Long to Discuss Dangers of Pilgrim Pipeline

CORNWALL – Genieve Long, resident of Mayflower, Arkansas, will be speaking in Cornwall, about her experience with one of the worst oil pipeline spills in recent years.  In March, 2013, an Exxon Mobil pipe ruptured and sent 210,000 gals. of heavy crude oil into an unsuspecting little town, Mayflower.

In a recent interview Long, mother of four, remembered the day: “I picked up my kids outside the school.  They asked why it smelled so awful, and why their stomaches were getting upset.  As I headed past the shopping center. . . I saw it.  A river of oil heading underneath the street through a drainage culvert, and then under the interstate and into a cove of our Lake Conway.”

Sandra Kissam, acting chair of Orange Residents Against Pilgrim Pipelines, explained, “We need to learn about Mayflower, because a spill could happen here if Pilgrim builds its pipelines.  The company keeps saying that pipelines are safer than any other mode of oil transport.  But the fact is that nationwide, pipeline ruptures account for 80% of oil spilled compared to other forms of transport.  And then the damage persists.”

The Town Boards of Newburgh, New Windsor and Cornwall, as well as the City of Newburgh, have all passed resolutions opposing Pilgrim Pipelines, especially because a spill could immediately threaten local drinking water supplies.

Town of Newburgh resident and RAPP member Ken Hall says, “People owe it to themselves and their families to become educated.  They need to understand the serious impacts to the lands involved and  real potential risk to the integrity of the water supply, posed by an oil pipeline.  If this becomes reality, they will live with the potential serious consequences for generations.  This pipeline serves no public interest or need.  It serves the interest of for-profit corporations comprising the oil industry.”

Cornwall resident Claudia Ciucci echoes these sentiments, “We need to learn everything we can about the risks of having an oil pipeline so close to our homes and community.”

Long knows the risks.  She will fly here from Arkansas to share her experiences, as she has previously done in Maine, Washington, D.C. and Texas.

The talk will take place on Thursday, June 30, at 7:00 PM, at Munger Cottage in Cornwall. (Munger Cottage is located behind the Cornwall Library, 395 Hudson St.).