Local Politicians, activists, and NYPA representatives announced today that New York City plans to build the Museum of the Pipeline (MOP) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The museum will sit amid the food gardens and new public housing at 287 Maspeth Avenue on the Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Brooklyn.
It will be sited on the remediated former LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) site.
“MOP will serve a triple purpose,” says local activist Cori Fairchild. “It will tell the story of our decades-long struggle against fossil fuel pipelines, and of the new thermal systems. And it will house the artifacts uncovered while building the deep geothermal wells.”
These artifacts include remnants of the area’s centuries-long industrial history as well as traces of life from the Lenape peoples stretching back 3,000 years. Even deeper down, when tapping the 5,000 feet deep geothermal wells which bring heat to the pipelines, fossils and shells from ancient riverbeds were uncovered. They tell the story of the glacial retreat, which shaped the geography of Queens and Brooklyn.
“The beautiful thing about the museum is that it will sit in the hub of the system, which makes New York City habitable. It signifies that culture is now functional,” says Amani Chin, who is on the museum’s planning committee.
"The beautiful thing about the museum is that it will sit in the hub of the system, which makes New York City habitable. It signifies that culture is now functional."
The nearly completed thermal system is already the nation’s most extensive thermal pipeline network—the pipes currently extend from Northern Queens all the Way to Coney Island and heat about 50% of buildings in Queens and Brooklyn. Many public schools serve as thermal hubs because they are already well dispersed based on population. It means that schools are especially well-heated and cooled.
Rather than using electricity to power heat pumps, the circulating warm water in the pipelines connects building to building, and it’s that heat which eventually comes into bedrooms and offices as warm air. In addition, any excess heat produced by laundry machines or refrigerators is recycled back into the thermal pipelines.
“These are the sorts of pipelines we’ve always wanted,” says veteran activist Kim Fraczek of San Energy. “We’ve had to shut down a lot of gas pipelines to make space for this much more sustainable energy system. It took us decades to finally close the LNG.”
The LNG site on the Newtown Creek is notable for its fossil fuel history. It was the site of one of the nation’s largest oil spills, discovered in 1978 when a helicopter was flying overhead and spotted a rainbowy oil plume, leaking out into the creek. It turned out to be seeping out from a 30-million-gallon reservoir of gas and oil deep, which contaminated the earth. ExxonMobil had been refining on the site for a century, and this was the result.
Even deeper down, when tapping the 5,000 feet deep geothermal wells which bring heat to the pipelines, fossils and shells from ancient riverbeds were uncovered. They tell the story of the glacial retreat, which shaped the geography of Queens and Brooklyn.
In 2010, after a long lawsuit, ExxonMobil paid only 25 million dollars to settle the environmental damages. Health effects in the area were severe. Linked to the toxicity of the spill were respiratory issues, cancer, neurological complications, and skin irritations.
“We researched LNG and realized they weren’t even using the gas for New York City,” says Kim. “They were actually just keeping it going because winding it down would have meant remediating the damage to the land. They didn’t want to pay for the mess they made.”
The remediation took fifteen years and coincided with the “Green Miracle of New York,” in which green roofs proliferated as a result of the new Water Law.
"We researched LNG and realized they weren't even using the gas for New York City. They were actually just keeping it going because winding it down would have meant remediating the damage to the land. They didn't want to pay for the mess they made."
“This area is a spiritually important place to focus on— it’s a symbol of the stupidity of fossil fuels. And it’s a perfect place for the museum,” says Chin.
“Ever since the 2032 storm, she continues, “people know that we are done with fossil fuel. But this museum will help us to look deeper. What is the deeper lesson?”
“We can’t just replace gas with batteries from solar and wind,” adds Fraczek. “Look at the massive battery fire last year. How many people are still sick? And how long until that new nuclear reactor in Brooklyn is attacked? We need to start working with the earth, and thermal is that technology.”