{"id":1258,"date":"2016-06-27T08:22:27","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T08:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/wordpress\/?page_id=1258"},"modified":"2016-06-27T19:38:13","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T19:38:13","slug":"working-groups","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/?page_id=1258","title":{"rendered":"NQPA Steering Committee"},"content":{"rendered":"

NQ Pipeline Action Steering Committee — A Notice from Steering Comm.\u00a0 — June, 2016<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Thank you to everyone on this e-list who attended public events, wrote letters, made phone calls, walked, rode buses and marched, talked with neighbors, attended vigils and rallies, put up lawn signs, sat through KM information sessions and open houses, spoke at and attended FERC and DPU hearings, and did other activities to Stop the NED Pipeline.<\/p>\n

For over two years (since early March, 2014), the NQPA Steering Committee met and organized events in this region to Stop the Pipeline and worked with other groups.\u00a0 On June 21, 2016, members of the steering committee met to discuss what to do now that Kinder Morgan\/TGP has cancelled the NED project for now.\u00a0 At the May 24th<\/sup> meeting (less than a day after KM announcement), the steering group decided to take a few weeks to see what happened with KM and get our own thoughts together.<\/p>\n

In the discussion by NQPA Steering Committee members on June 21st<\/sup>, there was an overwhelming consensus on the following items:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. We plan is to stay vigilant, pay attention and monitor issues so that we can alert people about possible actions for this area.\u00a0 The Steering Committee does not plan to organize any public events this summer in region unless necessary.\u00a0 NQPA steering committee will be on call and meet if deemed necessary.<\/li>\n
  2. We will especially monitor what is happening with the Pipeline Tax and Article 97 issues over the summer.\u00a0 We will continue to be part of PLAN-NE and Mass Power Forward coalitions.<\/li>\n
  3. We encourage people to write legislators about getting Ban on Pipeline Tax, Omnibus Energy Bill (see Actions to Take Page) and Article 97.<\/li>\n
  4. NQPA e-list \u2013 This e-list of 215 people will be moderated by Pat Larson. Updates along with event reminders will be sent out as necessary.\u00a0 If people wish to have daily updates, there is a list below of resources.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Again thank you for all the work people in this region did to help Stop the Pipeline.\u00a0 From members of steering committee\u00a0 —\u00a0 Betsy Alkins (Warwick), Al Berman (Warwick), Ken Berthiaume (Orange), Carol Berthiaume (Orange), Maureen Blasco (Royalston), Diane McAvoy (Montague), Morningstar (Erving), Mary King (Orange), Rene Lake-Gagliardi (Athol), Pat Larson (Orange), and Ivan Ussach (Athol & Gill)<\/p>\n

    From notice in January, 2015<\/strong> —\u00a0 The NQ Pipeline Action Steering Committee consists of 10-12 people from various towns in North Quabbin region and beyond.\u00a0 At this point it is probably best to contact a member of the Steering Committee if you wish to help with projects.\u00a0 NQ Pipeline Action has been working to stop the Kinder Morgan\/TGP NED pipeline project since Feb. 2014.\u00a0 In December Kinder Morgan\/TGP amended their pre-filing to change the preferred route.\u00a0 At this point in 2015, Orange, Athol and Royalston and other towns to the East are no longer on the preferred route as the proposed route travels across New Hampshire and then re-enters Massachusetts to end at Dracut.\u00a0 However, NQ Pipeline Action will continue to work on stopping any new fossil fuel infra-structure in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.\u00a0 If you wish more information or wish to help with a project, contact one of the steering committee members below.\u00a0 We try to\u00a0 have a public event every 1-2 months, are involved with the tri-state StopNED Coalition, MassPLAN, work with other towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and\u00a0 have regular monthly steering committee meetings.
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    Steering Committee:\u00a0 <\/strong>Ivan Ussach (Millers River Watershed Council and Gill) – ivan@millersriver.net;\u00a0\u00a0 Pat Larson (Orange) – plarson24@hotmail.com<\/a>; Mary King (Orange) – msk17@mtdata.com<\/a>; Ken Berthiaume (Orange)- kwberthiaume@hotmail.com<\/a>; Maureen Blasco (Royalston) – maureenblasco@gmail.com<\/a>; Morningstar(Erving) – morningstar210@gmail.com;\u00a0 Rene Lake-Gagliardi (Athol)\u00a0 – renelake@msn.com<\/a>, Susan Pepper (Orange) – spepperens@gmail.com, Diane McAvoy (Turners Falls\/Montague) – dmcavoy22@sbcglobal.net; Alan Berman (Warwick) – beechbrush@yahoo.com; Betsy Alkins (Warwick) – ealkins@yahoo.com<\/p>\n

