Submitted by Katy_Dunlap on Thu, 2016-04-21 08:56 New York - 9NY Pennsylvania - 9PA Eastern Shale Gas Vote Up Down +86 + stream water discolored.jpg By Katy Dunlap Citing inadequate capacity commitments from prospective customers, Kinder Morgan announced on April 20 that it had suspended further work on its federal application to construct the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Northeast Energy Direct (TGP-NED) project. The TGP-NED project was proposed to cross five states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut, affecting more than 660 coldwater streams across the region. In response to the proposed pipeline, TU had employed a “one TU” approach. Over the past year, TU staff worked together with affected councils and chapters to review TGP-NED environmental analyses and regulatory filings to identify impacts to native and wild trout streams and propose measures to avoid or minimize those impacts. Grassroots leaders have devoted countless hours to tracking this pipeline, testifying at hearings, submitting comments and informing fellow anglers of how this project might affect fishing and trout habitat. Last August, TU national, along with five TU state councils and 15 individual TU chapters—representing more than 30,000 TU members—submitted comments ( TU comments EIS scope for TGP-NED_08 28 15.pdf) on the project. Earlier this year, we also formally intervened in the federal regulatory process, to ensure that coldwater resources were considered in decision-making processes for this pipeline. While our work on this project may be done for now, there will likely be future pipelines proposed for trout watersheds across the Northeast. Today, as a result of the TGP-NED project, TU and its grassroots leaders are more prepared than ever to engage in various stages of proposed pipeline projects and assure protection of native and wild trout populations and their watersheds. Katy Dunlap is the director of TU's Eastern Water Project program.