Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The state Department of Environmental Protection has denied a request by the PennEast Pipeline Co. for a second 60-day extension of its application for a freshwater wetlands permit and water quality certificate.
The DEP rejected the pipeline company’s request for an extension for the key permit and has “administratively closed” the application. The permit is needed before the controversial pipeline project can go forward.
PennEast wants to build a 110-mile-long natural gas pipeline from the Marcellus Region of Pennsylvania through Hunterdon and Mercer counties, including Hopewell Township.
Opponents of the project, including the New Jersey Sierra Club, were pleased that the request for a second, 60-day extension had been denied.
In April, the company requested an extension of time to complete several deficiencies in its application. The DEP granted an initial 60-day extension, which expired June 26.
In its June 21 letter to the DEP requesting a second 60-day extension, PennEast wrote that it had satisfied two of the five outstanding issues, but needed more time to resolve the three remaining deficiencies -including wetlands delineations.
“PennEast’s ability to respond to the outstanding deficiencies is largely dependent on the completion of additional field surveys,” the company wrote.
“In fact, as of June 14, PennEast has completed 39.7 percent of wetlands delineations in Hunterdon County and 46.9 percent of wetlands delineations in Mercer County,” the letter said.
“This is a substantial increase from the percentage of completed surveys referenced in the application. PennEast is working to complete all remaining field surveys as soon as practicable,” the company wrote.
In response to PennEast’s June 21 letter, the DEP wrote that it “finds no substantive information has been received during the initial 60 days allotted for response and thus, this request for additional time is hereby denied.”
The DEP letter to PennEast acknowledged that some of the deficiencies had been resolved, but “given the complexity of the remaining deficient items, and the lack of demonstrated progress on the part of the applicant, it appears that it would be unlikely that an additional 60 days would allow substantial progress on the application.”
In noting that the application had been “administratively closed” as of June 28, the DEP letter indicated that the application fee submitted by PennEast could be applied for a resubmittal of the project, if it occurs within one year.
Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, was pleased that the DEP had rejected PennEast’s request for an additional 60-day extension.
“This is a victory against the pipeline because they have to start all over again and apply for new permits,” Tittel said.
“Under the rules, the DEP had to reject this application because PennEast is missing so much information and it was a sham,” he said.
It may be difficult for PennEast to apply for new permits because the company, at this point, lacks information on 65 percent of the route in New Jersey because property owners have denied access for surveys, Tittel said.
The proposed pipeline would have cut through communities, preserved open space and farmland. The DEP requires surveys of private land that the company intends to use along its route – but without that information, the project could not move forward.
In the days leading up to the June 26 deadline, elected officials in Mercer and Hunterdon counties wrote in opposition to the PennEast project because of its “significant impacts on natural and historic resources, public health and safety, and ratepayers throughout the state.”
In a June 19 letter to DEP Commissioner Bob Martin, the elected officials wrote that they opposed the project because the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel had affirmed that there is no public need for the project.
The letter pointed to the damage caused by the pipeline to thousands of acres of open space and farmland. It would require a “taking of a majority of the proposed route in New Jersey by invoking eminent domain, and would violate property rights for private gain.”
The letter was signed by 31 elected officials, including Hopewell Township Mayor Kevin Kuchinski, Deputy Mayor Julie Blake and Township Committee member Vanessa Sandom.
It was also signed by Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert and Mercer County Freeholder Pat Colavita Jr.
