Tulsa-based Williams Co. received approval this week from federal regulators to move forward with a $116 million natural gas expansion project that faces opposition in New Jersey. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted to give the company a certificate of public convenience and necessity, allowing it to construct and operate what’s called the Garden State Expansion Project.
It will be a two-phase project including the construction of a 30,500 horsepower electric-powered compressor to take gas from the Trenton Woodbury line and move it to a 30-inch New Jersey Natural Gas pipeline. The new pipeline was approved in January and a new regulating station will have to be built in Chesterfield while another compressor station in Lawrence will be upgraded.
“Based on the benefits the project will provide and the minimal adverse impacts on existing shippers, other pipelines and their captive customers, and landowners and surrounding communities, we find……that the public convenience and necessity requires approval of Transco’s proposal,” stated the commissioners in their 55-page order.
Environmentalists and residents disagree and contend that the new compressor station is too close to homes and schools.
“FERC had shown that it’s just a rubberstamp for the industry it’s supposed to regulate,” charged Jeff Tittle, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “FERC has sold out the communities of Chesterfield and New Jersey by approving this dirty and dangerous project without a proper review or public comment.”
FERC disagreed. The commissioners stated they were satisfied that their analysis of the cumulative impacts confirmed to their obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act.
