Nashoba Valley Chamber CEO responds to Kinder Morgan controversy
Courtesy of Kinder Morgan
The purple line shows the preferred pipeline route Kinder Morgan has proposed to deliver natural gas to Massachusetts distributors. If approved, it would impact about 40 towns in northern Massachusetts.
While the U.S. Senate narrowly defeated the proposed Keystone pipeline expansion from Canada to the Gulf Coast earlier this week, another pipeline project with local impact is still pending, and it’s creating controversy for the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Groton Selectman Joshua Degen’s recent decision to cancel his chamber membership has led its CEO, Melissa Fetterhoff, to defend Houston-based energy giant Kinder Morgan Energy Partners’ status as a chamber gold sponsor, a designation Degen said he could not stomach. He recently wrote to Fetterhoff, asking his membership be canceled, just one month after he joined the Devens-based chamber.
Degen cites environmental concern
Degen said his opposition to Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct project, which would expand its natural gas pipeline system across northern Massachusetts, increasing delivery capacity to distributors in Central Massachusetts, is rooted in his concern for the environment.
He recognized the need to increase capacity for natural gas delivery in the region, but said he’d prefer the company seek an alternative, using previously disturbed land. Degen said the company’s preferred route will impact undisturbed land that is heavily forested.
“I see no environmental sensitivity or concern,” Degen said, referring to Kinder Morgan.
Degen and other Groton selectmen have voted to oppose the pipeline expansion, and he said nearly all Town Meeting members have also voted to oppose i.
As a gold sponsor, Kinder Morgan pays the chamber in exchange for benefits, such as advertising in the chamber newsletter. Degan said that while he has a positive overall view of the chamber, he thinks this designation represents a lapse in judgment by chamber leadership.
“I think Kinder Morgan has tried to buy their way into our community through the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce,” he said.
Kinder Morgan, Fetterhoff respond
Kinder Morgan spokesman Richard Wheatley said Degen’s remarks about the company’s environmental practices and strategy to buy favor in the region have no merit.
“We strongly disagree with those allegations,” Wheatley said.
Wheatley said the company has been diligent about educating the community on the project, conducting dozens of public meetings to explain it, more than what the federal approval process requires. He said there are several proposed routes, all of which are being vetted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Wheatley added that Kinder Morgan strives to be a strong community partner, and that chamber membership falls within those efforts. He noted that membership decisions are made at the regional level, so he wasn’t aware of the details of the company’s relationship with the Nashoba Valley chamber.
The pending project, which is subject to lengthy review, would include Kinder Morgan’s subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. building a 36-inch pipeline through about 40 communities across the northern part of the state. This would link a distribution center in Dracut with shale fields in Pennsylvania, where natural gas is harvested through fracking, which itself has generated opposition from fracking opponents in Massachusetts.
Among towns that could be impacted are Berlin, Bolton and Groton—all communities that fall within Nashoba Valley chamber territory. While the project has faced significant opposition from local officials, residents and lawmakers, Fetterhoff said denying Kinder Morgan membership and gold sponsorship status with the chamber is inappropriate.
Fetterhoff said she knew when Kinder Morgan joined the chamber in July that it could come with some controversy. She noted that Kinder Morgan has regional operations and employees in the area, and all businesses with a local presence are welcome to join.
“We’re not taking a stand (on the pipeline project),” Fetterhoff said. “They’re part of the business community, whether we like it or not.”
Degen a lone wolf?
Fetterhoff said no other members have explicitly canceled memberships over Kinder Morgan’s membership, though she said one was also concerned about Kinder Morgan’s plans and how they’ll impact the environment. Fetterhoff has also fielded a few calls from non-members in the area who are unhappy about it.
Meanwhile, another chamber member favors expansion, she said, despite the fact that the pipeline could run through his backyard should the preferred route be approved.
“My job here is to help support and promote businesses. While we’re slightly getting derailed over the fact that Kinder Morgan is a member, I have other businesses I have to work for,” Fetterhoff said.
Degen, who has run his landscape design firm, Earthscape Inc., for more than 30 years, said he suspects many businesses are not pleased with Kinder Morgan’s chamber membership but are afraid to speak out.
“I’m not afraid of Kinder Morgan and if they want to come tromping through the Town of Groton, they’re going to have to go through me first,” Degen said.
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