Pinelands Commission Pushes NJ Natural Gas Pipeline Forward

Public Meeting Date Yet to Be Scheduled: We Will Send Out Details Later Today

Today the Pinelands Commission approved a resolution to move forward with the New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) proposed Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline. Despite still being in court, the Commission has tried to go forward with the approval process anyway. The court remanded the decision back to the Pinelands Commission who have finally set a hearing date. At the meeting today, they decided that an evidentiary hearing is not needed because of the BPU hearing. They will post notice, however for another sham public meeting with a comment period like they did with South Jersey Gas pipeline. They will then plan a recommendation on whether or not to affirm previous approval after the comment period closes. The public meeting has yet to be scheduled, but the comment period will close in 45 days. We will send out an e-mail as soon as the Pinelands Commission announces the meeting date, likely this afternoon.

“The Pinelands Commission is trying to ram through another unneeded and unnecessary pipeline. Now that they’ve opened public comment on the NJNG pipeline, we need everyone to tell them we don’t want this damaging and dangerous pipeline. We expect the Commission to push through this process the way they did with the SJG pipeline; without considering of public opinion or the ongoing court case. The NJNG pipeline will destroy environmentally sensitive land, threaten our water supply, and cut a scar through the Pinelands. Hundreds of people have come out against the pipeline and its attached infrastructure at forums, hearings, and protests. We need everyone to keep working together to fight against this dangerous SRL pipeline,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “They haven’t scheduled the sham public hearing yet, but when they do we will get hundreds there like we did with South Jersey Gas pipeline. The Pinelands Commission must not have a public hearing before they can vote on the pipeline. We can’t let them play the same games they did with the SJG pipeline. We must demand a fair public hearing and proper process!”

The New Jersey Sierra Club is currently suing the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the Pinelands Commission on their approval of the SRL pipeline. We are opposing the BPU and Pinelands Commission’s decision to allow the 28-mile gas pipeline to destroy environmentally sensitive land in the New Jersey and threaten communities along the route in Burlington, Ocean, and Monmouth Counties. We are also challenging the decisions of the BPU and Pinelands Commissioner Director Nancy Wittenberg in court. We believe the Executive Director of the Pinelands Commission’s exceeded her authority by unilaterally determining that the pipeline was consistent with the Comprehensive Management Plan. This decision circumvented a public hearing and further vote by the Pinelands Commission, which we believe is against the Pinelands Protection Act.

“Instead of setting aside their approval and going back to the drawing board, the Pinelands Commission is going forward with the NJNG process. This is probably because they lost the same court case for the SJG pipeline and expect to lose it for this one as well. We are suing the BPU and the Pinelands Commission on their decisions to approve the pipeline and remove local jurisdiction. court. By single-handedly determining the pipeline would be in compliance with the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), she prohibited the Commission from a further vote. She also prevented the public from having a hearing.  In reality, the pipeline would not be in compliance with the CMP and her decision goes against the Pinelands Rules. They passed this resolution to fast track the process and get around losing another court case,” said Jeff Tittel. “The Commission wrote the resolution behind closed doors and passed it during a closed session. The public had no chance to review or comment on it, and didn’t even know about it since it wasn’t on the agenda.”

There is no need for this pipeline other than to promote fracking and the burning of fossil fuels that impact clean water and promote climate change. This pipeline will promote sprawl and overdevelopment down the shore and near the Pinelands when they have other clear alternatives. It also poses a safety threat by bringing dangerous fossil fuels right through our backyards. The Pinelands is a UN biosphere reserve and one of the largest sources of fresh drinking water on the east coast. This project would put the environmentally sensitive lands, as well as drinking water for thousands of people, at risk.

“As we keep building more and more pipelines around the state, safety is becoming a serious issue. This is why we need to move away from dangerous fossil fuels coming through our communities. There are pipeline explosions and accidents happening more frequently around the country and they continuously put people and communities at risk. This pipeline will promote fracking, add to air pollution, and create safety hazards to the communities it passes through,” said Jeff Tittel. “Putting this pipeline through the Pinelands is like putting a blowtorch in your backyard.”

The SRL pipeline is only part of the bigger push for fracking and dirty infrastructure. The Southern Reliability Link pipeline, Garden State Expansion compressor station, and PennEast Pipeline are all one project. NJNG is a 20% partner in PennEast and is getting their 180,000 dekatherms of natural gas from them. PennEast is putting that gas into a Transco substation in Ewing which is part of the Garden State Expansion. That same amount of gas will then go to compressor station in Chesterfield and into the Southern Reliability Link pipeline. The compressor station, Southern Reliability Link, and PennEast Pipeline would work together as one system and should be evaluated as such.

“This hearing is the next phase in our battle to protect the Pinelands from fracking and pipelines. This pipeline is part of a bigger picture, which is the rush to bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania to the New Jersey coast for development. The SRL is directly interconnected to the Garden State Expansion compressor station and PennEast Pipeline. The SRL would connect to the Garden State Expansion (GSE) compressor station in Chesterfield which would get gas from the PennEast Pipeline. These projects would be working together to bring fracked gas into New Jersey. NJNG and other utility companies are planning to criss-cross our state with dangerous pipelines,” said Jeff Tittel. “The relationship between the three projects is symbiotic; without one project the other two can’t happen.”

The Christie Administration has removed commissioners who voted against the pipeline and stacked it with people who support SJG instead of protecting the Pines. The Pinelands is the largest open space on the eastern seaboard and recognized for its biodiversity by the United Nations. It is also the country’s first National Reserve and holds 17 trillion gallons of water in its aquifer.

“We must tell the Pinelands Commission to reject this dirty project and protect our drinking water. This is a dirty and deliberate move on the part of the Christie Administration to criss-cross the state with dirty and dangerous pipelines. What’s troubling is that Governor Christie has tried to stack the Commission with his political cronies and pro-pipeline buddies. They have disregarded the court and the public by passing these resolutions and trying to push through the pipeline. We must continue to protect the Pinelands because both of these pipelines will create irreversible harm to wetlands, streams, as well as damage important open spaces, and threaten one of the largest sources of fresh drinking water on the east coast,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “If we didn’t go to court, they would be building the pipeline by now. They may try to rubberstamp this pipeline but we’ll go back to court, just like we’re doing on South Jersey Gas! We’re going to keep fighting to protect the Pinelands from being destroyed by these unneeded pipelines!”