For Immediate Release
January 7, 2013 Contact: Jeff Tittel, Director, 609-558-9100
Sierra Club Continues Fight on TGP Pipeline Today the Sierra Club submitted extensive comments on the dewatering permits needed for drilling and construction activities for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline's Northeast Upgrade Project.TGP is requesting five dewatering permits to divert water from the Delaware River and Monksville Reservoir in order to drill underneath them through horizontal directional drilling.Horizontal directional drilling practices could have a major impact on these two drinking water supplies if bentonite clays are released in the drilling process, including causing major fish kills.They are also requesting permission for trench construction activities in Wantage, Ringwood, and Mahwah.The company is proposing to withdraw approximately 185 million gallons from our waterways and groundwater supplies in Northwestern New Jersey, the amount of water that can serve a town of 18,000 people.Sierra Club is calling on DEP to reject these permits.
"The DEP must stop the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company's Northeast Upgrade project from impacting some of our most critical drinking water supplies by denying these dewatering permits.We need the DEP to stand up for the Monksville Reservoir, the Delaware River, our groundwater supplies, and the 2.5 million people in the region who depend on these drinking water supplies and reject these permits," *said Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club*. The dewatering permits impact Category One streams and Highlands Waters where there should be "no measurable or calculable change" in water quality under the Surface Waters standards in the Clean Water Act.The Sierra Club is requesting that further analyses be done on the potential sedimentation and pollution impacts this project could have on our waterbodies, including reducing the amount of land used during construction and cutting down potential pesticide pollution.The DEP also did not look at how groundwater diversions for the project could affect streamflows and potentially cause increased migration of toxins offsite at the Ringwood Mines Superfund site.The Sierra Club is asking for these and other issues to be addressed before the DEP considers action on the permits. The Northeast Upgrade Project will install 18 miles of new pipeline in Sussex, Passaic, and Bergen counties and upgrade existing compressor and meter stations in Sussex and Bergen counties. About fifty percent of the project is located on public lands including High Point State Park, Ringwood State Park, Long Pond Ironworks State Park, and the Ramapo Reservation.The project will cut under the Monksville Reservoir and the Delaware River, both major drinking water supplies.
-- Kate Millsaps Conservation Program Coordinator NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club 609-656-7612
- Download full text: 0107_Tennessee_Pipeline_Dewatering_Permits.docxli>