    Google Group and\u00a0 List for Posting and Communication:\u00a0<\/strong>There are almost 200 people on the Google group list – NQPipelineAction group.\u00a0\u00a0 These people are able to post comments by sending a posting to\u00a0NQpipelineaction@googlegroups.com<\/a>. \u00a0To join this group send an e-mail to plarson24@hotmail.com. Events, working groups activities and meeting notes will still be posted on the NQE website. People may also unsubscribe.\u00a0 If the Google Group is too open with too much traffic, the settings can be changed.\u00a0 Right now the group description is as follows:\u00a0”\u00a0NQ Pipeline Action is a group of concerned citizens in the North Quabbin who have come together to build awareness, organize opposition, and engage in collective action against the proposed pipeline.”<\/p>\n

    We want to start sharing information using Google docs and spreadsheets. It takes less then 5 minutes to set up an account. Watch this 3 min. video\/tutorial for instructions:\u00a0Setting_Up_and_Forwarding_a_Gmail_Account<\/a><\/p>\n

    Meeting Notes<\/a> now have own page — Notes for May 28, 2014 and other meeting notes will be posted there.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    NQ Pipeline Action and NORTH QUABBIN ENERGY \u00a0–APRIL 30, 2014 at Athol Town Hall– Condensed Notes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Twenty-two people attended this organizing meeting while another 30-40 people attended the Orange Selectboard meeting.\u00a0 (Facilitation by Pat Larson and Timekeeper Steve Kurkoski from NQE.\u00a0 Morningstar took notes).\u00a0 The draft of notes from the meeting are below. Proposal made by No. Quabbin Energy member Janice Kurkoski that a steering\/leadership group be set up to coordinate opposition to the proposed gas pipeline <\/strong>with a person from each working group (add a Communications workgroup) being on steering group.\u00a0 <\/strong>After some discussion a steering committee was formed with six members, and NQ Pipeline Action was formed.
    \n<\/span><\/strong>REPORTS FROM WORKING GROUPS (April 30th meeting):<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    a)\u00a0 Communications with Landowners<\/strong> \u2013 Maureen Blasco \u00a0reported that landowners group has had 2 meetings.\u00a0 Betsy Alkins and Allen Berman are working to get all the names of landowners in Warwick and make contact with them.\u00a0 Maureen and others have gotten all the names of landowners in Royalston.\u00a0 In Orange it has been harder to get names and reach people, but Mary King has been working on this. In Athol some people have been reached along with getting the Athol Conservation Commissionto\u00a0 rescind permission for TGP\/Kinder Morgan to survey on town owned land (mostly town conservation land).\u00a0 In Erving contact needs to be made and a map figured out which Morningstar and Moonlight will compile.\u00a0 Tom Wansleben from Mt. Grace Land Conservation Trust is also working on maps.<\/p>\n

    b)\u00a0 Municipal Action Committee \u2013 <\/strong>Jamie Pottern reported for this group as Sarah Wells could not attend.\u00a0 Jane LaPointe has also worked with this group.\u00a0 Jamie is looking for more people to join this work group.\u00a0 This work group hopes to help new communities starting to work on this issue (e.g., Erving) and to help educate conservation commissions and planning boards.\u00a0 One idea is to put together a Toolkit to help with organizing work and information in all of the communities.<\/p>\n

    c) \u00a0\u00a0Research on What is Happening in Other States \u2013 <\/strong>Ivan reported that there are no places that have kicked out pipelines.\u00a0 In New York state there are 2 proposed pipelines with well organized groups fighting to keep pipelines out of towns.\u00a0 <\/strong>There is also a campaign in Central Vermont regarding a pipeline.\u00a0 Jane LaPointe has also found excellent documents about how to organize against FERC along with documents from environmental lawyers which are available.\u00a0 This group will continue to keep contact with New York groups.\u00a0 There is value in getting information about other projects.<\/p>\n

