Our Story
Minisink, NY, located in Orange County (pop. approx. 5,000) consists of 3 hamlets: Westtown, Unionville, and Johnson. It is a largely agricultural township, being located in NY’s prized ‘Black Dirt Region.’ However, with Minisink’s close proximity to NYC, we are also home to many commuting and retired professionals, including a large community of 9/11 First Responders.
In the summer of 2011, residents of Minisink banded together to face an incredible threat to our rural community- the siting of a 12,600 hp gas compressor station in the middle of Westtown by Millennium Pipeline, Inc. / Columbia Gas. A long struggle ensued to appeal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prevent this egregious mis-siting of an industrial facility within Minisink’s agriculturally and residentially zoned township, with 200 homes in a half-mile radius, some as close as 600 ft away. Community members proposed an alternate plan, known as ‘The Wagoner Alternative,’ which called for the replacement of an outdated 7-mile stretch of pipeline known as the ‘Neversink Segment’ (due for replacement in 2014), and placing a much smaller compressor station on an industrial site owned by Millennium, where a compressor once operated, nearly a mile to the closest residence (one home). The replacement of the Neversink segment would obviate much of the need for compression along the system, allowing the smaller compressor station to release less than half the emissions of the Minisink Compressor Station, and creating greater safety measures to all communities along the pipeline (less chance of explosion, less exposure to emissions). The community-backed plan was approved by two of the five FERC commissioners, including the chairman of the commission; in a nearly unprecedented split vote.
Despite the lack of a final legal determination, construction of the compressor station in Minisink began in October of 2012. Community members managed to stall construction in the first early weeks, resulting in arrests of residents blocking construction vehicles from entering the site. A rare stay of construction was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals, however the stay was eventually overturned and construction proceeded. Encountering shale bedrock at the site, Millennium was slowed down in their activities, but began using jack-hammers, from dawn until late in the evening, to pierce through the bedrock for the foundations of their industrial facility. In fact, they continued even through the week of Superstorm Sandy, while most in Minisink had no power. The compressors were connected to the main pipeline in the Spring of 2013- then the “blow-downs” began. A blow-down is the forceful release of natural gas and toxins used in fracking from compressor stacks, under very high pressure, emitted directly into the surrounding atmosphere. Blow-downs pose serious health and safety risks and consequences to communities; members of our community are already experiencing concerning symptoms.
Minisink went on to challenge this decision at the U.S. Court of Appeals; our brief was filed in November, and we are currently awaiting our hearing date. If we are able to overturn this decision with our considerable evidence of illegal segmentation, corporate fraud, failure of FERC to protect the common good of the public, and denial of our due process rights as a community, then we will be the first community to have a brand-new compressor station decommissioned and removed from the site. This would be a tremendous legal precedent for communities across the nation fighting similar industry infrastructure battles.
Below you will find an archive of select media coverage of our struggle over the last two and a half years arranged chronologically: articles, videos, and radio segments concerning Minisink’s narrative.
