State Regulators Approve South Jersey Gas Pipeline Project

A proposed 21.6-mile, 24-inch diameter natural gas pipeline to serve the B.L. England power plant at Beesley's Point, NJ  "is reasonably necessary for the service, convenience or welfare of the public," according to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), which has approved South Jersey Gas Company's (SJG) petition for the project.

The decision came nearly two years after the New Jersey Pinelands Commission rejected an SJG proposal to build part of the $90 million pipeline through the Pinelands National Reserve, despite support for the project from Gov. Chris Christie, the DEP, the BPU and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

While most of the project is set to be constructed within right-of-ways, about 15 miles of the pipeline would travel beneath existing paved portions or roadway shoulders within the Pinelands. SJG filed an amendment to its project application with the New Jersey Pinelands Commission in May. The amendment responded to comments and issues raised during the commission's Memorandum of Agreement process and accounted for changed circumstances since the January 2014 vote.

naturalgasintel.com/articles/104790-state-regulators-approve-south-jersey-gas-pipeline-project

nj.com/cape-may-county/index.ssf/2015/12/natural_gas_pipeline_overcomes_major_hurdle

Public Hearing on Pinelands Pipeline July 28

On the Tuesday July 28th the BPU is holding a public hearing concerning NJNG’s proposal to put a pipeline in the Pinelands.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is considering a proposal by New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) to put a pipeline through the Pinelands.

Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, are convinced this pipeline will not only create an ugly scar through the Pinelands and open space in New Jersey, but it will destroy habitat, pollute high quality streams, rivers, and cut across important C1 waterways.

The proposed pipeline would be 28 miles and go through Burlington, Monmouth, and Ocean counties. The route would cross through the Joint Base area in the Preservation Area established by the Pinelands Protection Act, which is supposed to get the highest level of protection.

The Pinelands are a United Nations biosphere reserve and one of the largest sources of fresh drinking water on the east coast. The Pinelands is the largest wild place left in the most densely populated region of the country. There are plants and amphibious species that are found no other place in the world. Our drinking water would be impacted if NJNG pipeline is approved.

Many of us agree that there is a need to protect the Pinelands. The meeting is a chance to make your voice heard. The meetings will be held Tuesday July 28 at 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. at Manchester Township Municipal Building, One Colonial Drive, Manchester, NJ 08759.

More
sierraclub.org/new-jersey/pinelands-pipeline
pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/environmental-activists-protest-gas-pipeline-at-stockton-forum/

Pipelines Across New Jersey

Pipelines are one of the current issues in New Jersey Conservation.

Rosemont is a place where the New Jersey Conservation Foundation has been preserving farmland and open space for over 30 years, the the group Preservation New Jersey has named the Rosemont Rural Agricultural District to its "10 Most Endangered" sites. It is only one of a number of historic properties throughout the state threatened by proposed gas pipelines.

The PennEast Pipeline has been proposed to transport fracked natural gas from Luzerne County, Pa., to a point near Trenton. It would cut through the Rosemont Rural Agricultural District

Other endangered sites include parts of Burlington, Ocean and Monmouth counties along the proposed route of a New Jersey Natural Gas pipeline; parts of Somerset, Hunterdon and Mercer counties that would be crossed by the Transcontinental (TRANSCO) pipeline; and parts of Passaic and Bergen counties along the proposed route of the Tennessee Gas pipeline.

Preservation New Jersey considers these pipelines to be "a short-term solution to a long-term energy supply problem. The negative effects on New Jersey's historical and natural resources will be permanent."

Proposed Energy Pipelines in New Jersey

Today's news reports that the Congress gave final approval to the Keystone XL pipeline bill, and that President Obama will now have a veto showdown. But you may not be aware - and it certainly doesn't get as much media attention - that New Jersey has at least 5 of its own proposals for the construction of new pipelines.

These are pipelines that will transport gas and oil from supply sources and cross NJ to deliver fuel to distribution and export points. Pipelines that cross state lines must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

1. One is the PennEast pipeline for natural gas from the Marcellus Shale "fracking" region of Pennsylvania to a location north of Trenton. That would send it across some preserved lands and watersheds in Hunterdon and Mercer counties, which sends up environmental red flags.
2. Another proposed project is the Diamond East pipeline which would run on a parallel route a few miles to the east.
3. The Pilgrim Oil pipeline would bring shale oil (produced in North Dakota) from Albany, N.Y., to Linden, NJ and would cross Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Essex and Union counties. 
4.  The NJ Natural Gas pipeline is proposed to run through Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
5. The South Jersey Gas pipeline would be in the Pine Barrens of Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties.

According to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, for the PennEast, two potential routes are being considered which could cross "as many as 66 preserved parcels totaling nearly 4,500 acres... and would  cross the Delaware River, a federally-designated Wild & Scenic river, impacting the critically important water resources of the Delaware River Basin and the New Jersey Highlands. [It] would impact farms protected with federal farmland preservation funds, and other agricultural lands that have benefitted from U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for farm conservation practices."

If these issues concern you, you can contact your U.S. Senators and Congressmen and ask them to change federal policy to require comprehensive planning for energy and infrastructure. To find your Congressman, go to www.house.gov/representatives/find/. To contact Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, go to www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=NJ.

For more information about PennEast, go to www.njconservation.org/currentissues.htm.