For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
Today the Pinelands Commission is holding their only meeting to hear public comment on New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG)’s proposed Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline. The Commission originally approved the pipeline and was challenged by NJ Sierra Club and others. The court remanded the Commission’s approval back and that’s what they’re having this meeting. Rather than have an evidentiary hearing, the Commissions is holding one sham public meeting this week. They will then plan a recommendation on whether or not to affirm previous approval after the comment period closes.
“The Pinelands Commission should do their job and reject the New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline! This project violates the Comprehensive Management Plan and is a direct threat to the protection of the Pinelands. They’ve broken the rules once and now they’re breaking them again. Hundreds of people have come out against the pipeline and its attached infrastructure at forums, hearings, and protests. We will keep working together to fight against this dangerous SRL pipeline!” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The reason for this meeting is because we sued the Commission and the court sent their approval back. The NJNG pipeline will destroy environmentally sensitive land, threaten our water supply, and cut a scar through the Pinelands.”
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.
“This is a sham public meeting; it’s not a real hearing. The Commission has sided with the gas companies over the public that they are supposed to work for. 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. They may try to rubberstamp this project but we’ll take that stamp away from them; whether its at the Commission meeting or back in court,” 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.
“If the Pinelands Commission won’t protect the Pinelands, we will! We beat the Commission in court once and we’ll do it again. 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. We are going to keep fighting to protect the Pinelands from being destroyed by these unneeded pipelines!”
The meeting is being held on Wednesday, July 26th at 9:30 am at the Pine Belt Arena (Toms River North High School), 1245 Old Freehold Road, Hooper Avenue, Toms River, NJ 08753.