County Executive Andrew Spano of Westchester County, NY, vowed Thursday to use every “administrative, political and legal weapon” at his disposal to block construction of the embattled Millennium Pipeline project through the city of Mount Vernon.

He said the county plans first to file a petition at FERC Friday, asking the agency to reconsider a Dec. 19 order in which it conditionally approved the construction of all but the last two miles of the U.S. leg of the Millennium pipe system that would run through Mount Vernon. The order gave Millennium sponsors and Mount Vernon’s elected officials 60 days to come to an agreement on a route for the last two miles of the 700 MMcf/d line. If not, FERC has said it will decide the issue.

Millennium, which has been pending at the Commission since 1997, would bring cheaper Canadian gas into the metropolitan New York City area to serve the power generation market.

If the Commission should deny rehearing, Spano noted that Westchester County could then go to court to block construction of the Lake Erie-to-New York pipeline.

In addition to seeking FERC rehearing, Spano said the county would refuse to grant Millennium sponsor, Columbia Gas Transmission permits to excavate on county land, and would revoke the existing permits that Columbia has for the pipeline. He also called on the New York Department of State and the Department of Environmental Conservation to take similar steps.

Furthermore, Spano noted he has asked New York Gov. George Pataki to intercede on the county’s and Mount Vernon’s behalf in the event he attends a FERC conference on the Northeast energy infrastructure to be held in New York City later this month. The Commission has invited all of the Northeast governors to the technical conference.

Westchester County and Mount Vernon officials and residents have been lobbying against the Millennium project since it was first proposed nearly five years ago, and have won support from key lawmakers on Capitol Hill and at the state level.

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