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To: gov.cuomo@chamber.state.ny.us

CC: basil.seggos@dec.ny.gov, howard.zucker@health.ny.gov, NewMarketProject@dec.ny.gov

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Subject:

Message:

Date: __

Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo 
New York State Governor 
The Capitol 
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

My name is __ and I live at __ .

I write today because __.

I request that you DENY the Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the proposed Dominion New Market Pipeline and all other fossil fuel infrastructure projects in New York which require that certification because your Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has a well-documented inability to fulfill the applicable provisions of the U. S. Clean Water Act.

DEC's <a HREF="http://toxicstargeting.com/documents/clean-water-act-sect-401-cert" target="_blank_">Section 401 Certification</a> requirements are extremely strict:

"In accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, applicants for a Federal license or permit for activities (including but not limited to the construction or operation of facilities that may result in any discharge into waters of the United States) are required to apply for and obtain a Water Quality Certification from DEC indicating that the proposed activity will not violate water quality standards (emphasis added)."

A total of 114 spills profiles document that natural gas, crude oil and petroleum product infrastructure projects approved by DEC resulted in major explosions, fires, leaks, accidents, spills and toxic discharges which often caused extensive water pollution hazards that were never cleaned up to state standards.

See: <a HREF="http://toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pipeline_spills.pdf" target="_blank_">Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Petroleum Product Pipeline Fires, Explosions, Accidents, Ruptures and Spills</a>

Documented Toxic Contamination Hazards and Regulatory Non-Compliance Involving Dominion's Existing Pipeline

The proposed New Market Project is a $158 million expansion of an existing Dominion pipeline that has caused extensive toxic contamination problems and was cited for hazardous waste regulatory non-compliance by federal authorities.

See: <a href="http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/maps/proposed-dominion-new-market-pipeline" target="_blank_">Proposed Dominion New Market Pipeline Map</a>

Dominion Transmission, Inc. wrote DEC on January 12, 2016, to withdraw its individual Section 401 Water Quality Certification application. The firm revised its original project scope of work so that "automatic coverage under NWP 12 [Nationwide Permit 12 Utility Line Activities, not in the original] will be applicable."

See: <a href="http://toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/wqcnationwide.pdf" target="_blank_">Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 (Utility Line Activities)</a>

In order to receive a "blanket authorization" Section 401 Water Quality Certification, DEC requires that:

"The Nationwide Permits listed below are hereby granted Section 401 Water Quality Certification in New York State provided that the project complies with the required General Conditions (emphasis added) listed under List 2:"

"Required General Conditions

1. Non-contamination of Waters

- All necessary precautions shall be taken to preclude contamination of any wetland or waterway by suspended solids, resins, sediments, fuels, solvents, lubricants, epoxy coatings, paints, concrete, leachate or any other environmentally deleterious materials associated with the project."

As documented below with DEC's own data, Dominion Transmission, Inc. has failed to "preclude" numerous waterway toxic chemical hazards at its existing pipeline and never cleaned up those problems in compliance with state standards.

As a result, you have a clear duty to DENY the Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the New Market Pipeline.

See examples. Please note that CNG is a subsidiary of Dominion.

CNG TRANSMISSION 
219 ELLIS HOLLOW CREEK RD ITHACA, NY

Spill Number: 9806491
Spill Date: 08/26/1998
Material Spilled: Unknown Petroleum
Meets Clean up Standards: No
Resource Affected: Groundwater

Caller Remarks:
CALLER IS WITH AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING AGENCY AND DISCOVERED AN OLD DISPOSAL AREA WHERE AN UNKNOWN HEAVY PETROLEUM HAS BEEN DUMPED

CNG TRANSMISSION
ELLIS HOLLOW RD ITHACA, NY

Spill Number: 9107079
Spill Date: 10/01/1991
Material Spilled: Waste Oil/Used Oil
Meets Clean up Standards: Unknown

Caller Remarks:
CONTAMINATED SOIL DISCOVERED DURING TANK REMOVAL.

