The Hudson Valley's farms, clean water and tourism economy could be casualties of emerging state and national energy dynamics. We can and must reduce these threats.
With the U.S. producing more oil than it imports, the Hudson River has become a pipeline for transporting ultra-flammable Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to East Coast refineries. Each year, 1.2 billion gallons "flow" downriver via rail from the Port of Albany. Each trip is a potential disaster.
Last July, a train carrying Bakken crude derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic,Canada, killing 47 people and leveling half the downtown. In the U.S., at least 10 trains hauling Bakken crude have derailed since 2008, causing spills and explosions. Each accident involved DOT-111 railcars, which are prone to puncture in crashes.
In 2012, the first ship to transport Bakken crude on the Hudson River ran aground, puncturing its outer hull. Fortunately, it lost none of its 12 million gallons — nearly the amount that despoiled Alaska's coast in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
Things could get worse. Two Albany oil distributors have received permits to boost annual Bakken crude shipments to 2.8 billion gallons. Further, the Department of Environmental Conservation plans just a cursory environmental review of one distributor's proposal to process heavy crude oil. Heavy crude sinks, further jeopardizing wetlands, fisheries and municipalities dependent on the Hudson for drinking water.
At the same time, the state's Energy Highway initiative has attracted three proposals to build new transmission lines through 24 Hudson Valley towns and its prime farm belt to open "a bottleneck" in bringing upstate power southward. Proposed towers — potentially 165 feet tall — already are casting a shadow over real estate sales along the routes.
Community groups and officials have banded together with my organization to establish the Hudson Valley Smart Energy Coalition. We contend that power should be boosted by upgrading current infrastructure and utilizing 21st-century alternatives such as conservation, local power generation and micro-grids.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken responsible first steps to address these problems. He ordered state agencies to assess threats from transporting crude oil. He also called for expediting transmission projects that stay wholly within existing utility corridors. The Public Service Commission recently directed officials overseeing the Hudson Valley transmission upgrade to establish a process for developers to submit new or modified proposals confined to current rights-of-way. The PSC also agreed to consider several smaller projects, instead of a single one, to augment capacity.
These are positive steps, but a cloud still hangs over farms and properties along the routes of proposed corridors. The PSC should explicitly require all new lines to be within existing rights-of-way or underground and solicit proposals to implement modern energy management — reducing power demand and safeguarding systems from terrorism and climate change.
The governor and Legislature should provide DEC more funding to prevent, plan for and respond to crude oil spills in the Hudson estuary and to preserve wetlands. They also should ensure communities are protected from explosions and spills, and are able to continue investing in our natural resources through the Environmental Protection Fund. The governor, Sen. Charles Schumer (a vocal advocate for safer transport of crude) and other U.S representatives should pursue all legal and legislative strategies to halt shipments of volatile liquids in DOT-111 railcars. Finally, DEC should require an exhaustive environmental review of plans to process heavy crude in Albany.
Cuomo so capably led New York's response to Hurricane Sandy and December's Metro-North derailment. Now his leadership is crucial to avert potentially disastrous oil spills and to forge a comprehensive energy strategy that benefits everyone.
Ned Sullivan is president of Scenic Hudson. http://scenichudson.org