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Coalition Opposing Algonquin Pipeline Reschedules Danbury Forum To Tuesday

DANBURY, Conn. -- The Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, 350CT, and the Greater Danbury Council of MoveOn.org are hosting a Fracked Gas Pipeline Educational Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 5:30 p.m. at the Danbury Library.

Photo Credit: File

The event is free and open to the public. It is scheduled to last until 7 p.m. 

The forum was rescheduled from Monday until Tuesday because of the winter weather forecast. 

The Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club has joined dozens of organizations across the Northeastern U.S. to fight plans to expand pipelines carrying fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale into the region.

New fossil fuel pipeline or pipeline expansion are planned in almost every state. In the Northeast at least 20 pipelines, traversing thousands of miles are underway or in the permitting stages.

In Connecticut, two companies, Spectra Energy and Tennessee Gas/Kinder Morgan, have plans to construct new and expanded pipelines and the infrastructure required to move the gas, which includes compressor, metering and regulating stations.

Last month, grassroots groups from New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island hosted a coordinated “Week of Respect and Resistance” in opposition to the Algonquin project, including a rally in Danbury.

“Individual groups have been organizing tirelessly in our respective areas by talking to legislators and state agencies, and we are now coming together to emphasize that this is one pipeline project, four states, one loud collective voice saying ‘Stop the Spectra Algonquin pipeline expansion,'” said Susan Van Dolsen of Stop The Algonquin Pipeline Expansion.

There is evidence that these billion dollar plans will not bring down energy prices, she said. Pipeline construction can degrade property values, and impact a homeowner’s insurance policy and mortgage, she said. These large diameter, high-pressure pipelines can explode and leak.

Fracked gas contains carcinogens and other harmful substances that result from the fracking process, and that can leak into the air, soil and ground water. Natural gas is actually fracked methane gas, and it is not clean, safe, cheap, or sustainable, the groups said.

“Bringing more fracked gas into and through Connecticut represents a failure to change our way of thinking. If we really want a better world for ourselves and our children, we must change,” says John D. Calandrelli, Connecticut Sierra Club Program Director.  

The Danbury Library is at 170 Main St., Danbury.

There were mixed reactions on the New York DEP Brewster hearing on the Spectra/Alquonquin natural gas pipeline. To read about the hearing in the Daily Voice, click here.

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