Natural gas pipeline project in northern Highlands in limbo after judges' ruling
A controversial natural gas pipeline project in the state's northern Highlands is in limbo after court officials nullified a key exemption to the region's strict development regulations.
New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division judges, in an opinion issued Thursday, invalidated an exemption to Highlands Preservation Area regulations granted to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company for its East 300 Upgrade Project. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials have previously issued the exemption on the grounds that the proposed $108 million compressor station in the Highlands Preservation Area in West Milford was a "routine upgrade" to the utility's existing pipeline system.
The $246 million East 300 Upgrade Project includes the installation of two new natural gas compressor units in Pennsylvania and Sussex County and the construction of an all-new compressor station complex in West Milford. Under development in a former quarry near Monksville Reservoir, the complex is due to include a 19,000-horsepower electric compressor, a 3,500-square-foot office with a septic system and a 69-kilovolt electrical substation, records show.
In taking court action, officials from environmental nonprofits, namely Food & Water Watch, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition and the Sierra Club, have contended that the construction project in West Milford is far from a routine upgrade. Those groups are seeking to have the project stopped entirely, citing concerns over the potential for pollution in New Jersey and beyond. If completed, the project would pump natural gas captured outside of the state to proposed new hookups in Westchester County, New York, through an agreement with Consolidated Edison, records show.
In their opinion on Thursday, judges from the Appellate Division said DEP officials need to reconsider whether the project is indeed a "routine upgrade" to the company's existing 300 Line natural gas pipeline. The court subsequently invalidated the project's Highlands Act exemption and remanded the matter back to the DEP for further review.
Although the court left the determination on whether the project is a routine upgrade to department officials, the judges in their opinion said state legislators in adopting the Highlands Act did not intend to "exempt any upgrade a utility might propose." The judges questioned the position of department and pipeline representatives in claiming the exemption for "routine maintenance and operations, rehabilitation, preservation, reconstruction, repair, or upgrade of public utility lines, rights of way, or systems" applies to a $108 million new construction project in West Milford that pipeline officials have often described as an "upgrade."
“The court referenced the preamble of the Highlands Act, which makes the case for protecting the exceptional natural resources of the Highlands, which were under grave threat due to uncontrolled sprawl development," said Elliott Ruga, the policy and communications director for the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. "The court redrew the line against major developments that the Highlands Act intended to stop."
In their ruling, the judges said pipeline representatives did not apply for a stay in the case and have been proceeding with the project “at their own risk." Representatives for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company's parent company, Kinder Morgan, said they had no comment on the recent court opinion or its impact on the East 300 Upgrade Project.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ judges' ruling leaves Tennessee gas project for Highlands in limbo
