By Andrew Martins
Staff Writer
A New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) plan to construct a 30-mile-long high-pressure natural gas pipeline through portions of Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean counties has received approval from the the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
The BPU’s decision on March 18 will allow NJNG to construct the Southern Reliability Link through portions of Upper Freehold Township in Monmouth County, and Plumsted and Jackson in Ocean County, and other municipalities. The pipeline will not be subject to hearings and approvals in the communities through which it passes.
“We presented the facts, the opposition made their case, the BPU made a thorough and extensive review,” NJNG spokesman Michael Kinney said. “In the end, we are pleased they approved this important project.”
The BPU’s decision was criticized by the New Jersey Sierra Club, whose executive director, Jeff Tittel, said, “What the BPU did today, by taking away rights of local municipalities, is an arrogant betrayal of the public trust on behalf of NJNG. This pipeline is unneeded, unnecessary, dangerous and damaging. It will cut an ugly scar through the Pinelands, preserved farms and open spaces, destroying those areas and waterways along the route.
“The BPU has said to the people of New Jersey and to the communities along the route that they don’t care what we think,” Tittel said. “They have taken away the rights of citizens and municipalities to have a say in this pipeline that directly affects the safety of their communities, homes and families.”
Although the BPU’s approval means there will be no more hearings on the pipeline, Tittel said the Sierra Club will continue to fight the pipeline, including taking the matter to court.
“The BPU has sold out the ratepayers and the people of New Jersey. The Christie Administration continues to sell out the Pinelands by trying to turn it into the Pipelands,” he said. “We will not stop fighting against this dangerous and damaging pipeline that has nothing to do with resiliency and everything to do with promoting the use of dirty fuel in New Jersey.”
According to NJNG, the Southern Reliability Link is a high-pressure 30-inch-diameter pipeline that will run from Chesterfield Township in Burlington County to Manchester Township in Ocean County. The utility has said it will “provide supply diversity and system resiliency, supporting the safe, reliable distribution of natural gas to more than one million people.”
Tittel said, “The BPU says this pipeline is for reliability so they can have the ratepayers pay for it. In actuality it is not for reliability, it is for growth in Ocean County and people along the route will not benefit. With this decision the BPU continues to work for the gas companies and against the people and environment of New Jersey.”
The pipeline would connect a natural gas system that serves customers in Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties to a new Transco supply point in Chesterfield. The new pipeline will tie into NJNG’s transmission system in Manchester that is near the southern end of the transmission system.
