Since 2019, groups and activists have been organizing in protest against a proposed 7-mile fracked gas pipeline snaking through Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Brownsville, Bed-Stuy, and Bushwick.
And every month, two of those groups — No North Brooklyn Pipeline and the Sane Energy Project — have been taking matters into their own hands to ensure the community, new and old, is informed about the status of the project and its dangers to both the neighborhood and Brooklyn as a borough with an informative walking tour.
This Sunday, November 17, at 3 p.m., join an info session starting at McGolrick Park and including a walking tour of National Grid’s 120-acre LNG (Liquefied “Natural” Gas) facility in the heart of the neighborhood on the already infamous Newtown Creek.
This facility is considered New York City’s largest fossil fuel depot, and National Grid has been advocating for even more money from monthly utility bills to help fund it. National Grid has been attempting to complete the pipeline project since 2016, including introducing fare hikes early on and quietly beginning construction without community input.
Last year, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) denied National Grid’s request to build two new LNG Vaporizers and caused them to withdraw plans to finish the pipeline and an application to build an LNG trucking station, which was celebrated as a victory among activists and New Yorkers alike. However, the PSC approved a nearly $5 billion budget for fracked gas infrastructure under Governor Kathy Hochul this past August.
There are multiple reasons cited to oppose the pipeline, particularly the presence of danger in relation to the facility and project (United State Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Materials Administration filings show an average of 639 pipeline incidents per year resulting in 15 fatalities a nearly $600 million cost to the public from 2016 to 2018), as well as the negative impacts of fracking on climate change, with methane being 86-101 times worse for atmospheric warming.
During the session on Sunday, No North Brooklyn Pipeline and the Sane Energy Project will detail their plans to file testimony in opposition to this plan and educate more people about the project and build community power.
The event will include refreshments, zines, and stickers, followed by an optional social happy hour. RSVP here.