For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jackie Greger, jackie.greger@sierraclub.org
NJ & NY Approve Water Permit for NESE Fossil Fuel Project to Rip Through Wetlands & Raritan Bay
Trenton, NJ - Today, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced that they have approved Williams Transco’s water quality permits for their Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) fossil fuel project. This decision approves their Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit, Flood Hazard Area, Individual Permit, Flood Hazard Area Verification, Waterfront Development In-Water and Upland Individual Permits, and a Coastal Wetlands Permit.
Also today, the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued a Section 401 Water Quality Certification and Article 15 Excavation & Fill Permit, and an Industrial SPDES Permit.
Both of these decisions give Williams Transco the greenlight for construction through ecologically significant and protected wetlands, the Raritan and Hudson Bays.
Before making their decision, the NJDEP held just one public hearing on September 10th for members of the public to voice their concerns. Hundreds of residents attended the hearing in opposition, and the Department was unable to hear from all of them due to lack of time. Prior to the hearing, over 100 activists, community members and environmental organizations rallied in Port Monmouth to stop the project.
NJ Sierra Club Conservation Program Manager, Taylor McFarland, made the following statement:
“We are disappointed and stunned by the decisions from both New Jersey and New York to grant Williams Transco their permits. This is the same project that both NY and NJ denied multiple times. Nothing has changed; the route and the impacts are the same. We expected the NJDEP and NYDEC to do their job again, which is to protect the environment and public health, but that did not happen in this case.
This fossil fuel project now has the approval to rip through and permanently destroy critical wetlands in Middlesex and Monmouth County and pollute the Raritan and Hudson Bays.
The people of New Jersey do not want this project, and our state will not see any of the benefits. We will be stuck with a damaging and polluting project because of multistate agreements over the transportation of gas in the Natural Gas Act, leaving us with no say over what gets built in our state. This decision is a direct rejection of the hundreds of New Jersey residents who voiced their opposition to this dirty project and the 24 municipalities that have passed bipartisan resolutions opposing it. Now, these towns and communities on the ground will have it in their backyards.
The pipeline portion of NESE will cut through Old Bridge, Sayreville, and South Amboy, and then run under the Raritan Bay to ultimately arrive in Long Island. The Madison Loop part of the fossil fuel project would cut under Route 9, the NJ Parkway, Route 36, and the train tracks that NJ Transit uses.
These areas include major roads, railways, housing developments, and businesses that will be impacted, as well as critical freshwater ecosystems, coastal wetlands, tidal wetlands, Cheesequake Creek, and habitats for threatened and endangered species on both land and in the marine environment.
Granting Williams Transco its necessary water permits for their proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement Project will allow acres of our state-regulated wetlands to be permanently destroyed, toxic chemicals to be dredged up from the Raritan Bay, increased stormwater runoff, and do permanent harm to wildlife and their habitat.
Although this is a major disappointment, we will continue to fight Williams Transco. The Sierra Club, along with organizations like Clean Ocean Action, NY/NJ Baykeeper, NJLCV, Food and Water Watch, Surfrider Foundation, and Waterspirit, have been fighting NESE for almost a decade, and we will continue the fight so that our land, our water, our wildlife, and our people are protected.”
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About the New Jersey Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.