Oil Pipeline Opponents to Host Info Session Tuesday

A group leading the charge against a proposed 178-mile pipeline that would transport oil between New York and New Jersey is holding an information session in Parsippany Tuesday night, open to anyone interested in learning more.

The community meeting will be held at the Parsippany Library on Halsey Road at 6:30 p.m., presented by a “coalition of environmental and community groups,” according to a statement from the Sierra Club of New Jersey.

The Pilgrim Pipeline would link Albany, N.Y. to Linden with a bidirectional line, sending Bakkan crude oil down to Linden with refined products travelling north to Albany, the release said.

Bakken oil is produced by fracking in North Dakota, and is considered to be highly explosive and highly dangerous, said Kate Millsaps, Sierra Club conservation program coordinator.

“The upcoming community meetings are an opportunity for local, concerned citizens to learn more about the Pilgrim Pipeline project and how they can become more involved.  The Pilgrim Pipeline project would bring an extreme, dangerous fuel source into both densely populated and environmentally sensitive areas along its route.  This infrastructure would create a serious risk and communities along the route need to know what the impacts will be and what rights they have,” Millsaps said in the statement.

A second meeting will be held in Fanwood on Tuesday, June 10 at the Forest Road Park Building at 6:30 p.m.

The Sierra Club, along with dozens of other groups, called on governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo to oppose the project last week, nj.com reported.

Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings LLC would only need permits from each state to move forward, and would need no federal approvals, the report said. The pipeline is proposed to run parallel to the New York State Thruway and Route 287 in New Jersey.

Parsippany Library is located at 449 Halsey Road in Parsippany.