DOMINION TRANSMISSION CORP Facility Id: NYD981872278
219 ELLIS HOLLOW CREEK ROAD ITHACA, NY 14850

US EPA RCRA Violations:
Violation Type: Generators - Pre-transport Responsible Agency: EPA
Violation Number: 0001 Location: NY Violation Determination Date: 06/27/2012

Violation Type: Universal Waste - Small Quantity Handlers Responsible Agency: EPA
Violation Number: 0002 Location: NY Violation Determination Date: 06/27/2012

WOODHALL COMPRESSOR STATION 
974 COUNTY ROUTE 99 WOODHULL, NY 14898
Spill Number: 0912610
Spill Date: 03/03/2010
Material Spilled: WASTE OIL/USED OIL
Cause of Spill: EQUIPMENT FAILURE
Meets Cleanup Standards: No
Quantity Spilled: 20 Gallons

Caller Remarks:
APPROXIMATELY 15-20 GALLONS SPILLED TO SOIL. CLEANUP IN PROGRESS.

DEC Investigator Remarks:
03/04/2010: CK TO FOLLOW UP.
03/04/10 KEHOE CALL TO PRATT, COMPRESSOR BLOWS DOWN TO A TANK THAT WAS SUPPOSEDLY EMPTY OR AT LEAST HAD SOME SPACE FOR MORE OIL BUT DID NOT. THIS CAUSED OIL IN THE TANK TO BE BLOWN OUT, SOME CONTAINED IN SECONDARY BUT MOST WAS SPRAYED OVER THE GROUND SURFACE NEARBY. THEY HAVE A CREW WORKING TO COLLECT IMPACTED SOIL.

WOODHULL COMPRESSOR STA 
COUNTY ROUTE 99 WOODHULL, NY
Spill Number: 9512515
Spill Date: 01/04/1996
Material Spilled: Natural Gas
Cause of Spill: EQUIPMENT FAILURE
Meets Cleanup Standards: No

Caller Remarks:
Threaded collar on 2in underground pipeline failed-line seperated allowing distillate to leak to surrounding soils. Line has been repaired and approx 67 tons of soil excavated in initial cleanup attempt.

CNG TRANSMISSION RIVERSIDE PORT
RIVERSIDE AVE PORT OF RENS PAPSCANEE CREEK EAST GREENBUSH PIPELINE RENS Z, NY
Spill Number: 9310557
Spill Date: 11/29/1993
Material Spilled: UNKNOWN PETROLEUM

Caller Remarks:
CNG DEWATERING FOR NAT GAS PIPELINE INSTALLATION, SHEEN ON DISCHARGE TO CREEK, SAMPLING.

03/15/95: CONSENT ORDER SIGNED AND PENALTY PAID.

CNG TRANSMISSION CORP 
974 COUNTY ROUTE 99 WOODHULL, NY 14898
Spill Number: 9412219
Spill Date: 12/09/1994
Cause of Spill: Equipment Failure
Meets Cleanup Standards: No

Caller Remarks: 
FILL LINE FROM NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION LINE TO SEPARATION TANK SEPARATED AT A COLLAR. AREA WAS RECENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION & SETTLING IS BELIEVED TO HAVE CAUSED LEAK.

DEC Investigator Remarks:
LINE IS 2 DIAMETER, 3 FT BELOW GRADE. LEAK WAS DISCOVERED WHEN THEY WERE BLOWING DOWN GAS & WATER TO TANK. BACKHOE EXCAVATED SOME CONTAMINATED SOIL, BUT BECAUSE...
12/09/94: ...OF NEW CONSTRUCTION & SOFT SOILS BACKHOE KEPT GETTING STUCK. ABSORBENTS PUT DOWN TO COLLECT MATERIAL COMING TO SURFACE. NEAREST RESIDENCE IS STATION'S CARETAKER HOUSE APPROX 500 FT AWAY.

12/09/94: PBS # 8-445134; TANK #004, 8,000 GALLON TANK.
03/23/95: SR ON SITE; EXCAVATED SOIL PILE NEAR AREA OF SPILL, BOOMS DEPLOYED. NO VISUAL INDICATION OF CONTAMINATION, NO ODOR. CNG HAS TAKEN SOIL SAMPLES & PERFORMED BORINGS, RESULTS TO BE FORWARDED TO SR.

