By Philip Sean Curran
Pipeline company Williams Transcontinental moved quickly to try again to get permission from environmental regulators in New York and New Jersey to lay a new offshore natural gas pipeline to connect both states, including through a section of Raritan Bay.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection this month denied a series of water quality permits the company had applied for – including a wetlands permit – for the project. Officials in New York also denied a permit for the proposal as well.
In a June 5 denial letter, the NJDEP said, “The available information indicates that the proposed dredging could adversely impact surface water quality and that Transco has not sufficiently demonstrated how it would avoid adverse impacts to surface water quality.” But the denial left open the opportunity for Transco to resubmit, a step the company took last week.
In a statement, Williams Transcontinental spokesman Christopher L. Stockton said the company had filed “new water quality and other permit applications with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on June 10 for our Northeast Supply Enhancement Project.”
“We strongly believe the discrete technical issues raised by the NJDEP on June 5 were addressed in our previous application and, in this application, we have provided additional information showing that these issues have been addressed,” he said. “Additional questions related to the timing of the permit review process should be directed to the NJDEP.”
A spokesman for the NJDEP could not be reached for comment.
Williams Transcontinental, headquartered in Oklahoma, moves natural gas to markets around the country, including to New Jersey and New York. The company operates the roughly 10,000-mile Transco pipeline system that runs from Texas to New York City.
As part of a $1 billion project, Williams is seeking approval to install 23.5 miles of new pipeline offshore, 3.4 miles of pipe in Middlesex County, 10 miles of pipe in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and a new compressor station in Somerset County. The aim is to increase the supply of natural gas to utility company National Grid or its customers in New York City and on Long Island.
The project, however, has raised concerns for the environment. Environmentalists and local and state officials have lined up against the proposal.
“There’s no benefit to any of the Bayshore communities that I’ve seen. There’s no benefit to the state of New Jersey that I’ve seen,” Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (R-13) said June 17. “I’m going to stand with my Bayshore communities and oppose the project.”
She and state Sen. Declan J. O’Scanlon (R-13) wrote to the NJDEP in April outlining their concerns and urging the state to deny the permits.
While the NJDEP took that step, the move was not what one environmental organization said it was looking for. Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, said June 17 that “the denial left the door open for Williams to walk right back in.”
“The denial was a good start,” she said. “It wasn’t what we were hoping for. We were hoping for a denial that would have locked the door and thrown away the key to Raritan Bay for the company. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.”
Williams has said it wants to start construction before the end of 2019 on a project expected to take a year to complete. If the company fails a second time, it could go to court over any subsequent denial by the NJDEP.
Likewise, environmental groups could sue the state if the permits are granted
