DEP Commissioner Bob Martin echoes many of Spectra’s talking points on the pipeline project when stating his approval of the project.

"I'm flabbergasted by the lack of concern for residents in DEP's decision to grant Spectra the permits needed for the building of a gas pipeline through Jersey City.

Gusti Bogok, a West Village neighbor and a member of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic chapter, said that natural gas posed dangers, including radon contamination, and that New York should be moving toward renewable energy sources rather than creating more demand for a fossil fuel.

State officials also joined in, with local State Sen. Sandra Cunningham harshly criticizing the independence and accuracy of the commission’s study, a theme throughout the night. “After review of your draft Environmental Impact Study, let me say your report is a mockery of what an EIS is supposed to be. At best it’s duplicitous, at worst it’s an outright untruth,” Cunningham said. “I could not find any real independent thinking or any critical analysis in this document [of Spectra's claims].”