Wending its way through six counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the line would pass through many acres of preserved open space and farmland, conservationists and citizen groups warn – including 31 of New Jersey's most pristine and ecologically significant streams.
With the formal application for the PennEast pipeline in the hands of the feds, the 110-mile pipeline is still a long way from being a done deal.
The company, a consortium of the NJR Pipeline Co., PSEG Power LLC, SJI Midstream, Spectra Energy Partners and UGI Energy Services, formally asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday for a permit to begin work.
Wending its way through six counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the line would pass through many acres of preserved open space and farmland, conservationists and citizen groups warn - including 31 of New Jersey's most pristine and ecologically significant streams.
The hugely unpopular $1 billion project has met stiff resistance from the start.
Municipalities through which the underground pipeline would run have passed resolutions condemning it. Mercer County, where the line would end, barred PennEast from conducting needed surveys on county-owned land.
Among those on record opposing PennEast's initiative are U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, state senators Shirley Turner and Christopher "Kip" Bateman, and Assembly members Jack Ciatterelli, Donna Simon and John DiMaio.
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The concerns are legitimate. Over the past months of intense debate and discussion, nothing has convinced us that hauling one billion cubic feet of natural gas every day through fragile, sensitive terrain is anything but a prescription for disaster.
The pipeline "would undermine and destroy decades of dedicated work to preserve land in this special region of New Jersey," says Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. "I am concerned not only about damage to these preserved lands, but also about what this means for the future of land preservation in our state."
U.S Rep. Leonard Lance also points out that allowing taxpayer-protected open space to be used as PennEast intends would be fiscally and environmentally irresponsible.
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The list of organizations lined up against the pipeline is formidable: the New Jersey Sierra Club, the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association, Clear Water Action and others. All agree the potential downside far outweighs whatever short-term benefits the line would provide.
PennEast says the pipeline would have a positive economic impact on the regions it passes through - $1.6 billion worth, its spokesmen promise, and approximately 12,000 jobs.
But one company spokeswoman has said the project would create just 21 permanent jobs; most of the remaining positions would go to temporary construction workers and to ancillary workers.
While the federal regulatory commission weighs Penn East's application, we hope our elected and appointed officials continue to hold firm in their commitment to their constituents - and to the future of agriculture, ecotourism and recreation in their state.