As noted in The Recorder, in the middle of my speech at the hearing, I was interrupted by the Department of Public Utilities and told my time was up. Here’s what I would have said, in its entirety:
Recently, I chiseled out a small, 10-by-15-foot, timber-frame cabin.
It is a replica of the cabin that Henry David Thoreau built at Walden Pond in Concord, Mass., in the mid 1800s.
I received a building permit from the Franklin County Building Commissioner and, with the help of about 30 volunteers, raised the timber frame.
It now sits precisely in the direct path of Kinder Morgan’s and Tennessee Gas’ proposed pipeline, on property owned by Larry Sheehan on Beldingville Road in Ashfield, Mass.
We built what I call the Thoreau Cabin Pipeline Barricade.
To me, it is a symbol of my own discontent, objection and opposition to the proposed pipeline.
To Larry Sheehan, the owner of that land, and to the community of Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, New England and beyond, the Thoreau Cabin Pipeline Barricade is a symbol of our collective defiance against this project.
My immediate concern is that ANY intrusion of ANY sort on ANY property where the pipeline is proposed is detrimental. Surveying includes walking and driving on sensitive land, cutting of trees and boring test holes in earth and bedrock. It is not simply a walk through the woods with a transit and measuring stick.
Everything has an effect.
To my knowledge, no environmental impact studies of the results of the surveying have been done. Also, there is no baseline data that could eventually be used as reference points for monitoring the effects of the surveys and/or the pipeline.
Quality of air, water, noise, wildlife habitat, human habitat (ie. quality of life) are a few of the concerns here.
Furthermore, there are no contingency plans in place for unpredictable developments.
What if Larry’s well goes dry the day after the boring machines are there?
It will be up to Larry to prove that the boring caused his well to go dry. Imagine how long that decision would take and at what cost to the Larry?
I live 1½ miles from the proposed pipeline. My well could just as easily go dry because of boring, blasting or excavating for this pipeline. What is my recourse if my well runs dry or becomes, even worse, tainted?
The environmental impacts of the proposed surveying are huge.
The environmental impacts of the proposed pipeline are immeasurable and cannot be anticipated even if you did do all the environmental impact studies.
We cannot predict the unpredictable.
The proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline proposed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Kinder Morgan through western Massachusetts and eventually to Dracut, Mass., should be stopped now.
We must protect our Earth!
You, DPU, must help us protect our Earth! That is your job!
If you allow this surveying and this pipeline to go through, you have not done your job.
Larry and I will be waiting in the cabin!
As Henry David Thoreau wrote:
“What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on.”
Will Elwell is an Ashfield resident.