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Hudson Common Council against expansion of Iroquois pipeline

Jan 12, 2024 12:51 am

Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson Common Council passed a resolution Dec. 19 asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to block the expansion of the Iroquois natural gas pipeline in Athens. Food and Water Watch, a non-governmental group that advocates for safe food, clean water and a livable climate, authored the resoultion. Emily Skydel, the Hudson Valley organizer for the group, said, “This resolution represents that municipalities as a whole do not support this expansion.... There’s a real concern that pollution from the proposed project could hurt local communities in Hudson.” Iroquois wants to expand their pipeline to allow an additional 125 million cubic feet of natural gas to pass through the pipeline per day. That would mean changes to the Athens station, including the addition of 12,000 horsepower of compression and gas cooling by November 2025. In December, more than 60 local elected officials, including state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and state Assemblymember Didi Barrett sent a letter to Hochul demanding she deny the proposed expansion. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.