Community and Environmental Advocates Call on Ares Management to Stop Funding Destructive Pilgrim Pipeline, Says UNITE HERE

86 community and environmental advocates and 63 individuals in New York and New Jersey have called on Ares Management and its investors to withdraw funding for Pilgrim Pipeline, the proposed 170-mile bi-directional oil pipelines in New York and New Jersey.

In a letter sent today to Ares and several of its key investors, advocates pledged to continue to oppose the environmentally destructive pipelines, which are backed by a $195 million commitment from Ares Energy Investors Funds. Capable of carrying up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil and refined products per day, the pipelines would threaten densely populated areas, drinking water sources and wildlife habitats with potential leaks and explosions.

The full letter can be found at http://www.pecloserlook.org/community-and-environmental-advocates-call-on-ares-management-to-stop-funding-destructive-pilgrim-pipeline/.

In their letter, the organizations outlined the pipelines’ significant regulatory hurdles and growing community and lawmaker opposition.

• The pipelines are opposed by all of the municipalities along the pipeline’s proposed route in New Jersey and both houses of the state’s legislature.
• The New Jersey utility Public Service Electric & Gas Co. has denied Pilgrim the use of a 27-mile right-of-way, stating that “it was not in the best interests of the utility or its customers to allow access to the right of way.”
• In New York, where village and city boards reportedly have “veto power” over pipelines crossing their borders under the Transportation Corporations Law, the project is opposed by more than 20 municipalities along the proposed route.
• A bill was filed in the New York State Assembly that would call on the New York Thruway Authority – the largest landholder along the route – to deny the use of its right-of-way. Pilgrim has stated that alternate routes off the Thruway are not feasible.

“We will continue to do what is necessary to defeat these pipelines,” said Jeremy Cherson of Riverkeeper and the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipelines. “Ares Management and its investors should not be financing projects that would threaten the health and safety of our communities and the ecology of the Hudson River and its tributaries with potential leaks and construction impacts.”

The letter follows UNITE HERE’s report on Pilgrim Pipeline’s regulatory obstacles, and Ares Management’s failed merger with energy-focused firm Kayne Anderson.

“How do Ares’ limited partners stand to benefit from backing an oil pipeline that is facing so many political and regulatory obstacles,” asked UNITE HERE research analyst Marcos Feldman.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160929005373/en/