In Southwest Massachusetts, a Small Native Tribe is Fighting a Corporate Behemoth

The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co, a Kinder Morgan company, is pushing ahead with its Connecticut Expansion Pipeline project, which will span both private land and protected state forest.

The citizens and private individual landowners in question who have refused to allow the pipeline to pass through their land and appealed the Water Quality Certification issued in favor of the pipeline are being sued by the Kinder Morgan—the largest energy transfer company in North America.

The Otis State Forest is public land that became protected more than a decade ago. Seventy-three sacred Native American ceremonial stone landscape features were identified in 2016 by several federally-recognized Tribes along the proposed pipeline route. These features are sacred to the Narragansett Indian Tribe, who have historical, cultural and religious connections to the land. The gas company have taken the land by force, as “eminent domain.” It has been confirmed by the gas company that they will not avoid the destruction of a third of these features.

The absurd conciliatory suggestion was made to disassemble and then reassemble the features, post-construction. But as Doug Harris, Narragansett Tribal Historical Preservation Officer, explained, their disassembly would be an interruption of the prayers placed there, and of course then all you’d be left with would be “an artistic replica of something that was spiritual. Once you remove the stones, the spiritual connection is broken.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the route in 2015, before any ceremonial stone landscape survey was undertaken. This approval was thus in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act implementing regulations, as it proceeded with out full Tribal participatory consultation.

Along with the impact upon and abuse of the rights of the indigenous tribe, pipeline construction will impact the environment. There will be substantial natural environment destruction, from the forest clearing and tree felling that is required to create equipment storage areas and transport corridors, both for the purposes of the initial construction and afterwards for maintenance of the pipeline. This will cause habitat loss and changes in species movement for such wildlife as forest interior nesting birds. Pollutants from the air emissions of pipelines and compressor stations will impact both forest and human health. Ground and shallow water contamination is also probable, as is noise pollution at the operational site.

Rehearing requests have gone unanswered. On the 12th of April notice to begin construction was issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission despite a 9th of April motion by the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office asking for just a one-day extension to intervene in the matter.

Trump’s well-known plans to regenerate American fossil fuel energy production and consumption and his egregious support of and personal investment in pipelines have caused pipeline company stocks to soar in value. His personal financial ties to the Dakota Access pipeline and the profits he stands to make from pushing that pipeline through are well documented. Trump’s 2016 financial disclosure form shows that his fossil fuel investments include $2,000 – $30,000 to Kinder Morgan. The disclosure form also shows Trump invested $50,000 – $100,000 in ExxonMobil (Trump’s US Secretary of State is Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s former Chairman and CEO) which co-owns the Plantation Pipeline company with Kinder Morgan.

Costly legal avenues to prevent the pipeline going ahead are being explored.

Further information:
Narragansett Indian Tribe
Nolumbeka Project
Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network
Sandisfield Tax Payers Opposing the Pipeline (STOP)

To donate towards the legal costs of protecting the ceremonial stones, send cheques to:
Narragansett Indian Tribe Historical Perseveration Trust
c/o Doug Harris, Deputy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer
PO Box 700
Wyoming, RI 02898

To donate to legal action against the pipeline:
Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network – donate towards the costs of their legal work here.