Residents from throughout the region converged on the Manchester Township municipal building on July 28 to state their views about a pipeline New Jersey Natural Gas executives are proposing to construct in parts of Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean counties. ANDREW MARTINS/STAFF Residents and municipal officials aired their views about a proposed New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) pipeline during a public hearing held by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
The BPU heard testimony about the Southern Reliability Link (SRL) during a meeting that was held at the Manchester Township municipal building July 28.
The board will eventually make a determination on the 30- mile-long natural gas pipeline that is proposed to cross a portion of south central New Jersey, including areas in Upper Freehold Township, Jackson and Plumsted.
“The SRL project is necessary to support the reliability and system integrity of the company’s natural gas transmission system,” said John Valeri, an attorney representing NJNG. “It provides a second major transmission tool to a critical part of the company’s service area … which serves Monmouth and Ocean counties and a portion of Burlington County.”
According to NJNG, the SRL is a high-pressure 30-inch-diameter pipeline that would run about 30 miles from Chesterfield Township in Burlington County to Manchester Township in Ocean County. The utility states it would “provide supply diversity and system resiliency, supporting the safe, reliable distribution of natural gas to more than one million people.”
The SRL would connect a natural gas system that serves customers in Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties to a new Transco supply point in Chesterfield. The new pipeline will tie into NJNG’s transmission system in Manchester that is near the southern end of the transmission system.
As things stand today, Valeri said, the utility’s service area is served by a single pipeline that runs through Middlesex County, which he said is “well outside of the company’s franchise area.”
Since there are no intrastate pipelines in NJNG’s shore service area, Valeri testified that the company had “no other choice” but to run a secondary pipeline through an area of the state it does not serve. Mayor Joe Mancini of Long Beach Township testified on behalf of the six municipalities on Long Beach Island that would benefit from the new pipeline. Mancini said the completion of the SRL is important to the more than 20,000 homes on the island.
“The devastation caused by superstorm Sandy (in 2012) was unlike anything we had ever experienced,” Mancini said. “Without the basic necessities, including natural gas and electric (service), those were dark and challenging days and we were out for six weeks.”
Mancini said representatives of the six municipalities on Long Beach Island have submitted letters to the BPU and passed resolutions voicing their support for the SRL project.
“If we learned anything from superstorm Sandy, it is the importance and need for resiliency,” he said.
Although Mancini and Valeri said Sandy highlighted a need for resiliency, there were some people who opposed that assertion.
“Sandy made it clear New Jersey must oppose fuel sources that contribute to climate change,” said Lena Smith, a New Jersey organizer for Food and Water Watch. “True energy reliability – marked by energy security, independence, resilience and affordability – will derive from efficiently meeting energy needs with clean, renewable power.”
Jaclyn Rhoads, the assistant executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, also took issue with NJNG’s statement that it needs to bolster resilience for the company’s shore area at all.
“New Jersey Natural Gas has not demonstrated this pipeline is necessary or even desirable for maintaining or safeguarding the region’s natural gas supply,” Rhoads said.
Many people at the public hearing claimed the SRL will have a negative impact on the environment, on endangered species such as the American bald eagle and the bog turtle, and on plants that are only found in the Pinelands National Reserve.
New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel compared the pipeline to toxic uses when he said, “New Jersey needs another natural gas pipeline like we need another Superfund site.”
According to Tittel, there are 11 pipelines currently proposed for construction throughout New Jersey. He said the SRL is the second pipeline proposed to run through the Pinelands.
“We passed the Pinelands Act 40 years ago to save the Pinelands, not to have it become the Pipelands,” Tittel said.
Some who spoke against the project voiced their concerns about safety.
Theresa Lettman, the director for monitoring programs for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, said she dreaded the thought of a pipeline explosion occurring in her community, Manchester.
Lettman said the SRL would be less than 480 feet away from the Manchester Township Elementary School and close to a number of Manchester’s emergency services operations. She said an accident involving the natural gas pipeline could cut off a major road in the municipality.
“No protection is given to the residents of Manchester Township if this pipeline is placed along Colonial Drive and Route 70,” Lettman said.
At the beginning of the public hearing, Valeri said the “safe and reliable operation of NJNG’s transmission and distribution system” was the utility’s primary goal.
According to Michael Stonack, bureau chief, pipeline safety, at the BPU, the utility’s plans for the natural gas pipeline are in compliance with federal and state safety regulations.
“Board staff has reviewed the design and construction plans associated with this 30- inch pipeline, as well as performing field inspections of the entire proposed pipeline route and various alternative routes,” Stonack said.
Should the project advance, NJNG will be required to install remote controlled valves for emergency shutdowns; to have a “comprehensive transmission pipeline integrity management program” which includes performing in-line inspections; and to have full-time inspectors overseeing the construction of the pipeline to ensure it is installed in accordance with regulations.
BPU staff will provide additional installation inspections and ongoing inspections after construction of the natural gas pipeline has been completed.
According to the Sierra Club, transmission pipeline incidents throughout the United States have damaged property and in some cases required residents to flee their homes.
New Egypt resident Jim Kelleher, whose property is within 100 feet of the proposed route for the pipeline, said he is more concerned about the welfare of his family and property than anything else.
“I just want to know why the lives of myself, my wife and my four children are expendable. [If the pipeline explodes,] my house will be gone. It will be a crater … Right now, I am worried about myself and my family and I am wondering why we are being sold down the river,” Kelleher said.
Another BPU public hearing concerning the SRL has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Enterprise Center at Rowan University, Glassboro.