http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-lihemp3121035feb09.story Residents Pumped As Hess Backs Out After protests, company decides not to put gas station by pine barrens By Ann Givens STAFF WRITER February 9, 2003 Responding to an outcry by numerous residents and civic leaders, Amerada Hess Corp. has withdrawn an application to build a gas station in one of Long Island's most sensitive preservation areas. Hess, which had applied to build on the 2,500-square-foot lot on the southeast corner of the Long Island Expressway and County Road 111 in Manorville, acquiesced only days before local environmentalists were set to begin boycotting Hess gas stations. The Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission, a five- member state commission charged with protecting the Long Island pine barrens, had been set to rule on Hess' application in the next several months. At a recent public hearing on the application, which sought to build in the pine barrens core preservation area, dozens of residents and activists turned out to speak against the project, many carrying picket signs. A spokesman for Hess said the company was moved to withdraw its application in part by the passion of the protesters. "Clearly, the community was not thrilled with what was proposed, and we were not looking for a fight," said Mark Grossman, the spokesman for Hess. Dick Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, a nonprofit group that works to protect the barrens, called Hess' decision a major victory for environmentalists. "Many times people don't believe they can make a difference, but they certainly did here," he said. Protesters who spoke at the commission meeting last month said they were concerned that a gas station could harm the environment. They warned that one of the gas tanks might leak into the aquifer, or that a fire in the pine barrens could ignite one of the gas tanks and cause an explosion at the station. "The way to protect the pine barrens - and it's clear as the nose on your face - is not to have a gas station in the core preservation area," Julie Penny, co-chairwoman of the South Fork Ground Water Task Force, said at the time. Penny's group, a nonprofit, works to protect the region's aquifer. Hess officials at the meeting assured the commission and the public that their gas tanks are heavily reinforced and would not leak. They also pointed out that the site where they wanted to build the station is just inside the border of the core preservation area. They noted that there is another gas station just across the street, which is not in the core area, and said that the fact that the core includes one station but not the other seems arbitrary. Nevertheless, Hess officials said they would not try to push through an application that is so unpopular with the public. Grossman said the company will look for a more suitable site elsewhere on County Road 111 near the Long Island Expressway. "While customers in greater Manorville have expressed a desire for us to construct a facility in this area, the site we secured is one [about] which the environmental community has voiced considerable concern," said F. Borden Walker, president of refining and marketing for Amerada Hess. Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc. http://www.northshoresun.com/ Out of gas Facing protests, Hess Corp. nixes Pine Barrens proposal By AMBROSE CLANCY In a face-off between environmentalists and a multinational oil corporation, the corporation blinked first. On Monday, about 24 hours before demonstrations and a boycott of Hess service stations were scheduled to begin, representatives of the Amerada Hess Corporation met with Richard Amper, executive vice president of the Pine Barrens Society. Mr. Amper was told the company was withdrawing its application to build a gas station/convenience store on protected land in the Pine Barrens. Mark Grossman, who handles public relations for the New York City-based company, said he attended the meeting in the Garden City office of Kevin Law, an attorney with the firm Nixon Peabody who represents Hess. Also present was Hess official Tim O'Connor, a manager of the real estate division, Mr. Grossman said. Minutes after the meeting broke up, Mr. Amper told The Sun that Hess had noticed the noise from environmentalists that became loudest at a Jan. 15 demonstration at Brookhaven Town Hall, followed by a contentious meeting of the Pine Barrens Commission, which was set to rule on the application. "It's the company's position that they heard the voice of the community and they wanted to be responsible corporate citizens,” Mr. Amper said. Demonstrations were set to begin early Tuesday afternoon at Hess stations across Long Island. "We asked environmental groups across Long Island if they would reach out to their membership to oppose this application by boycotting the company,” Mr. Amper said, adding that organizations with a total membership of approximately 50,000 people had agreed to demonstrate and boycott Hess. As late as Jan. 31, the Hess Corporation sent e-mails to employees and managers outlining a course of action if demonstrators showed up at gas stations, spokesman Carl Tursi confirmed Tuesday. "We sent something out to the effect that you should be polite to people and if there are disruptions to call the police,” Mr. Tursi said. On Tuesday, Hess corporate headquarters issued a press release acknowledging the withdrawal and saying it still had its eye on the area. "The company will seek an alternative site in the vicinity, one which is not in the core preservation area of the Long Island Pine Barrens,” the release said. Mr. Amper refused to say the threatened boycott had anything to do with the company's decision to fold its tent. "I have no desire to refute their contention that when they heard the degree and depth of the public's opposition, they withdrew,” Mr. Amper said. At the Jan. 15 Pine Barrens Commission hearing, Hess officials said they were seeking a "hardship” exception to build the facility in the Pine Barrens. Representatives of the company said everything possible would be done to protect the environment. Dr. Lee Koppelman, director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, responded by saying the idea of building a gas station in the Pine Barrens was ridiculous. "It would be absurd to accept this as a hardship case or for any other reason,” Dr. Koppelman told the commission, which is made up of representatives of the governor, the Suffolk County executive's office and the supervisors of the three East End towns. Brookhaven Supervisor John Jay LaValle said Tuesday the multinational corporation had done the right thing. "Hess has always been a good neighbor and I think it was wise to withdraw the application and maintain that reputation,” Mr. LaValle said. In a letter to Mr. Amper dated Monday, in which they confirmed their decision to withdraw, Hess officials still seemed convinced of the feasibility of the project. The letter from F. Borden Walker, president of the refining and marketing division of Hess, reads in part: "It was our intent in making this proposal that it be a showcase from an environmental perspective, incorporating the best technology available while preventing impact on the significant ecological values that the adjacent undeveloped core area of the Pine Barrens represents.”