Merrimack Residents Pack Meeting on Proposed Pipeline

by KImberly Houghton, Union Leader Correspondent

An estimated 400 people packed into a local school gymnasium on Thursday, eager to learn more about a controversial natural gas pipeline that could travel through the community. 

The Tennessee Gas Pipeline, a Kinder Morgan company, is hoping to construct a new pipeline throughout a portion of New Hampshire. The Northeast Energy Direct project, if approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, would cross through 4.5 miles of town and directly affect about 61 homeowners.Opponents argue that the pipeline would travel over Merrimack’s most important aquifer, and be near two town wells that supply 50 percent of the town’s water, while also affecting the Horse Hill Nature Preserve, the Gilmore Hill Memorial Forest and several local neighborhoods.

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