While oil and gas industry supporters viewed this week’s federal court ruling that halted the Williams Cos. from expansion of its major gas line serving northeastern states, others called it a big win for environmentalists.
Take for instance the headline in the New Jersey Monitor…New Jersey being one of the states to be served by the Transcontinental gas line. “Federal Judges halt interstate gas line extension, a win for environmentalists.”
The paper quoted Food & Water Watch New Jersey State Director Matt Smith who called the decision “an incredible victory.”
“For years, the fossil fuel industry has been able to build more pipelines that are unnecessary, costly, and polluting to our climate and communities,” Smith said. “To transition away from fossil fuels, we need to stop building new polluting infrastructure that locks us into decades more dirty energy dependence. This decision can help guide us in the right direction,” reported the New Jersey Monitor.
The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that gave the green light to Tulsa-based Williams to begin the project. The court ordered FERC to reconsider the Regional Energy Access Expansion which included construction of compressor facilities in two New Jersey counties.
Transco, the name of the company owned by Williams has 45 days to respond to the ruling and the firm responded this week to the court ruling by saying the court “erred.”
The company issued a statement, saying, “We are taking the necessary legal and regulatory steps to address the court’s concern and to ensure that this much-needed firm transportation capacity continues to be available to serve the needs of our customers without interruption.”
Transco called the REA a “critical project that meets existing and increasing natural gas demand.”
Click here for New Jersey Monitor