Murphy administration rejects Transco NESE pipeline under Raritan Bay

Franklin Mayor Phil Kramer and state leaders of two national environmental organizations credited two grassroots organizations of Central Jersey residents for raising awareness about the Northeast Supply Enhancement of the New Jersey portion of the Transco natural gas pipeline.

They said their hard work influenced the state Department of Environment Protection to deny three key permits on Wednesday that would send natural gas from New Jersey, mainly under the Raritan Bay to New York City.

In addition to 26.8 miles of pipe, including three 3.4 miles in Old Bridge and Sayreville, the enhancement would include a compressor station in Franklin Township that inspired several concerned to form Franklin Township Task Force and Central Jersey Environmental Defenders.

“This is a tremendous victory for Franklin, New Jersey and the world,” Kramer said. “This project had no benefit for Franklin or New Jersey and was planning to add fossil fuel infrastructure at a time when we are trying to convert to renewable energy. I’d like to congratulate the Task Force for their hard work. Together with the township council and myself we did what many said couldn’t be done. The fight isn’t over, but this is a major victory.”

The state’s denial follows a similar rejection by New York regulators last month.

A Williams spokesman said Thursday morning that the company will resubmit its application echoing what the company had said after the New York denial.

“We believe that we can be responsive to the issues raised by the agency and intend to resubmit the application to the agency in a timely manner to maintain the customer’s in-service date requirement,” said Chris Stockton, a Williams spokesman.

In a statement, the DEP said it has denied the requested land use permits without prejudice to any future resubmission by Transco.

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The statement also said, “DEP has determined that Transco’s existing application has not fully demonstrated that there is no practicable alternative to the proposed construction of and access to the proposed compressor station. Alternatives that further avoid or minimize impacts to freshwater wetlands and riparian areas may be available and require further analysis.

“DEP has also determined that Transco has not fully demonstrated a compelling public need as defined by the applicable regulations or, alternatively, the existence of an extraordinary hardship that warrants permitting the compressor station as presently proposed. With respect to the Raritan Loop, the information presently available to DEP indicates that the proposed dredging could adversely impact surface water quality within New Jersey waters of the Raritan Bay. Transco has not fully demonstrated how it would avoid or minimize adverse impacts to surface water quality.”

Should Transco resubmit these permit requests, the resubmission would be subject to public comment and carry regulatory review timelines attendant to any such new application before the DEP, the agency also said.

Both Jeff Tittel of the state chapter of the Sierra Club and Junior of the New Brunswick office of Food & Water Watch also praised the local residents for their hard work in exposing the flaws of Tranco’s plans.

“This victory happened because of all the hard work people in the Franklin Task Force did in fighting this project … a win for the people and for the environment,” Tittel said.

“Grassroots activists and resident groups like the Franklin Township Taskforce on Compressor Station 206 & NESE waged a nearly three-year battle against a multi-billion-dollar fossil fuel company, and they won,” Romero added. “The Murphy administration was right to reject Transco’s reckless bid to sacrifice the remarkable recovery of the Raritan Bay for the sake of its own profits. And communities in Central Jersey would have been exposed to air pollution and toxic emissions from the massive compressor station Transco sought to build in Franklin Township.

“If we are serious about confronting climate change, these fossil fuel projects simply cannot be built,” he continued. “Gov. Murphy should seize this moment to go further by calling for an immediate moratorium on all new fossil fuel projects in the state. That is the kind of action that would show, once and for all, that Gov. Murphy is serious about achieving his own stated goals on climate and clean energy.”

Murphy’s latest State Energy Master Plan aims to set New Jersey on a path to 100-percent clean energy by 2050.

Members of the Franklin Task Force and Central Jersey Environmental Defenders said they could continue to fight to ensure that happens.

“We are thankful to Gov. Murphy and the NJDEP for denying some of the water permits for this potentially disastrous project,” said Linda Powell, outreach coordinator for Environmental Defenders and a Task Force steering committee member. “No matter what this company says, the NESE) project … will never be in the public interest for the people in New Jersey. We are hopeful that New Jersey, Gov. Murphy and the NJDEP will continue to stand up to corporate greed and chose to continue to protect the environment and move towards solving the climate crisis by denying these highly polluting unnecessary fossil fuel projects.”

Task Force member Barbara Cuthbert added, “Knowing that Williams/Transco submitted a ‘new’ application to the NYSDEC two days after they denied it, we anticipate a quick re-application to NJDEP. We have learned a lot in this process and are determined with our partners in New York to continue fighting this unneeded and dangerous project.” Kramer also thanked Romero and Ed Potasnak of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters for their contribution to the ongoing environmental battle.

For more information, visit https://www.scrap-nese.org/.