Concerned Staten Islanders – Leafletting Tomorrow: Fishermen, Marine Ecologists, Borough President Concerned NESE Pipeline Will Bring Headaches, No Benefit To Local Residents

On Staten Island: Boating Enthusiasts, Marine Wildlife Observers, SI’s Borough President Concerned That NESE Pipeline Will Bring Headaches, No Benefit To Local Residents

Learn more about the project from our previous article on this topic, which included several questions asked to the NYS DEP.

The below is an update from Food & Water Watch about a leafletting campaign going on tomorrow: 

**On Tuesday, Sept. 9, from 4–6 p.m., opponents of the NESE pipeline will be leafletting outside the Manhattan Staten Island Ferry Terminal (4 Whitehall St.). They’ll have Staten Island–specific signs and flyers urging Gov. Hochul to reject the project.

Organizers expect about a dozen people. They see this as part of the broader Staten Island opposition you’ve been reporting on — concerns about higher bills, toxic sediment in the Bay, and threats to marine life.

Editor’s note: An article from the Economist in 2022 describes the return of marine wildlife to the Hudson River area, in most cases these animals haven’t been seen there in decades:  “Nine humpback whales recently surfaced [in New York’s waterways]  together, spouting and breeching against the city skyline as though vying for the most dramatic selfie. Fin whales and right whales are also appearing in startling numbers—along with bottlenose dolphins, spinner and hammerhead sharks, seals, blue crabs, and seahorses. Oysters, which all but vanished decades ago, are clamping themselves to bulkheads from Brooklyn’s Coney Island Creek to the Mario Cuomo Bridge, almost 20 miles up the Hudson from the city.”

See the borough president’s press conference below.  He talks about his own childhood, when there was literally tar in the water off the beaches of Staten Island in South Beach, along with glass and other trash in the water.  He mentions that since the time of his own childhood, the ecosystem has improved due to human intervention.  The water has gotten better in the last 40 years, with many animals returning, but this progress that has occurred since then is at risk from this project.  He also pointed to a document from 2011 about the health risks from consuming fish in these waterways due to the contamination in the sediments on the floor, such as mercury, dioxins, and other chemicals.   Their concern is that the project will heavily disrupt some of these toxic sediments that will then poison the wildlife in the river.  He also points out that the natural gas being piped through this pipeline will have no benefit for Staten Islanders:

BP Fossella, SI Boating Community Take Stand Against Transco NESE Pipeline Threatening Marine Life in Raritan Bay

Staten Island Borough President Fossella Submits Formal Opposition to Williams NESE Pipeline

Republican official warns project would raise bills, threaten Raritan Bay

Staten Island, NY — Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella has formally urged the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to reject the proposed Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline. In a letter submitted during the agency’s review, Fossella warned that the pipeline would endanger Staten Island’s coastline while providing no benefit to its residents.

In his letter to DEC, Borough President Fossella warned that Staten Islanders “will bear all the risks and burdens while receiving no benefits” from the pipeline, while still being forced to pay a 3.5% increase in utility bills. Fossella also raised concerns that construction would disturb contaminated sediment and damage fragile fish and shellfish populations in Raritan Bay. Fossella further pointed to Staten Island’s long history of being treated as the “default” destination for unwanted projects.

The Williams NESE pipeline — a project repeatedly rejected in prior years — has been revived under pressure from the Trump administration. Governor Hochul’s administration has seemingly fastracked the pipeline’s permit applications, providing no public hearings despite fierce community opposition and widespread warnings that it would increase energy costs and lock New York into decades of fossil fuel dependence.

“Borough President Fossella’s opposition makes it crystal clear: pipelines are wildly unpopular on both sides of the political spectrum because of their high costs and threats to local water and communities,” said Laura Shindell, New York State Director at Food & Water Watch. “With Republicans and Democrats united against the pipeline, Governor Hochul should realize there’s no political upside to approving it. It would hike bills, poison Raritan Bay, and violate New York’s climate law. Staten Islanders deserve clean water and affordable energy, not another costly and unnecessary pipeline project.”

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Background:

• The NESE pipeline would extend through Raritan Bay off Staten Island’s eastern shore.
• National Grid has acknowledged the project would raise New Yorkers’ gas bills by 3.5%.
• New York previously denied the pipeline multiple times for failing to meet water quality and climate standards.

Williams NESE, leafletting, Manhattan, September 9, 2025. Image Credit – Food and Water Watch

Williams NESE, leafletting, Manhattan, September 9, 2025. Image Credit – Food and Water Watch

Williams NESE, leafletting, Manhattan, September 9, 2025. Image Credit – Food and Water Watch

Williams NESE, leafletting, Manhattan, September 9, 2025. Image Credit – Food and Water Watch

Williams NESE, leafletting, Manhattan, September 9, 2025. Image Credit – Food and Water Watch

Banner Image: Fracked gas pipeline project. Image Credit – The Watershed Institute