NEW SCOTLAND — Albany County Legislator Herbert W. Reilly said this week that the town of Bethlehem slowed down measures to protect local water sources, voted to extend a town-owned easement and right-of-way to a gas pipeline company, and that one of the board members who supported the extension had a conflict of interest. Reilly is seeking his fifth four-year term on the legislature.

The board member, Jeffrey Kuhn, strenuously objects and says there was no conflict of interest.

Another Bethlehem councilman, William Reinhardt, who is running against Reilly and beat him in the Democratic primary, voted against extending the easement.

His reason was because he opposed use of fossil fuels.

Reilly authored a bill to protect municipal water sources from blasting just as Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company and its parent company, Kinder Morgan, are set to expand existing pipelines in New Scotland. The county passed the blasting law on Sept. 14.

The bill expanded a similar law, authored by Albany County Legislator L. Michael Mackey, to protect private wells that could be affected by blasting that is expected to occur when Kinder Morgan expands its existing infrastructure as part of the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project. Mackey is also up for re-election.

Reilly said previously that proposed blasting on the current line would occur within a quarter mile of Bethlehem's Vly Creek Reservoir in New Scotland, and near a known brown site in New Scotland near North Road.

This week, Reilly said, “I am disappointed that town of Bethlehem officials didn’t take it [seriously]. I had a law drafted by attorneys and experts in that field.”

Reilly said after the September primary, when he lost the Democratic line to Reinhardt by 23 votes out of 500, that Bethlehem residents may wonder how he can represent them, just as New Scotland residents wonder the same about a Bethlehem resident. Reilly is currently running on the Independent Party line.

Reilly told The Enterprise that Bethlehem asked to review his bill, and he presented it to them.

“Nothing was done about it. Nothing,” Reilly said. “It seemed to me it was like a basketball game — they kept passing the ball. What is so bad about wanting to protect the water supply?”

Reilly said that, after waiting for a response, he rushed to get materials for the bill sent by Aug. 31 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees large projects like the NED pipeline.

Researching the issue, Reilly told The Enterprise, he found that, during an Aug. 12 meeting, the Bethlehem Town Board passed a resolution offering to give Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas an easement and right-of-way to use town property.

“That was rushed right through,” Reilly said. “One of the attorneys on the town board has strong ties to oil industries. That is absolutely a conflict of interest, in not disclosing it…He should not have voted.”

“I put people in front of money and profits,” Reilly continued.

“He doesn’t know what the Hell he’s talking about,” said Bethlehem Councilman Jeffrey Kuhn, about whom Reilly referred. “This is just nonsense. I work for the largest law firm…with 4,000 attorneys.

“I’ve never represented Tennessee Gas Pipeline,” Kuhn said. “I do have clients in the energy industry…I’m supposed to recuse from everything to do with energy? It’s absurd.”

“In one instance, a direct client of mine had business before the board, and I recused,” Kuhn said. “There’s no basis in law that would require me to recuse from all business before the board touching on energy.

“There is no factual or legal merit to Mr. Reilly,” he continued.

Reinhardt told The Enterprise that the resolution passed by the Bethlehem Town Board allowed an expansion of an existing easement.

During a discussion with pipeline representatives and the board, Reinhardt said, the board was told that, if it refused to allow the amended easement, the property easement and right-of-way could be taken by eminent domain, and might result in a lower financial payment.

“We questioned them at length about the expansion,” Kuhn agreed. “Ultimately, it was determined…that if we didn’t grant the expansion, they would go to FERC and get eminent domain…to the fiscal disadvantage of the town of Bethlehem.”

Reinhardt said that, when he asked if the town board could later “weigh in on whether or not the pipeline should be built,” he was told that FERC superseded the town board’s authority. 

Three members of the town board, including Kuhn, voted to pass the resolution allowing the easement. Reinhardt cast the lone vote against the resolution.

“I don’t think we should be putting in new natural gas infrastructure,” Reinhardt said. He said that the state wants to reduce its use of fossil fuels by 80 percent by the year 2050, and he voted against the resolution in protest of the carbon footprint of the project.
“FERC has taken away all local opportunity to determine whether or not this is for the public good,” Reinhardt said.