline is complete with or without export pressure,
according to gas industry publications.
1



Is this really needed?

New gas capacity is coming online as soon as 2016
from Kinder Morgans competitor, Spectra Energy,
that will use an existing right of way in the southern
part of the state. (see spectraenergy.com) State
energy conservation programs already in place saved
enough gas to fuel 52,000 homes in the last three
years.
2
Shutting down gas leaks in metro Boston
would save enough gas to fuel 18,000 homes.
3
The
state is rolling out smart meters and consumers are
now using LED bulbs, both of which reduce the need
to use gas fired power plants to generate electricity.

Can it be stopped?

The short answer is yes. Kinder Morgan has not even
decided on whether to apply for this pipeline and says
they will do so by the end of this year. Not agreeing
to surveys is a helpful step. Groups all over the state
are learning about ways to apply legislative and legal
pressure to stop the pipeline altogether or only
expand lines on existing corridors like the Mass Pike.
----------------
1
Labyrinth Consulting Study, 4/10/2014.
2
http://www.mass.gov/eea/pr-2013, 12/22/2013.
3
www.clf.org/intothinair report, page 22.

Prepared by: Dracut/Tyngsboro Pipeline Awareness Group. Contact: julie_jette@comcast.net
More Information: http://massplan.org and http://facebook.com/GreenDracutReporter