Loud noise overnight in Stony Point from unplanned gas release, officials say
A loud noise around 2 a.m. on Tuesday December 9th, was from an unplanned release of natural gas at Enbridge’s Algonquin Gas Transmission's Stony Point Compression Station, according to local officials and a state agency.
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Residents in North Rockland neighborhoods may have woke up and heard a loud noise earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, an unplanned release of natural gas at Enbridge’s Algonquin Gas Transmission's Stony Point Compression Station around 2 a.m. was the cause, according to local officials and a state agency.
News 12 has looked into the incident after hearing concerns from Stony Point residents.
“I heard it. It woke me up,” said Amy Conklin-Stamm, Stony Point’s Town supervisor-elect. “It was very loud — louder than what I’m used to — and that was concerning. So I can see why people were concerned.”
Conklin-Stamm, who lives near the facility, has heard planned releases happen during the daytime over the years. She and outgoing Supervisor Jim Monaghan spoke with Enbridge representatives on Dec. 10 to better understand what happened.
The soon-to-be supervisor learned the facility is not staffed overnight.
“They have different safety measures in place that will shut the plant down if something does happen,” she said. An air compressor malfunctioned is what they explained to us, which prompted a call to the on-call employee. As he was coming in, it triggered the next level response — which is basically shut the plant down and release any of the gas that the plant is storing. And that is a safety measure for everyone around the plant.”
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said the shutdown was caused by malfunctioning equipment. The agency said there was no threat to public health or the environment and that no laws or regulations were violated. No further action is required, according to the DEC. They also explained the event "lasted for two minutes and vented 24,800 standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas. New York State law requires natural gas pipeline operators to notify state and local officials of any releases greater than 10,000 SCF (standard cubic foot)."
In a statement, Enbridge said, “At no time were there any safety concerns, as the system operated as it was intended to.”
The company added that the station returned to normal operations later the same day.
Conklin-Stamm said Enbridge kept personnel onsite to monitor the facility overnight for several days following the incident and will notify local police should a similar event occur in the future.
Enbridge's Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline runs from New Jersey through New York, Connecticut and into Massachusetts.
