Date : Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:38:29 -0400
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted rehearings for Transco’s proposed Garden State Expansion compressor station project in a very confusingly written order. Bordentown Township and other municipalities have challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s April 7, 2016, Order giving a certificate of approval for the project which includes a compressor station to be built in Chesterfield, New Jersey as well as upgrades to the Transco substation in Ewing and increasing capacity in some lines. Bordentown, as well as Chesterfield, had submitted requests for rehearings based on Transco failing to comply with notice requirements, not obtaining environmental approvals like the 401 water quality certificate, and violating National Environmental Policy Act, by improperly segmenting the Project from other related projects. Details on the rehearing have yet to be released.
“Anytime we get FERC to reopen a docket and have a rehearing is an environmental victory. FERC almost never grants a rehearing and the fact that they did it shows that there were significant problems in the approval of Transco’s application. Transco’s application was woefully inadequate and they segmented the project from the two pipelines it will connect to SRL and from PennEast Pipeline. For instance, FERC didn’t even come out with a full EIS. FERC originally violated the rules by approving the project without a 401 water quality certificate, which is the best way to stop the pipeline. We had raised all of these issues and will continue working with Bordentown and other municipalities to challenge them,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This is an important milestone in our battle to fight this compressor station and its connected infrastructure. This rehearing will give us more time to get new things on the record on why this application is bad for the environment and should be denied.”
The Garden State Expansion on its own will cause pollution and safety concerns for the area. Compressor stations create air pollution and water pollution by releasing toxic chemicals. These stations experience both scheduled and unscheduled blowdowns which release methane, ethane, MTBEs and other chemicals into the air. Other pollutants that have come from compressor stations include formaldehyde, propane, isobutene, cyclohexane, benzene, toluene, and other greenhouse gasses. High levels of these chemicals that come out of the compressor station via air and water pollution can directly affect public health, especially during construction. There is also concern about “fugitive emissions” which occur from leaks and get worse over time.
“With this rehearing we will be able to get more things on the records to show that this project is unsafe and environmentally dangerous. FERC has not received all the state permits for Transco’s GSE. More importantly, they have not been granted a 401 Water Quality Certificate. This is the certificate that New York denied and stopped the Constitution Pipeline. Under FERC’s own rules, they cannot grant Transco approval before this water certificate is granted. We believe they have violated their own rules. We believe that given the important of the environmentally sensitivity of the area, they should not be able to be granted a 401 Water Quality Permit. They may not be able to meet the standards of many of the state permits. The Garden State Expansion compressor station would bring more noise, light, and air pollution, as well as construction and water pollution to the area. We believe there are significant air quality impacts that have not been addressed regarding the compressor station. As such, we do not believe the compressor station would meet the criteria for air quality permits,” said Jeff Tittel.
Transco’s application did not have an EIS nor a full NEPA review that includes a no-build option and examines historic sites. It was also not examined for impacts to threatened and endangered species, as well as impacts to groundwater, wetlands and streams and air quality before it was examined for approval. The application for the GSE compressor station also failed to examine the secondary and cumulative impacts of the PennEast and Southern Reliability Link pipelines that will connect to it.
“We will try to force FERC to look at this project different with this rehearing instead of segmenting it from PennEast and Southern Reliability Link. We believe they violated the law here because they will all act as one project. They have approved the GSE in barely a week, without any public hearing or sufficient time for input and that is despicable. FERC should not have approved this project because Transco haven’t got their permits yet nor have they shown a formal EIS. This entire process was disgraceful. They haven’t looked at the impacts to open space or farmland. Transco has gamed the system by pushing through the GSE without proper review, permits, or public input,” said Jeff Tittel. “FERC’s issuing of a rehearing is the first win we’ve had in our fight against this project.”
The Garden State Expansion compressor station is actually part of a bigger project that includes the Southern Reliability Link pipeline and PennEast Pipeline. New Jersey Natural Gas (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 the GSE compressor station in Chesterfield and into NJNG’s 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.
“By approving the compressor station without taking into consideration PennEast Pipeline or the Southern Reliability Link, FERC is wrongfully segmenting this project. The GSE is connected to both pipelines and it should be examined as an entire project. FERC’s environmental Assessment on the GSE did not examine the cumulative impacts of the other pipelines that are part of the one project and instead allows for segmentation. Federal court ruled that FERC cannot segment these pipelines into multiple projects and that they have to look at secondary and cumulative impacts. By segmenting the Garden State Expansion project, FERC is failing to evaluate the effects of the project as a whole by leaving out the Southern Reliability Link and PennEast pipelines and this is ultra-virus,” said Jeff Tittel.
The construction and operation of this station would also potentially create water pollution and contaminate drinking water in the region because of the use of hazardous chemicals and runoff from construction that could impact groundwater. This project presents a safety hazard to surrounding communities and environment, especially because of Transco’s history with incidents. Since 2006 Transco’s pipelines have been involved in at least 50 gas transmission incidents. In West Virginia, a pipeline exploded burning down 2 acres of forest.
“There are too many possibilities of safety concerns affecting environmentally sensitive land that have not been properly considered. An explosion or leak could destroy important habitat and ad pollution to waterways. We believe that the compressor station could potentially create safety hazards for surrounding communities and disrupt environmentally sensitive land and waterways,” said Jeff Tittel. “The compressor station will cause water and air pollution and damage the environment.”
Transco applied to FERC for approval of their Garden State Expansion with less than a week requested for a deadline. They deliberately left no time to review any Environmental Impact Statement or hold a public hearing.
“It’s important that FERC is having a rehearing since they tried to get around public scrutiny and environmental approvals for this project but were called out on it. FERC has sold out the communities of Chesterfield and New Jersey by approving this dirty and dangerous project without a proper review. They have let Transco steamroll them into building their unneeded and unnecessary compressor station. This project is unneeded and unnecessary and is dangerous. We believe FERC has violated rules in approving this project and this decision must be revoked,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “
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Jamie Zaccaria Administrative Assistant New Jersey Sierra Club office: (609) 656-7612 https://www.facebook.com/NJSierraClub