DEP Water Permit Sellout for SJ Gas Pinelands Pipeline

DEP Water Permit Sellout for SJ Gas Pinelands Pipeline
Date : Tue, 1 Nov 2016 17:35:19 -0400

DEP Playing Games with Permits

The South Jersey Gas pipeline has made minor modifications to get around environmental rules by applying for a permit by rule instead of individual permit. This modification includes a drop from 3.07 to 2.72 impacted wetlands and therefore will require less mitigation. Even though they had already received CAFRA, Flood Hazard, and Stream Encroachment permits, they are withdrawing them because it will cost them less money and less mitigation. They are ‘reducing’ the impacted acres by doing 14 more Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) areas instead of jack and bore. However, the depth of these new HDD sections were not very deep, may fail and will cause more pollution and runoff. The DEP approved this modification on October 7, 2016, but has not yet announced it in the DEP Bulletin. This determination is the result of the change in the Flood Hazard Rules, that now determines a pipeline crossing a stream will “not disturb the stream in any way.”

“DEP has done another dirty deal by allowing South Jersey Gas to change the permits to make it easier and cheaper to build their destructive pipeline. The DEP is playing games with permits to take care of pipelines companies over protecting New Jersey’s environment. In a reversal of 40 years of policy, DEP now says that if you drill under the stream or wetland, there is no environmental impact, but this is false. Horizontal drilling uses a lot of chemicals and when drilling, it could collapse or create a hole underneath, increasing run-off and pollution. This approach will cause more siltation, erosion, and even could cause a mudslide during heavy rain. Thermal pollution from this pipeline will also have significant impacts to the nearby streams,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This reversal is clearly a sneak attack on the environment.”

The original rules that Christie got rid of would not have allowed this and instead protected the streams and their buffers. By withdrawing their original individual permit and instead applied for a Permit-By-Rule, this is a major blow for the Pinelands and the many streams the pipeline would cross. In light of Transco pipeline’s recent request to abandon HDD in Hunterdon county because of failure to drill through the diabase bedrock, we are concerned that South Jersey Gas will not be able to drill successfully through the diabase. We are also concerned that they may not have a plan when HDD ultimately fails.

“The DEP’s approval will have terrible water quality impacts. This Horizontal Drilling ‘cut and cover’ process South Jersey Gas has applied to can lead to an environmental disaster if there’s a heavy storm. We’ve seen it happen before with the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Heavy rain led to mudslide in West Milford and the whole lake was silted. Under the original permits, more environmental controls and mitigation were required, but now they are not doing this so South Jersey Gas can save money. In Montgomery, Transco pipeline used Horizontal Drilling, but hit sand and couldn’t drill anymore. Then they used the cut-and-cover method anyway,” said Jeff Tittel. “The DEP is clearly more concerned about building pipelines then they are about protecting clean water. They did this with the Southern Reliability Link and they can do it with other projects too. We are concerned that if they say that crossing a stream has no impact, then they will just rubberstamp the 401 Water Quality certificate.”

I stated at the Senate Hearing for SCR66 that under the Flood Hazard Rules, pipelines would no longer need individual permits and could be pushed through by Permit-By-Rule. DEP Assistant Commissioner Ginger Kopkash said I was wrong and that they would still need individual permits. Clearly she has lied since NJNG and South Jersey Gas have withdrawn their individual permit and instead applied for a Permit-By-Rule. Under an individual permit there has to be public hearings and they have to show that there are no impacts to water quality. Under a permit by rule, there is no public oversight.

“This approval is part of the DEP’s attack of the Pinelands by rolling back protections, pushing through a damaging pipeline, and stacking the Pinelands Commission. We are currently in Court against the Pinelands Commission’s Executive Director unilaterally signing off on the South Jersey Gas pipeline without Pinelands Commission approval,” said Jeff Tittel. “Ginger Kopkash clearly lied on the record since now they are coming in for a Permit-By-Rule. This shows that we can’t trust the DEP to do their job or even be truthful to the people they’re supposed to be working for. The DEP adding 14 new horizontal drillings is even worse for water quality and they are not looking at the cumulative impact of all 14 drillings. By issuing this Permit-By-Rule, the DEP is violating the state and federal Clean Water Act and violating the Surface Water Quality Standards.”

The South Jersey Gas pipeline would go through the Pinelands National Reserve. The Pinelands is a UN biosphere reserve and one of the largest sources of fresh drinking water on the east coast. We are seriously concerned that the pipeline crosses New Jersey’s C-1 designated waters and associated wetlands and habitats. Many of these streams carry anti-degradation criteria. This project would put the environmentally sensitive lands, as well as drinking water for thousands of people, at risk.

“This approval will dig up along the stream buffers and disturb the vegetation. Pollution from runoff will contaminate the waterways. Even the heat from the pipeline itself will change the water quality. There’s no way that a pipeline would not have significant impacts,” said Jeff Tittel. “The DEP has declared open season on clean water with these new Flood Hazard Rules and these ‘Permit-By-Rules’ pushing through pipelines. These rules will allow stormwater to be pumped directly into streams, get rid of important buffer protections, and allow improper development, even making it easier for pipelines to go through. The Rule will rollback decades’ worth of environmental protections.”

The DEP’s Flood Hazard Rules make it easier for pipelines to be built because they eliminate protections of our streams, especially in important headwater and buffer areas. The rules allow for disturbance of C1 stream buffers. These C1 streams are of the highest quality and supposed to be afforded the most protection. The Rules also allow for more Permit-By-Rules. These exempt impacts from certain pipeline related activities that disturb these important buffer areas and impact water quality. Now the DEP is using these rules as a way to allow the SRL to run through the Pinelands to the shore and destroy streams along the way.

“ Under the Christie Administration the DEP has really stood for the ‘Department of Expediting Pipelines.’ They are using their sham Flood Hazard Rules to allow pipelines like the South Jersey Gas to destroy our state. This pipeline will cut through environmentally sensitive streams, destroy buffers, and contaminate our drinking water,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We’ve said all along that this project would cut an ugly scar through the Pinelands and threaten our water supply. Senator Sweeney must post SCR66 and let the Legislature to vote to block these hazardous Flood Hazard Rules and protect New Jersey’s waterways and drinking water from destructive projects like the South Jersey Gas pipeline.”


The South Jersey Gas permit modifications and DEP approvals can be found attached.

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Toni Granato Administrative Assistant New Jersey Sierra Club office:(609) 656-7612 https://www.facebook.com/NJSierraClub @NJSierraClub and @StopPilgrimNYNJ on Twitter
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Received on 2016-11-01 14:35:19