People at the gathering vowed to continue fighting the proposed natural gas pipeline. Watch video
DELAWARE TWP. -- Standing in a snow-covered field on one of the first farms preserved in New Jersey, area residents opposed to the PennEast Pipleline project ripped up easement offers they've received from the company, stuffing the pieces into a symbolic pipe marked "junk mail."
The Fisher farm along Rosemont-Ringoes Road was preserved in the early 1980s, said Alix Bacon of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. Pointing to an electric line that dates back to the 1920s, she said PennEast plans to put a natural gas pipeline just to the west of it. "Go 100 to 200 feet out," she said. "Imagine the scar this would create in this beautiful, bucolic valley."
Tom Michalenko of Delaware Township farms the land and other properties in the township that are also in the pipeline's proposed path. He worries about where all the rock that will be dug up for the pipeline will go, and potential soil compaction, saying, "it's not a good thing for agriculture."
HALT, a group of homeowners organized against the pipeline, was represented at Friday's gathering by Maureen Syrnick of Kingwood. She said the pipeline is "not about bringing desperately needed gas, low-cost gas, to Pennsylvania and New Jersey."
New Jersey residents voted to spend millions of dollars protecting land that's now endangered by the project, she said. She urged people to contribute to a defense fund started by HALT (Homeowners Against Land Taking). The group has hired Steven Richardson, an attorney with longtime Washington D.C.-based firm Wiley Rein and former deputy director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, she said.
Several similar gatherings have been organized by pipeline opponents, including one held in Lower Nazareth Township, Pa., on Wednesday. In publicizing the gatherings, opponents said they couldn't be bought off.
PennEast spokeswoman Patricia Kornick responded to the protests by email on Friday, saying, "In October, PennEast began easement negotiations, which involves contacting landowners to provide an initial easement offer. The initial easement offer is a starting point for discussion between a landowner and PennEast with the intent of reaching an individualized final agreement."
If a landowner "is not comfortable with certain provisions in the initial easement offer -- or wants to add provisions -- PennEast encourages landowners to discuss their preferences with the PennEast land agent."
Kornick said that signing an easement agreement doesn't convey endorsement of the proposed pipeline, but "it enables landowners to share with PennEast their property-specific concerns and negotiate an individualized easement agreement that takes into account landowner preferences."
She noted that agreements with landowners are confidential, but "use of the right of way, potential damages due to construction and potential crop damages are among the items covered under the landowner's compensation.
"PennEast is providing premium compensation as soon as the agreement is signed, and payment is not contingent upon FERC issuing a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity."
Michael Brogan of Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline grew up in the Barbertown section of Kingwood, and said his grandparents are buried in Rosemont Cemetery. "The proximity of their final resting place and the pipeline path is a reminder that what we're fighting for is not fleeting, it's not in vain," he said.
"PennEast underestimates the heightened risk this pipeline would bring to our communities," Brogan said. "Natural gas is not a bridge to the future, but an anchor to the past."
Kingwood was well represented on Friday, with Debbi Kratzer of the environmental commission and Committeeman Richard Dodds speaking. "In the last five years we've preserved 100 acres near Horsehoe Bend Park," Dodds said. "And now the pipeline's going through the middle of it."
"No it's not!" several people in the crowd yelled back.
Kingwood resident John Markowski referenced the approach of Valentine's Day on Sunday, saying, "I'd like to announce I'm formally breaking up with PennEast," adding, "in the immortal words of Taylor Swift, we're never ever getting back together." He was rewarded with cheers of "Rip it up! Rip it up!"
Kornick said in her email that PennEast "has explored more than 100 route options and incorporated dozens of other route modifications based on early input from landowners and others, which underscores PennEast's commitment to an ongoing collaborative effort.
"Nevertheless, those chartered with opposing natural gas development continue to try to advance their agendas by levying unfounded allegations, distorting facts and resorting to scare tactics."
Kornick said PennEast's application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is proceeding. "PennEast expects to receive from FERC within the next several weeks the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which will open another public comment phase," she said. "Pending regulatory approval, PennEast anticipates beginning construction in spring 2017."
Speaking at Friday's gathering about the unflagging determination of opponents, Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, said pipeline companies like PennEast "didn't know what they were getting into.
"We're going to fight with every weapon we have, and the most powerful weapon is you," he said to the crowd of about 50, drawing an eruption of cheers.
Sallie Graziano may be reached at sgraziano@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SallieGraziano. Find The Hunterdon County Democrat on Facebook.