ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A proposed 124-mi. (199.56 km) pipeline to deliver low-cost gas from Pennsylvania's shale gas fields to New York and New England has been delayed for lack of a state water quality permit.
Constitution Pipeline Company said it's changing its projected start of service from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the second half of 2017. The company said it won't be able to complete tree-clearing before the end of March, as required to avoid harm to nesting birds.
The company has completed tree-felling along the Pennsylvania leg of the project. But work can't begin in New York until state regulators issue a water quality certification.
Environmental groups and some local residents are lobbying Gov. Andrew Cuomo to deny the permit, saying the pipeline will pose human health and environmental risks.