    d)\u00a0 Research on Massachusetts Laws \u2013 <\/strong>Bruce Spencer did research on Chapter 97 (protecting forests) and the Global Warming Solutions Act in MA.\u00a0 He reported on his research at the April 8th<\/sup> meeting and was unable to attend April 30th<\/sup> meeting.\u00a0 There is research pertaining to state at www.massplan.org and at www.nofrackedgasinmass.org<\/a>.\u00a0 TGP\/Kinder Morgan can go to the Mass. Department of Public Utilities\u00a0 to get permission to survey on land where owners said NO.\u00a0\u00a0 It was suggested that this research group combine with other research group.\u00a0 People noted that once things get further into the legal bureaucracy it is harder to stop proposed pipeline.<\/p>\n

    e) \u00a0Messaging \u2013 <\/strong>No one was present from this work group.\u00a0 This work group consists of Heather Wight, Deb Habib, Denise Andrews, Mary King, Cathy Stanton (later).\u00a0 Mary and Deb were at Selectboard meeting in Orange.\u00a0 However, Amy Borezo sent a report about getting stencils for lawn signs that could be used for repurposed signs that Janice Kurkoski brought from NESEA.\u00a0\u00a0 The design that Amy used was from the \u201cnofrackedgasinmass.org\u201d sign design \u2013 \u201cProtect our Common Wealth \u2013 Stop the Pipeline \u2013 nofrackedgasinmass.org\u201d<\/p>\n

    f) \u00a0Communications\/Media <\/strong>\u2013 This is the suggested new work group.\u00a0 Pat Larson reported that the NQ Energy website (www.northquabbinenergy.org\/wordpress<\/a>) has pages for \u201cgas pipeline\u201d issue. It is being kept up-to-date by Janice and Pat.\u00a0 At this point the goal has been keep website up-to-date and get nqpipelineaction@googlegroups.com<\/a> up and running.\u00a0 There are over 100 people on this list, and people can email plarson24@hotmail.com<\/a> to be added to googlegroup list.\u00a0 \u00a0It was also suggested that there be a stop TGP Pipeline on Facebook.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    From April 8, 2014 Meetin<\/span>g:\u00a0 Landowner Communication.\u00a0<\/strong>In Royalston a dozen or more landowners have been approached for surveys and only one has signed. It was reported that one person who was canvassing said they didn\u2019t know if they can survey in Royalston because they don\u2019t have enough contiguous land. All landowners in Warwick have been contacted.\u00a0Discussed mapping and getting in touch with landowners who haven\u2019t been contacted yet.\u00a0 They have people representing Orange, Royalston, Warwick and Athol. \u00a0See a need for communication with what\u2019s going on outside the North Quabbin region.\u00a0 They will attend the April 17 Climate ActionNow meeting in Greenfield. See need for lawn signs.\u00a0\u00a0Mt. Grace wants to organize volunteers to help out with the mapping of the proposed route of the pipeline. Reported that most towns did not receive maps from Kinder Morgan. Ashburnham and Warwick have received maps perhaps because town land is involved. Kinder Morgan is not releasing maps to individuals.<\/p>\n

    Messaging:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> We need to reach out to the broader community\u2026.get the hearts of the average people.\u00a0 The company knows what we are going to do.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Talked about lawn signs.\u00a0 \u201cBeware the Fracking Pipeline\u201d\u00a0 \u201cChoose Energy Over Company Profits\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHands Off Our Land, Forests, and Water.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u201cNo Pipeline \u2013 Protect our Land, Forests, Water and Families.\u201d\u00a0 We need some fundraising to be able to mount a campaign, buy signs, etc.<\/p>\n

    Municipal Outreach Group<\/strong>: Needs more \u201ccross-pollination,\u201d working with the Communication with Land Owners group.\u00a0 Need a way to communicate with the towns in the North Quabbin region.\u00a0 When we have a message, they will start contacting government entities. They see a need for a coordinating group to communicate with what\u2019s happening in all the communities. This group has a list of things that need to be done. \u00a0Their full report will be posted here.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>Green Communities Act\/ Conservation Lands Group:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Green Communities Act is bigger than you would think, covering most energy areas with many different facet\u00a0 The big one is the Energy Efficiency Project, being funded with ~$500 million per year.\u00a0 This has an 11 member board that approves plans.\u00a0 Goal is to reduce energy consumption by 10% by 2020.\u00a0 All of the funds are controlled by the gas and the electrical production companies.\u00a0Aid to Green Communities Projects are funded at $10 million a year. This is a substantial effort to reduce our energy use but it doesn\u2019t go far enough. It really doesn\u2019t address energy conservation, convincing people to use less energy.\u00a0 It focuses more on efficient use of energy sources. There should be an equal emphasis on conservation and efficiency.\u00a0 Also, there needs to be a restructuring of electric rates, similar to what was done with the MWRA water rates in years past – fix the leaks, increase the rates for over-use, and offer free conservation technologies and behavior changing incentives.\u00a0A line has to be drawn to protect conservation lands in state. Changes to the use of Chapter 97 lands (e.g., lands\u00a0with Conservation Restrictions and some State and Town forests) need a 2\/3 vote of the legislature.\u00a0 The governor has to be involved to protect these lands. We need to call out Gov. Patrick and future candidates and engage them in all of the above conversations. Energy policy needs to be more transparent.<\/p>\n

