By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP — Following a special Board of Health hearing Tuesday addressing public health issues related to the proposed PennEast pipeline, the board deemed that the pipeline, if constructed, will adversely affect the health of the citizens of Hopewell Township.
After listening to a number of health experts speak for about two hours during the hearing, the board unanimously passed a resolution by a 5-0 vote. The resolution listed potential groundwater contamination, air quality degradation, surface water degradation and increased risk of physical and mental illness as some of the possible health risks involved.
The resolution along with the transcript of the hearing will be forwarded to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, according to Vanessa Sandom, who sits on both the Board of Health and the Township Committee.
The PennEast Pipeline Company must receive approvals from both agencies to begin construction of its proposed billion-dollar-plus natural gas pipeline. If completed, the 105-mile pipeline would run from Luzerne County in Pennsylvania near Wilkes-Barre and end at a junction with an existing pipeline in southeastern Hopewell Township near Blackwell Road.
“We’re going to forward the resolution to other communities affected by the pipeline to see if they will also hold a board of health meeting,” Ms. Sandom said by phone Wednesday.
The organization, Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline, invited the public health experts, researchers and medical doctors, including one psychiatrist, to speak at the Board of Health hearing attended by about 70 people inside the Performing Arts Center at Hopewell Valley Central High School.
Patty Cronheim with HTCAPP expressed her satisfaction with the hearing result.
“It feels great to have the township really look out for people’s wellbeing in town,” Ms. Cronheim said by phone Wednesday. “It feels really good to see this happen.”
