For Immediate Release
Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given the public thirty days to comment on PennEast’s application for permits. PennEast has applied for approval from PennEast pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344). Despite their application, PennEast has yet to earn full state and federal approval and without it, Army Corps can not legally grant them approval either. Since PennEast Pipeline did not have permission to enter multiple tracts along the right-of-way for surveys, including delineation of waters and wetlands, the Army Corps has not approved their permit. In addition, the Corps cannot issue a permit until coordination with other resource agencies and PennEast is not yet in full compliance with these laws and statues.
“This application is a serious threat by PennEast to try and push through permits. This is the first time that a government agency is going forward with an application that affects New Jersey. There isn’t any new information on the route since the Army Corps called out PennEast in the spring for lacking information. We’re concerned that they may be caving under pressure from the Trump Administration. We believe that they should not be able to grant these permits based on the impacts and lack of information on the New Jersey side. The Army Corps does not have a good environmental reputation and we’re concerned they may try to rubberstamp these permits as well,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “PennEast keeps spinning to push this damaging project through but are lacking the necessary permits and approvals. The Army Corps has spoken out against PennEast before and they need to do it again by rejecting these applications.”
PennEast has yet to complete delineation of waters and wetlands, mitigation plan, cultural resource surveys, threatened and endangered species surveys, and section 408 coordination for the proposed crossings on the Lehigh River, Corps Francis E. Walter Dam, Pohopoco Creek, and Belzville Lake property. Not until the pipeline gains access and obtains surveys, can they expect the Corps to provide any permit. The proposed 110-mile PennEast pipeline would cut through the Delaware River Valley beginning in Dallas Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It would cross the Delaware River and 254 other major waterways, into to Hopewell Township and connect to an existing pipeline in Pennington, New Jersey.
“This application is especially disturbing because the New Jersey DEP rejected PennEast’s permits applications for being deficient since 65% of the information is missing. The Army Corps themselves said they were lacking. PennEast has still not gotten access to these properties in New Jersey, which means they’re still missing the same information. The Army Corps have never met a wetland that they didn’t want to fill and that’s why we’re worried they might rubberstamp this project,” said Jeff Tittel. “This is one of the strongest letters I have ever seen coming from the Army Corps. Usually the Army Corps never meet a wetland they haven’t wanted to fill and a stream they didn’t want to cross. This shows how environmentally destructive and unwarranted this pipeline really is.”
PennEast has not yet been able to prove they can get necessary permits for construction and operation that they are applying for. The pipeline would damage important waterways, including the Delaware River. We believe that this pipeline cannot meet the requirement for a 401-water quality permit. The reason is because of the amount of high quality streams, wetlands, and rivers it is crossing through. Many of these streams carry anti-degradation criteria. The route will cut areas with steep slopes having a bigger impact on streams because of siltation and runoff. The pipeline would threaten the entire Valley including 91 acres of wetlands and over 44 miles of forest; over 1,600 acres total.
“The Trump Administration has rolled back the Waters of the United States Rule. We’re concerned that the Army Corps will use these rollbacks to push through these permits. They also fail to look at water quality impacts when they grant gas pipeline permits crossing through streams. All along PennEast is trying to play games in order to ram their dangerous pipeline through New Jersey and Pennsylvania. PennEast has yet to get approvals from NJDEP, DRBC, Army Corps, while 70 percent of landowners denied them access in New Jersey. The NJDEP, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, DRBC all said PennEast doesn’t have enough surveys and is missing critical information. The Ratepayer Advocate even said PennEast is an unnecessary cost to ratepayers,” said Jeff Tittel.
The PennEast Pipeline violates the Clean Water Act and cannot meet the criteria for 404 permits either. The DRBC controls the region within the river basin and manages water quality, withdrawals, droughts, floods, conservation and permitting for the river and its tributaries. The surface water withdrawal and discharge permit that PennEast has applied for to the DRBC would allow them to conduct hydrostatic testing and horizontal directional drilling, which is a method of boring to install underground pipe beneath bodies of water, roads or other environmentally sensitive areas. The DRBC should deny PennEast a docket because their EIS is so incomplete.
“The Army Corps must reject PennEast’s application because they are missing so many critical permits. They must not bend to the pressure of the Trump Administration and instead stand firm against this dangerous project. Without all of these approvals, PennEast Pipeline cannot move forward, which could impact other projects throughout the state. 70 percent of people have already said NO to PennEast. Now the Army Corps must join them and stop this dangerous pipeline,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “PennEast not having enough survey information has become a huge hurdle for necessary approvals on both sides of the River. This shows we must continue the public opposition, and make sure no one lets PennEast on their land. We are not stopping our fight to tell PennEast to stay the FERC out of our Valley and now the battle is heating up!”