Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer, Concerned about the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co.’s proposed natural gas compressor station that is planned for a site on Route 27 at Promenade Boulevard in Franklin Township, Montgomery Township has filed to gain intervenor status in connection with the company’s application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission., Gaining intervenor status means Montgomery Township will be able to comment on the proposal as it makes its way through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said Township Administrator Donato Nieman., Transco wants to construct a natural gas compressor station as part of its Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, which will enable the company to move additional natural gas supplies between a compressor station in Pennsylvania and its offshore Rockaway Transfer Point in New York State., Township officials and residents are concerned because the site of the 32,000-horsepower natural gas compressor station is located next to the Trap Rock Quarry, where there is active mining. The blasting that takes place at the quarry could increase the danger of an explosion and fire at the compressor station., In its filing for intervenor status, Montgomery Township officials wrote that about 3,500 township residents live in close proximity to the proposed site. The compressor station could pose “serious health risks to these residents, since compressor stations are known to release harmful toxins,” according to the filing., Montgomery Township also objected to the proposal because of the environmental impacts associated with it. The filing pointed to preserved open space and farmland that were preserved with public money., “The dangers posed by the compressor station will directly impact these lands, including contributing to the destruction of mature forest, wider and more significant forest fragmentation, destruction of valuable stream corridor habitat, degradation of water quality and increased air and noise pollution,” according to the filing., The filing for intervenor status follows a resolution adopted by Montgomery Township Committee objecting to the proposed natural gas compressor station. It noted that the natural gas pumped through the line is intended for customers in the Brooklyn and Rockaway areas of New York City.
