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.
Stand Up Music Video – Native Americans on Standing Rock Sioux Reservation Protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline
NEW! December 2020 Report To Stakeholders
December 2020 Report to Stakeholders
Excerpt: “There are only two remaining permits to be issued by the PA. Dept. of
Environmental Protection (PADEP) for the shortened Pennsylvania-only
PennEast pipeline.”
November 2020 Report to Stakeholders
Excerpt: “The Trump administration is rushing forward on a roll back of bird protections.”
October 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “The PennEast Pipeline project continues to be stalled with no progress in months. The
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has yet to accept the inadequate
Environmental Assessment which was done for the Phase 1 Project…”
September 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “On Sept. 17th , the judge in the Constitution Pipeline eminent domain proceedings ordered
the reversal of condemnation orders…”
August 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “On Sept. 2nd the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) concluded the
opportunity to comment on the Environmental Assessment for the new Phase 1 (PA
only) pipeline project.“
July 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro has issued a Grand Jury Report that concludes that
Pennsylvania regulatory agencies have failed to protect the public from the negative
impacts of fracking for gas.”
June 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “The Supreme Court has finally taken action on the PennEast appeal of the State of New Jersey case. The Court has asked the Solicitor General to submit a brief.“
May 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “The original PennEast pipeline has two important permits that have yet to be granted by the PADEP. The Chapter 102 Permit concerns erosion and sediment control.”
April 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “As reported earlier, on January 30th PennEast filed an application for a new Pennsylvania-only pipeline which they call “Phase I.”
March 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “All local Carbon County governments along the pipeline route and the County government have signed on as intervenors except Kidder Township.”
Febuary 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “PennEast has created a new project that they are calling Phase 1. FERC has accepted the application and granted a new docket number (CP20-47). This is a project to build 68 miles of the original route through PA. This is a PA-only pipeline that follows the originally proposed route but ends in Bethlehem Twp. where it will connect to the Adelphia Gateway Project which is another pipeline project with a separate docket number (CP18-46).”
January 2020 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “As noted in last month’s report, PennEast Pipeline has asked FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) for an extension of two more years in which to get the project operational. FERC has not yet scheduled a hearing on the extension request.“
December 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “Today, the PennEast Pipeline asked FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) for an “extension of time.” […] If they manage to complete the pipeline by 2022, it will be five years behind schedule.“
October 2019 Report To Stakeholders
Excerpt: “Yesterday, the Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (9,120 barrels) of oil into wetlands in North Dakota. The leak is already the eighth-largest pipeline oil spill of the last decade.”
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.”
December HALT Update – December 2nd, 2020
VIRTUAL MEMBER MEETING – WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9 @ 7PM & REQUEST TO SUBMIT COMMENTS TO DRBC
We hope your Thanksgiving was relaxing and enjoyable and you are keeping safe and healthy.
Our December Member’s Meeting will be held Wednesday, December 9th at 7pm. This virtual meeting will focus on a few updates including DRBC, NJR public comments, SCOTUS, and a look ahead to 2021.
There are 2 ways to join the meeting.
In order to allow the meeting to start on time, we suggest that if you haven’t used zoom before that you download the app Wednesday morning. If you encounter any problems, this will give enough time to work through them. If you need assistance call HALT @ 609-483-5530.
Secondly, we have been advised by our friends at NJCF that the DRBC is now reviewing the PennEast application. It is time to yet again send more comments to the DRBC. We have included the instructions and draft language below for your convenience.
DRBC Comment instructions:
SUBMIT COMMENTS
While the formal comment period is not yet open, we are requesting that you submit written comments to penneastapp@drbc.gov urging them to reject PennEast’s application. There is no deadline at present. The DRBC invites comments on matters not yet scheduled on their docket so let’s keep up the momentum and provide them!
WHAT TO SAY : Below are samples of comments made at the last DRBC meeting. Feel free to copy all or parts of and use as your own. You can incorporate the comments into one email but the more comments you send the better! Also, additional topics to comment on can be found on Mike Spille’s website: https://www.pipeinfo.org/drbc
Comment 1
PennEast has repeatedly disregarded the Commission’s authority. First, PennEast withdrew their previous application and asserted that the Commission did not have jurisdiction over Phase I of the new project they’ve submitted to FERC. When the Commission appropriately corrected PennEast on this, PennEast said they would “voluntarily” submit an application if the Commission agreed to review it on their arbitrary and overly aggressive timeline.
PennEast has blatantly attempted to skirt the Commission’s review by arguing that their project doesn’t constitute a project, and by playing a shell game in an effort to make it appear that they don’t meet the commission’s thresholds. To the Commission’s credit you have firmly and appropriately rejected these hollow claims.
I urge you to reject PennEast’s application without prejudice.
Comment 2
Whatever project PennEast asks FERC to certificate must also be reviewed by the Commission. PennEast has asked FERC to certificate building the entire pipeline in two phases. Yet, PennEast has only submitted an application to the commission for Phase I. They can’t have it both ways and submit different versions of the project to multiple agencies as it suits their needs.
The Commission must demand that PennEast submit an application for the entire route so that the full impacts of the project to the DRBC can be evaluated.
By submitting a Phase I only, PennEast is attempting to segment the Commissions Review and artificially minimize the impact of the project to the Basin’s water resources.
For Example, in their application to the Commission, PennEast States that Phase I will impact 17.3 acres of wetland within 30’ of the maintained row, pointing out that this falls below one of the Commission’s thresholds of 25 acres of wetlands impacted. However, if PennEast were to submit both Phases, the project would clearly exceed this threshold, as Phase II would impact an additional 19 acres of wetland in New Jersey.
Considering one half at a time of a two-phase project would conceal the true and cumulative impact of a project that will have significant and unacceptable impacts to the water resources that you are charged with protecting.
Although Phase I would still fall under the commission’s review, I urge you to require that PennEast submit all necessary information for Phase II of the project so the Commission reviews the same project that is currently before FERC, and fully evaluates the impacts to the Delaware River Basin.
Looking forward to seeing you (virtually) on Wednesday, December 9 @ 7pm
Positive News – September 23rd, 2020
September HALT Update – September 7th, 2020
FERC Deadline Reminder – August 29th, 2020
August HALT Update – August 12th, 2020
Supreme Court Update, NJCF Statement, and Tolling Orders Update— July 1st, 2020
Request for Homeowners to Submit a Comment to FERC–May 5th, 2020
APRIL 2020 NEWSLETTER– April 26th, 2020
HALT’s February 26, 2020 Meeting Summary–March 4th, 2020
An Important Time To Have Our Voices Heard: Move To Intervene By March 4, 2020–February 16th 2020
PennEast Update — January 11th 2020
PennEast Seeks Supreme Court Review–November 19th 2019
Where Things Stand At This Time–November 4th & 5th 2019
NJDEP Denied PennEast’s Submitted Application–Oct 11th 2019
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
HALT NJCF Meeting August 2020
HALT NJCF August 2020 from Gary Brackenridge on Vimeo.
“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.
