For Immediate Release
February 28, 2013
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club Director, 609-558-9100
Maya K. von Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper, 215 369 1188
Karina Wilkinson, Food & Water Watch Organizer, 732 491-3530
Coalition Voices Opposition to Natural Gas Pipeline Expansion in Princeton Area
Princeton, NJ - Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Companys (Transco) will present the Leidy Southeast Expansion Project to the Princeton community at the Municipal Building at 400 Witherspoon Street tonight at 7pm. Transcos "Skillman Loop" project would involve construction of a 42 inch gas pipeline through Princeton and Montgomery Township. "There is no need for this pipeline other than to promote fracking and the burning of fossil fuels that impact clean water and promote climate change. This line not only threatens the neighborhoods it passes through but threatens our environment. This pipeline is going to go through environmentally sensitive areas creating an ugly scar, adding to pollution, and putting people at risk. Just ask the people of Bellingham Washington, Burlingame, California and Edison, NJ," said Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club. Transco has already begun construction on the "Stanton Loop" on the Northeast Supply Link. The approved project includes expansion of two compressor stations in Hunterdon and Essex Counties. "Pipelines cut an incredibly destructive path through our parks, backyards, communities, and long-saved public lands. The only winners from the proliferation of pipelines scarring our landscapes are the pipeline companies, the gas drillers they support, and the liquified natural gas facilities that are increasingly taking the extracted gas to other countries. Our communities and sensitive environments are, all the way around, the ones who suffer. And in this day and age, the only ones truly looking to protect our communities from the damages of the pipelines, is ourselves, the people. Our state and federal agencies can't or won't provide the protection we need. So early and active involvement from residents of the region is critical," said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. West Milford, New Jersey passed a resolution last year opposing the second phase of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline construction project in light of the damage done and lack of restoration work in 2012. "This pipeline is a double catastrophe. The fracked gas it brings comes from communities where the air, land and water have already been poisoned. It is senseless to bring this destruction to Princeton, where the toxic gas will undoubtedly pollute our most sensitive habitats and the precious natural resources on which we depend. We will not be the victims of this injustice," said Isaac Lederman, Co-President, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment. The proposed Transco project has the potential to effect drinking water supplies, and pipelines are prone to leaks and explosions as was seen in Edison, New Jersey in the 1994 Durham Woods gas explosion that damaged 14 apartment buildings.
"We oppose investment in gas infrastructure in our the area opening even more communities in Pennsylvania to the gas drilling and fracking, which has already been linked to over 1,000 cases of water contamination throughout the country," said Karina Wilkinson, Regional Organizer, Food & Water Watch. The groups are considering intervening in the FERC application process. Transco is in a pre-filing phase now and expected to file its application for the project in the coming months. Received on 2013-03-01 19:48:58