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Agawam, Mass., Protest Centers On Water Discharge From Pipeline Project

Protesters picket outside Kinder Morgan's Agawam, Mass. office.
Adam Frenier
/
NEPR
Protesters picket outside Kinder Morgan's Agawam, Mass. office.

Protestors demonstrated outside of the Agawam, Massachusetts, offices of gas pipeline company Kinder Morgan Wednesday. They are upset that more than 16,000 gallons of contaminated water were released improperly last fall.

The water contained a number of potentially dangerous chemicals. It was used to test a recently-built pipeline running from Agawam into northern Connecticut.

According to federal filings, Kinder Morgan said the water did not impact any wetlands, and blames a contractor for the incident.

Protestor Priscilla Lynch said the company should have done more to prevent the spillage.

"Do you just say, 'Because I contract with people, I have no responsibility?'" Lynch said. "They have responsibility for this. They should know what's going on with their contractors, and they should know what's going on on their own property."

Massachusetts U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren have pressed federal regulators for more information about the incident.

A Kinder Morgan spokeswoman had no further update.

Adam joined NEPM as a freelance reporter and fill-in operations assistant during the summer of 2011. For more than 15 years, Adam has had a number stops throughout his broadcast career, including as a news reporter and anchor, sports host and play-by-play announcer as well as a producer and technician.
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