The PennEast pipeline is an unnecessary infrastructure project that will only benefit the companies who own it, and whose costs will be borne by residents in the area. In response to the PennEast threat, we formed HALT PennEast. We are average citizens who have joined forces to stop this pipeline.
NJDEP Denied PennEast’s Submitted Application–Oct 11th 2019
MORE GOOD NEWS!
October 11, 2019
Yesterday, the NJDEP denied PennEast’s recently submitted application citing the US Court of Appeals decision to vacate the orders of condemnation for forty-nine properties where the state of NJ has property ownership interests.
The letter states that the PennEast application cannot be deemed “administratively complete” because PennEast now lacks the authority to submit the application. It goes on to say, “Given this fundamental deficiency, the NJDEP hereby rejects and administratively closes the Application”. “The application is denied without prejudice and as a result, no application for a Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit and Water Quality Certificate is currently pending in any form before the NJDEP”. Finally, the letter states, “The Department shall take no further action on this application.”
This decision means that this application cannot be resubmitted without PennEast having legal authority to these 49 properties. This is great news for homeowners and we applaud the NJDEP for its diligent and swift decision.
We are aware that the battle to halt this pipeline will likely continue. PennEast may attempt to overturn the Court’s decision by requesting an “en banc” rehearing with the Third Circuit (which is a request for a full panel rehearing and reconsideration of the decision made by the 3 judge panel). These requests are sometimes granted under special circumstances. In due time, PennEast may also petition the Supreme Court to hear this case. They may try to litigate in state court. PennEast has already contacted FERC in an attempt to enlist the support of FERC with their legal dilemma. Who knows what PennEast will try next?
All that said, impacted homeowners, their neighbors and allies have never been in a stronger position! And, we are not going away. We will keep you apprised of developments.
Tell NJDEP to Reject PennEast Now!–September 18th 2019
Putting Together Our Game Plan — August 29th 2019
PennEast Application Resubmitted to NJDEP — August 12th 2019
Meeting Highlights — June 19th 2019
Governor Murphy & NJDEP Deny Permits To Build Contested Pipeline — June 8th 2019
More Uncertainty for PennEast and FERC — March 20th 2019
Please Intervene By March 8, 2019 — February 24th, 2019
Homeowners Claim PennEast Official has Major Conflict of Interest — February 21st 2019
HALT Letter to Attorney General & Hunterdon Freeholders Support — February 2019
Homeowner Update From Judge — January 17th 2019
PennEast Discussions With Lawyers — January 16th 2019
Court Order Entered — January 11th 2019
Keeping directly impacted homeowners informed — February 7th 2018
Confirmed the nominations of FERC Commissioners McIntyre and Glick — November 3rd 2018
HALT & Homeowner’s Legal Actions — 2017
FERC Nominees Are Confirmed — August 3rd 2017
NJDEP Denies PennEast’s Request for a Permit Application Extension! — 2017
Sept 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “On September 10th, a three-judge panel of the 3rd District Appeals Court, overturned an earlier ruling and upheld the State of New Jersey’s appeal.“
August 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “PennEast resubmitted its application for a certification under the Clean Water Act to the New Jersey DEP on August 8th.“
July 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “Save Carbon County has been approved for a $1,000 Sierra Club grant to help fund our efforts in fighting the pipeline.“
June 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “When we started our efforts to defeat PennEast, we hoped that delays in the project would provide time for the market for gas to plunge.”
April 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “As noted in the March report, PennEast filed for approval of a route change on 2/19/19 and asked for FERC approval of that route change by 7/1/19.”
Mar 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “PennEast filed for important approvals with both the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this month.“
Feb 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “According to a reports filed with the PA Dept. of State, pipeline companies have spent more than $37.7 million on lobbying our representatives in Harrisburg.”
January 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “On Dec. 14th, landowners in NJ received a final judgement in their Eminent Domain hearing.”
“We hope that everyone will share these findings with the public, with your members, and with decision-makers evaluating natural gas pipelines and infrastructure in the Delaware River Basin and beyond. They tell an important story regarding the significant environmental and social costs of these projects, and the horror stories from construction of Mariner East 2 show how real the risks are, and how damaging these projects can be to our water resources, and impacted landowners and communities!”
