Letter from Adrian Kuzminski
No to Pipeline, Data Centers
The Williams pipeline company has recently revived its proposal to build the 124-mile Constitution Pipeline to bring fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania into Schoharie County in New York. This project would have enormous effects on our region, far beyond anything to date. Not only would the pipeline itself disrupt the natural ecology of a beautiful, unspoiled area, it would open the door to a series of huge data centers along its corridor, including the Oneonta area.
These centers, as everyone is now learning, are designed to support the enormous computing needs of AI, and they consume vast amounts of electricity and water in the process. The electricity demands threaten to overwhelm available renewable resources, and will greatly increase demand for more fossil fuel energy. Greenhouse gas pollution will rise along with our electricity bills and local utility ratepayers will be on the hook for the costs. Outside companies will likely do the construction work and, once set up, only a handful of employees will be needed to maintain the centers.
It gets worse. Data centers generate tremendous heat and demand many millions of gallons of cooling water, far beyond the levels of current water use. The water is likely to be injected with corrosion inhibitors, with biocides to kill organic growth, and infused with concentrations of heavy metals. Direct immersion cooling is likely to use “forever chemicals,” magnifying disposal problems. Much of our greatest resource, abundant clean water, may be lost. Enormous buildings are also required, covering hundreds and even thousands of acres, potentially in multiple locations along the 124-mile route. If that happens, our once rural area will be turned into an extended industrial landscape, with little or no local benefit.
To preserve our natural resources and prevent our economic exploitation, the Constitution Pipeline and the data centers it would enable cannot be allowed to proceed as planned. This is a federal issue, since the permitting body is a federal agency: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The one person immediately responsible to defend the interests of our community on the federal level is our Congressman, Josh Riley.
Congressman Riley should immediately call for public hearings on the Williams company proposal to revive the Constitution Pipeline and on its potential impact on his district. He has taken on foreign owned local utilities, like NYSEG, which are relatively easy targets. Now it’s time to call to account powerful domestic energy companies who are posing a much greater threat. Whether the project goes through or not, he will share the responsibility.
Adrian Kuzminski
Fly Creek
