Date : Tue, 13 Dec 2016 09:33:48 -0500
BPU Approves SJGas Pinelands Pipeline: One-Two Punch
In their meeting Monday, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) voted to comply with the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) in approving the South Jersey Gas (SJG) pipeline. The BPU ruled that their approval is conditional on the Pinelands Commission approval. The Pinelands Commission just passed a resolution to approve the pipeline that would cut through the Pinelands reserve on Friday. The Commission’s public hearing is in January and they won’t make a decision for a least a month, however, the BPU has approved it anyway.
“This is a one-two punch against the Pinelands. The Christie Administration is trying to fast-track this process and the BPU just approved it without any public input. They’re trying to push this pipeline through fast enough to get around the opposition. The BPU conditionally approved the SJG pipeline before the Pinelands Commission even had a hearing on it. We took the Pinelands Commission and the BPU to court because they illegally approved the SJG pipeline last summer. The court threw out that approval and instead of going back to the drawing board and doing it the right way, the BPU is joining the Commission in trying to rush the system. They’re trying to circumvent the courts and the public and to push through this dangerous and unneeded pipeline,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This approve first, and having Pinelands Commission process later circumvents the entire role of the public.”
Two years ago the same Pinelands Commission staff and Executive Director said this pipeline wasn’t a private development and didn’t meet the needs of the Pinelands. They came back with another application and Executive Director Wittenberg decided that the pipeline would service the Pinelands. South Jersey Gas has told the BPU the pipeline will improve reliability outside of the Pinelands and during bad weather or an emergency the Pinelands would not get the gas. The BPU supported Wittenberg’s approval and that’s why we challenged them in court as well as the Pinelands Commission.
“The BPU is once again rubberstamping the pipeline before the public has actually had a chance to have input with a public hearing. They’ve based it on approval by the Commission that hasn’t even happened. The first time they went along with Nancy Wittenberg illegally saying it conformed with the CMP. The BPU should not have approved it the first time without Pinelands Commission approval and now they’re doing the same thing again. The Christie Administration to trying to make New Jersey the Pipeline state, promote fracking, destroy the Pinelands, and keep the polluting B.L. England power plant open,” said Jeff Tittel.
The proposed SJG pipeline does not serve the needs of the Pinelands. The B.L. England plant which the gas pipeline would serve is located in Upper Township outside of the Pinelands region. Eight miles of the pipeline will fuel B.L. England. The pipeline would run from Millville to Beesley’s Point, across portions of the Pinelands Forest Management Area, where such development is prohibited. The pipeline would keep the BL England plant running, bringing more water and air pollution to the region.
“The BPU is saying the pipeline is for resiliency so the ratepayers won’t pay for it. However, they’re also saying it’s for B.L England plant, which is a private project, so the ratepayers shouldn’t have to pay for it. This is unacceptable and we must speak out,” said Jeff Tittel. “We should not be made to pay for a pipeline we don’t need, don’t want, and that will be hazardous to the Pinelands!”
This pipeline will promote fracking and pollution, and could be used for offshore LNG. The proposed pipeline did not serve the needs of the Pinelands. Instead, it would promote water pollution from fracking and cooling towers, air pollution from power plants, while creating irreversible harm to wetlands, streams, and damaging important open spaces. It would have direct and indirect consequences for the citizens of New Jersey, yet the BPU is deliberating taking away their say in the process.
“Hundreds of people have already come out against this pipeline. The pipeline will cut through environmentally sensitive land, threaten communities, and cause more climate change impacts. The people of New Jersey want to reject South Jersey Gas’s pipeline proposal. The BPU has acted against the interests of our people and our Pinelands by going along with this sell-out,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
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Jamie Zaccaria Administrative Assistant New Jersey Sierra Club office: (609) 656-7612 https://www.facebook.com/NJSierraClub * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Received on 2016-12-13 06:33:48