11/28/95 100 TONS OF CONTAMINATED SOIL EXCAVATED AND DISPOSED OF AT COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL LANDFILL, PA. CONFIRMATORY SAMPLING SHOWS NON-DETECT EXCEPT FOR ONE SAMPLE. FURTHER EXCAVATION NOT POSSIBLE AS HIGH PRESSURE LINES EXIST. GROUNDWATER SAMPLES ON DOWNGRADIENT IMPACTED WELLS TO BE REQUESTED FOR SPRING OF 1996.

12/13/96 SOIL PILE FOR JAN 1996 RELEASE CLEAN PER STARS. MONITORING WELL RESULTS SHOW MW-1: 53 PPB BENZENE, APPROX 243 PPB BTEX; MW-2: NON-DETECT; MW-3: 79.6 PPB BENZENE, N.D. OTHERWISE. RESAMPLING TO BE SCHEDULED FOR SPRING 1997.

04/22/97 SAMPLE RESULTS SHOW:MW-1 WITH 43 PPB BENZENE, 72.5 PPB ETHYLBENZENE, 91.9 XYLENE; MW-2 WITH N.D; MW-3 WITH 64.5 PPB BENZENE.

CNG TRANSMISSIONS 
1103 HIGBY RD NEW HARTFORD, NY
Spill Number: 9912031
Spill Date: 01/18/2000
Cause of Spill: Equipment Failure
Material Spilled: #2 FUEL OIL, #4 FUEL OIL, #6 FUEL OIL, AUTO WASTE FLUIDS, Unknown Petroleum
Meets Cleanup Standards: No

Caller Remarks:
SOIL CONTAMINATION DISCOVERED AT ABOVE LOCATION. SPILL IS HISTORIC IN NATURE.

DEC Investigator Remarks:
01/18/2000: SPOKE WITH CALLER. C & G TRANSMISSIONS DID A VOLUNTARY SITE ASSESSMENT AND DETECTED A PETROLEUM RELEASE. HAVE A REMEDIATION PLAN IN PLACE. WILL FORWARD SAR AND REMEDIATION PLAN FOR REVIEW (JA).

04/09/01: REVIEWED RAP. SENT LETTER THAT FIRE GATE BLD. AND TRASH PIT AREA ARE OK BUT NEED DISPOSAL RECEIPTS. OUTFALL ON HIGBY WAS NOT ADDRESSED.(JA)

RECEIVED SOIL DISPOSAL PAPERWORK. 2659.79 TONS SENT TO RAPP RD LANDFILL IN ALBANY. COVER LETTER REQUESTING CLOSURE AS DOT EXCAVATED DITCH IN FALL 1999. (JA)

7/3/2002: SOME CONTAMINATION REMAINS IN DITCH. INACTIVE. (DJ)

Conclusion

DEC spill reports clearly document that your agency can neither assure that Dominion Transmission, Inc. will "preclude" nor clean up any waterway contamination hazards that might be caused by its proposed New Market Project.

As a result, you have a duty to DENY the Section 401 Water Quality Certification required for the project to proceed.

This decision is also required because "conditional approval" was provided on 4/28/16 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the New Market Pipeline based on the obviously erroneous assertion that Dominion could:

"assure continued compliance with the intent of the environmental conditions as well as the avoidance or mitigation of adverse environmental impact resulting from project construction and operation."

Dominion has demonstrated that it is unable to fulfill this critical requirement. The proposed New Market Project must not be permitted to proceed given the documented inability of DEC and federal authorities to enforce this mandate.

For all these reasons, I request that you withhold approvals for the New Market Pipeline and all other infrastructure projects that would perpetuate New York's dependence on fossil fuels that cause local contamination hazards and contribute to global climate change.

I also ask you to provide a favorable reply to a coalition letter with more than 900 signatories which requests that you adopt a moratorium on state approvals for all proposed fossil fuel pipelines, power plants, storage facilities and fossil fuel infrastructure projects proposed in New York.

See: <a href="http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/letters/2016/07/07/coal-letter-for-moratorium-on-permits-other-approvals" target="_blank_">Coalition Letter Which Requests That Governor Cuomo Adopt a Statewide Moratorium on Fossil Fuel Project Approvals</a>

I trust that you will find my requests self-explanatory.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours truly,

Name: __

<pre>cc: Honorable Basil Seggos
 Honorable Howard Zucker, M.D.
 New Market Project at NYSDEC
</pre>