    Research on What\u2019s Happening in Other States<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong> They have documents that can be sent to anyone interested digitally.\u00a0 Request \u00a0documents from Ivan Ussach, email:\u00a0ivan@millsriver.net<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0Spectre Busters in Florida requested reports on all pipelines that were denied by FERC.\u00a0 Two liquid gas in TX and RI have been denied.\u00a0 There are several in process in NY. \u00a0In NY, there are plans to expand the Alqonquin pipeline into New England.\u00a0 There is a group fighting the Addison expanding pipeline in Burlington, VT area.\u00a0 The Research Group has an excellent 60 page document of \u201cHow to Deal with FERC?\u201d\u00a0They will need additional follow-up research on what they\u2019ve reported on.\u00a0 Again, email:\u00a0 ivan@millersriver.net\u00a0\u00a0 for PDFs of documents.\u00a0 They will summarize the 60-page document \u201cHow to Deal with FERC?\u201d to manageable information.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>IDEAS ON WHERE TO GO FROM HERE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1.\u00a0 Have sign up forms for working groups at the April 16 meeting.<\/p>\n

    2.\u00a0 Hold the next Working Groups meeting at the Athol Town Hall. \u00a0(Rene ahs already reserved the Town Hall for Wed. April 30.)<\/p>\n

    3.\u00a0 How to form an Organizing Committee – \u00a0could spokespeople for the working groups be the organizing committee?<\/p>\n

    4.\u00a0 Form a list serve group instead of doing mass emails.<\/p>\n

    5.\u00a0\u00a0 Include energy conservation information at the April 16th Meeting.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0 Report on last April 7th Kinder Morgan presentation in Montague :<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kinder Morgan put out a timeline and schedule of meetings they have had with state leaders.\u00a0 They emphasized that their maps just show a proposed route.\u00a0 Final route could go in many other directions. Kinder Morgan said there will be spur pipelines going northward to New Hampshire\u2026.possibly through Warwick, Royalston, and Ashburnham.\u00a0 One person reported that she was surprised by KM map of the Marcellus Shale Field and how big it is.\u00a0 KM reported that the right of way being offered to property owners will be 50 feet and they will prohibit growth in this area. \u00a0There will be a bigger corridor for construction stage, possibly 200 feet.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost all Montague people at the meeting were against the gas pipeline. Union construction people were at the meeting to support the pipe line as an organization.\u00a0 Kinder Morgan people are good sales people, and extremely nice to everyone. \u00a0People learned at the Montague meeting at KM plans to submit their request to FERC for the pre-filing in October 2014 (according to Kinder Morgan action timeline or perhaps in late summer).\u00a0 Many people think that KM is planning to export the gas.\u00a0 The pipeline goes to Dracut because Dracut is already the terminal of an existing pipeline that comes down from import terminals in Eastport,\u00a0Maine and St. Johns, New Brunswick. These could someday be turned into export terminals.\u00a0 Good article in Greenfield Recorder(April 8) on the meeting.\u00a0 Montague Reporter is doing a good job on the pipeline issues.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    NQ Pipeline Action Steering Committee — A Notice from Steering Comm.\u00a0 — June, 2016 Thank you to everyone on this e-list who attended public events, wrote letters, made phone calls, walked, rode buses and marched, talked with neighbors, attended vigils and rallies, put up lawn signs, sat through KM information sessions and open houses, spoke … Continue reading NQPA Steering Committee<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1217,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1258","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1258"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1423,"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1258\/revisions\/1423"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northquabbinenergy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}