Ariel Zangla is reporting in the Daily Freeman Kingston city officials may add their names to the list of groups calling on the state Department of Environmental Conservation to lead the environmental review of the proposed $553.2 million Pilgrim Pipeline plan. Lynn Johnson, a member of the city’s Conservation Advisory Council, asked the Common Council’s Public Safety Committee last week to adopt a memorializing resolution requesting the DEC act as lead agency of the review instead of the state Thruway Authority. The authority has already expressed its interest in leading the review, but it has never evaluated a major petroleum pipeline proposal, and some of the land involved is outside the authority's control. Johnson also noted the Thruway Authority has a financial interest in the project it is seeking to review. She said, “I can’t imagine that would be a good idea.” By taking no action, the city of Kingston would be consenting to the Thruway Authority leading the review, Johnson said. Details of the plan were released last week and opponents say officials have already incorrectly handled the application. The draft state environmental impact statement was immediately criticized because it appears to have skipped steps in the review process. The proposed 116-mile pipeline route in New York largely follows the Thruway corridor on a 178-mile route to Linden, N.J. The pipeline would handle an estimated 200,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude oil going south and the same amount of refined petroleum products going north. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.