BUFFALO, N.Y. — Almost 100 people came out to the National Fuel headquarters in Williamsville on Saturday to protest the Northern Access Pipeline Project.
Members of the Seneca Nation, and representatives from groups such as Earthworks, spent hours marching around the building to bring awareness to the concerns they have about the pipeline.
One of the people protesting was Theresa Schueckler. Schueckler has been involved in litigation with National Fuel over her 200-acre property in Allegheny County. the proposed pipeline would run though her land. In December a judge ruled in her favor stating that National Fuel could not use eminent domain as a means to obtain the land for the building of the pipeline.
"We have on our 200 acres we have spent our life trying to preserve clean air and clean water," Schueckler said.
Schueckler was confident that she no longer needed to worry about her land. Her opinion changed after a different ruling by an Erie County judge in a similar case.
Members of the Seneca Nation also participated. Their main concern is the the proposed pipeline's route through the Cattauragus Creek. John Seneca lives near the water and says he would rather the company found an alternative to fossil fuels rather than using the pipeline to transport more of them.
"We believe this is a time that we should be looking for renewables rather than more oil, fossil fuel energy sources," Seneca told 2 On your Side.
2 On Your Side reached out to National Fuel. A representative for the company provided the following statement:
"We believe that the pipeline review process has addressed all of the questions and concerns that are continually discussed with regard to the Northern Access Project. Thousands of pages of research, due diligence and responses have been provided along with numerous public meetings, since 2015, have been hosted to give fact-based information and address questions/concerns to interested community members.
On this very cold winter day, it is worth stating that 100 percent of the natural gas being used across Western New York by National Fuel customers to heat their homes is hydraulically-fractured natural gas from near-by Pennsylvania.
It is important, also, to acknowledge that there are currently four interstate pipelines that cross Cattauragus Creek that National Fuel operates safely without incident. As well, National Fuel as signed more than 500 landowner agreements for easements along the 97-mile proposed route. We do not take this land from its owners. We pay for easement agreement that allow the landowners to continue to use it for recreational purposes and/or farming. The only thing that can’t be done on that land is build a structure.
The Northern Access Project - a $500 million investment - will support new and growing employment at National Fuel, in addition to good-paying local jobs within the building trades during construction, and is estimated to increase property tax receipts by $11.8 million for four N.Y. counties (Erie, Niagara, Cattauragus and Allegheny). Twelve school districts within those counties will benefit from an annual incremental increase in tax revenue. This project is designed to transport domestically-produced natural gas to the North American Pipeline Grid providing access to a low-cost energy source for residential and commercial customers across the Northeast.
At National Fuel we are proud of our more than 2,000 employees and the work they do every day to enable the safe, reliable and efficient delivery of natural gas; we are proud of our 115-year safety record and we are proud of the technological advancements and innovations that are used everyday in the design, construction and operation of our natural gas infrastructure."