ELDRED, NY — By a 4-0-1 vote, the Highland Town Board on March 8 approved a strong resolution in opposition to Millennium Gas Pipeline’s planned construction of a 22,000-horsepower compressor station near the town’s northern border.

Supervisor Jeff Haas abstained from the discussion and vote on the resolution after reading a statement announcing that he would recuse himself from all matters on the issue, since a relative is employed by Millennium. Haas directed Deputy Supervisor Jim Gutekunst to act as chair during further discussion and voting. “I will not speak nor vote,” Haas said.

The three-page resolution cited numerous health, economic and environmental objections.

As to health issues, the resolution listed station emissions of volatile and toxic organic compounds such as propene (propylene), toluene, ethylbenzene and acetone, and fine particulate matter, as well as methane; and University of Albany findings of “high levels of formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen, exceeding health-based risk levels near compressor stations.”

It noted Sullivan County’s negative ranking of 61st out of 62 New York State counties with regard to residents’ overall health; and that Sullivan County, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) criteria and census data, is “an environmental justice, sensitive and disadvantaged community.”

Among the criteria taken into consideration are the percentage of low-income residents in the county, the percentage of residents over the age of 64 and the percentage of residents below the age of five. The EPA defines environmental justice to mean that “all people, regardless of race, color, origin, or income, receive fair treatment and equal environmental protection, and have the opportunity for meaningful involvement in decisions that will affect the environment and/or health of their community.”

The resolution also cited New York State Medical Society resolutions recognizing the potential public health impacts from natural gas infrastructure and called for a government assessment of associated risks.

The resolution went on to note negative project impacts on the town’s tax base and the town’s volunteer emergency services.

Aimed principally at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the resolution called on the commission to direct completion of: a full environmental impact statement in conjunction with an air emissions baseline assessment and in compliance with the Clean Air and Water Act; a comprehensive and transparent Health Impact Assessment; and that those studies include “opinions from public health experts who are ‘independents credible and free from conflicts of interest.’”

The resolution was copied to county, state and federal elected officials and agencies.

A large audience applauded the board’s vote.

Former Supervisor Allan Schadt thanked the board, calling the resolution “the best I’ve seen.”

County Legislature Chair Scott Samuelson said the legislature’s Health and Family Services Committee was “investigating” the county’s response to the project.

Resident Glenn Pontier said there has to be a process for protection of the population in a community already noted as the second-least healthy in the state. Referring to the 14th Amendment, he said the project was a constitutional issue of equal protection under the law. “The pipeline is in the wrong place. We didn’t ask for it. This will go to the Supreme Court. We have to make the court see that FERC is a rogue agency,” he said.

Town Clerk Doreen Hanson said Highland had received 149 emails voicing opposition to the compressor project, as well as resolutions of opposition from the towns of Tusten and Bethel.

Millennium Pipeline has scheduled a March 31 public information session at The Sullivan Hotel in Rock Hill. The program is set up as a trade show with participants’ tables and will include representatives from Millennium and FERC. It will run from 4 to 7 p.m.