In an “emergency motion” filed last week, the New York PublicService Commission asked FERC not to award the proposed MillenniumPipeline final environmental clearance until an alternate route toan electric transmission right-of-way (ROW) in Westchester Countyis found for the project.

State regulators said they were opposed to Millennium’s proposalto build in Consolidated Edison Co. of New York’s transmission ROWin Westchester because “it creates an unacceptably high risk thatelectric service to millions of New York residents would bedisrupted both during construction and after the pipeline is inplace.”

The New York commission “knows of no gas pipeline installed in aright-of-way like this one,” given the “combination of riskfactors,” it said [CP98-150]. It called on FERC to reject theproposed route for Millennium. Instead, the Commission “shouldconsider…..the other north/south rights-of-way for placement ofthe pipeline, including those on the western side of the HudsonRiver.”

Building Millennium in ConEd’s ROW would increase the chances ofanother blackout in New York rivaling the one that occurred in thesummer of 1977, said Edward C. Schrom, an electric operationsspecialist with the New York State Department of Public Service(NYDPS), in an affidavit.

“Service interruptions on these lines to New York City wouldresult in the shutdown of the underground subway system and Amtrak,the Long Island Railroad and other commuter trains. Hundreds ofthousands of people could be trapped underground; large numbers ofpeople could be trapped in high-rise elevators; financial serviceswould be disrupted; and service to a high concentration of medicalfacilities would be disrupted,” he noted.

Millennium, which is co-sponsored by Columbia Gas, contends that”precautions can be taken to minimize the risks to workers orservice interruptions during construction” and over the long term,but state regulators called this “speculative.” John E. Gawronski,chief of the safety divsion for NYDPS, agreed. “No amount ofadditional design and associated precautions can be taken toeliminate the increased risk that will be created by placing thispipeline in this right-of-way,” he said in an affidavitaccompanying the “emergency motion” of New York regulators.

The “emergency motion” was filed to “correct factualmisstatements” allegedly made by Millennium Pipeline last month ina request to FERC to expeditiously approve the final environmentalimpact statement (FEIS) for its project, which would bring Midwestand Canadian gas to the New York market.

In making its request, Millennium incorrectly claimed that NewYork’s Department of State (NYDOS) wanted FERC to quickly approvethe pipeline project and issue an FEIS, according to New Yorkregulators. Instead, the NYDOS “requested that the FEIS be as’complete’ as possible, and not, as Millennium contends, that it beissued as quickly as possible.”

©Copyright 2000 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.