—Tom Gilbert–Campaign Director for Energy, Climate and Natural Resources, New Jersery Conservation Foundation
This painting is a response to the threat of the proposed PennEast pipeline. It is a threat to our community, our environment, our agricultural and cultural resources as well as global climate. I call it “The Climate Change Apocalypse.” It depicts how the places we call home, such as the Rosemont Valley, our global home, including Manhattan, and the glaciers and seas will be impacted by climate change if we cannot stop the use of fossil fuels and the proliferative infrastructure it brings.
Our community is fighting to defend our “peaceable kingdom.” This is why we are working together to stop PennEast and climate change before it is too late.
Alix Bacon.
Michael Heffler | April 3, 2019 | Op-Ed
Originally published in NJSpotlight
Opponents of controversial project say their resistance is rooted in a commitment to protecting communities, properties and property rights
When PennEast filed its application to build a 120-mile-long pipeline through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, every New Jersey township it touches passed a resolution in opposition.
Fifteen hundred people moved to intervene — a record-breaking number. Most of them are regular citizens: homeowners, farmers, single moms, retired couples, and small-business owners. Even though the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has conditionally approved the project, and even though land is being taken through eminent domain, they are not giving up.
Why all the fuss?
Here is a glimpse of why so many are so committed to stopping this pipeline:
1. The gas is not needed
A paramount question is whether this pipeline is even needed. Despite PennEast’s misleading claims, industry experts report that there is no public need for it. On the coldest winter days in 2018, there were 1.7 billion cubic feet of excess gas flowing out of New Jersey. With such an oversupply of gas, households will not save money by paying for a new billion-dollar pipeline.
2. It’s a money grab for PennEast’s owners
This is not a money-saver for consumers, but a cash cow for the pipeline owners, such as New Jersey Resources and South Jersey Industries. FERC guarantees them a whopping 14 percent return on investment. And it is the regular people who would be paying them — year after year. That’s why the New Jersey Rate Counsel, the state’s consumer watchdog agency, says this project is tantamount to offering a windfall of money to private enterprises while the consumers unfairly foot the bill.
3. Myth of new job opportunities
Building another pipeline disrupts Gov. Phil Murphy’s commitment to clean energy and the economic growth it brings. Nationally, jobs in clean energy are exceeding coal and gas by a five to one ratio. If PennEast is built, there would be months of temporary employment for mostly out-of-state construction workers, but virtually no permanent jobs in New Jersey, according to a study performed by experts at the Goodman Group.
4. Damage to environmentally sensitive, culturally rich region
In densely populated New Jersey, the two counties affected — Hunterdon and Mercer — are rural havens. The pipeline would affect many farms, conserved land, fruit orchards, and forests. Historic districts, endangered species, and some of the cleanest streams in the state are threatened by the construction and operation of this pipeline. In addition, the seizure of over 4,300 acres of preserved open space will undermine the integrity of the State Land Preservation Program. That’s why the state of New Jersey is suing.
5. Taking property for a project that may never be built
The U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment says private property should only be taken for a public need. PennEast is a project where the public doesn’t benefit nor has the project even been approved to be built. FERC has conditionally approved it, but many other agencies have not. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Delaware River Basin Commission, and other federal agencies have the power to deny required permits. Once FERC grants a certificate to a project, courts typically grant the right of eminent domain. However, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal is appealing the seizure of state lands and is joined by homeowners, the New Jersey Rate Counsel and conservation groups in challenging FERC’s flawed certificate for PennEast.
6. Gas is not a clean fuel and pipelines are not safe
Over the past seven years, the nation’s natural-gas transportation network leaked 17.55 billion cubic feet of mostly methane gas. The Union of Concerned Scientists says that methane is 86 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat. The PennEast pipeline also endangers our water by crossing 38 C-1 streams, hundreds of acres of wetlands and the Delaware River. Geologists say this region has bedrock which will likely release arsenic into our ground water and drinking water. According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, over 11,500 clear-cut U.S. pipeline-related incidents occurred since 2000.
Polished rhetoric and PR materials from the project developers and its advocates won’t sway informed consumers. People will continue to passionately oppose a project that is unneeded, unwanted, and harmful to their communities, homes and planet.
Signed by The Trustees of Homeowners Against Land Taking (HALT-PennEast), a volunteer organization of several thousand impacted homeowners and their fellow citizens, committed to protecting their communities, properties and property rights.
Michael Heffler lives in Lambertville. He is an author engaged in community service.
