A controversial natural gas pipeline off New York City's Rockaway Beach has been fast-tracked despite past rejections over environmental concerns. The Williams Company's Northeastern Supply Enhancement project faces renewed opposition as allegations of a political deal between state and federal officials surface. Residents worry about water quality and rising sea levels exacerbating local flooding risks.
In Breezy Point, a coastal neighborhood on New York's Rockaway Peninsula, retired firefighter Ed Power has watched his basement flood more frequently over the past 15 years. The area, hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, now faces another threat: the Williams Company's Northeastern Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline. Power, who returned after the storm, said, “The only reason I’m here is because of the ocean. I can see it, I swim in it. And the water continues to rise. Another Sandy and I’m out of here.” He called the pipeline “Everything about this is a horror.”
The NESE project would carry fracked gas from Pennsylvania through New York Harbor to a terminus off Rockaway Beach, connecting to an existing pipeline off Long Island. Rejected three times since 2018 by New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for failing water quality standards, it risks dredging up contaminants like mercury and copper, threatening marine life and swimmers. Williams recently resubmitted a similar proposal, coinciding with a new DEC head appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul in May.
Tensions escalated when the Trump administration halted a $5 billion offshore wind project in April, only to reverse course in May after reported negotiations with Hochul. The deal allegedly traded pipeline approval for resuming the wind farm. Hochul denied any quid pro quo, but Anders Opedal, CEO of the wind developer, told the Financial Times the pipeline was “very helpful” in restarting the project. She called him on May 18, and the federal order lifted the next day. Public Citizen labeled it a “lurid political shakedown” in a formal complaint.
The DEC fast-tracked review in early July with a 30-day public comment period and no hearings—unusual for such a project—later extended to 45 days amid outcry. A DEC representative stated it is “committed to protecting public health and the environment and subject all permit applications to rigorous review process,” without specifying on the resubmission. As of late October, the proposal remains in limbo.
Opponents, including Laura Shindell of Food & Water Action, argue the risks persist: “The water quality impacts of the pipelines are the same, the science is the same. The climate science is the same or worse. The pipelines are still an expensive [piece] of infrastructure that would be paid for by ratepayers and then become stranded assets when they have to be phased out thanks to New York’s climate law.” An IEEFA report estimates $1.25 billion in ratepayer costs, no permanent jobs, and only 9 percent of temporary construction jobs in New York.
National Grid, New York's gas utility, supports it for reliability during events like 2022's Winter Storm Elliott and growing data center demands. However, IEEFA notes up to 50 percent of projected data centers may not materialize. Power questioned the justification: “I can’t argue that these data centers don’t need energy. But that’s how you’re going to justify polluting my water and killing my firemen and warming the planet? Not in my eyes. I can’t argue that point.”