Opponents of a proposed pipeline through western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire are pointing out that only about half the 3,000 promised construction jobs would go to local workers.
IN-DEPTH: The Pipeline Road Trip
“That, compared to the clean energy economy which is creating thousands of jobs, is really not an economic benefit that is worth considering,” says Katy Eiseman, the president of the Pipeline Awareness Network for the Northeast.
The jobs numbers appeared in a formal application pipeline company Kinder Morgan filed Friday with federal regulators. Kinder Morgan spokesperson Allen Fore says his company will certainly push for as many local workers as possible. But he adds, “ultimately it will be up to the pipeline union, as well as the individual unions that we’ve signed agreements with, to determine the workforce.”
The 30-inch pipeline would travel through northern Berkshire and Franklin counties before cutting north into New Hampshire. It would turn south again before ending in Dracut, Massachusetts.
Click on the audio player above for interviews with both Katy Eiseman and Allen Fore.
