Dream home is nearing completion – but so is the PennEast proposal

Henry from Stockton, NJ is just a few weeks away from completing his dream home in Delaware Township. Unfortunately his dream is located fairly close to both the original and proposed pipeline routes.

I am weeks away &om completing my dream home on a piece of property located close the the proposed route of the PennEast pipeline project. My property is between the original route and the proposed alternate route of the pipeline. My property is located at Block 19 Lot 24 in Delaware Township, NJ.

One reason we decided to build here is that almost the entire immediate area surrounding my home are properties in Farmland Preservation. We enjoy the rural character of the area and would not like to see it marred by a new pipeline right of way. I feel our community was directly targeted because so many properties are in preservation.

I do have some concerns about what could happen to my home and family as well as my drinking water well. I believe the public need for this project has been greatly overstated by PennEast since New Jersey, where the pipeline will terminate, already enjoys the low’est residential natural gas prices in the region. The corporation “needs” the pipeline for profits, not for the benefit of the citizens in the area. I also find it very ironic that residential gas delivery will not even be offered to the very communities that will have to be traversed by the pipeline.

There is a very sad and deep irony buried in Henry’s story. If you google his block and lot information in Delaware Township you’ll land on the minutes of a Delaware Township municipal meeting that took place several years ago. The topic was variances they needed from the town and the NJ DEP to install their septic system. They noted that it took two years to complete the NJ DEP approval process.

Think about that for a moment. An individual trying to get a septic system installed on their lot needs to go through a lengthy process that takes years to get environmental approval for. For just one house. Meanwhile PennEast says that the entire pipeline process will be done in the same amount of time!

What kind of planet do we live on that approving an individual septic system takes two years but approving a pipeline sails through the system?

Henry also shares his eye-witness account of the 36″ gas pipeline explosion in Edison, NJ in the 90s. One part talks about why it took hours to get the pipeline gas flow turned off:

The valves on this pipeline normally operate in power assist mode, in which the gas pressure powers a small motor that opens and closes the valve. Normally, it is a seven- to 10-minute procedure. This night the rupture had reduced pressure in the line such that the valve would not automatically turn. However, even if there had been sufficient pressure, firefighters were concerned that the natural gas vented off from this valve during the automatic valve-closing procedure would be ignited by the intense heat from the fireball.

South Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department and TETCO employees had to close the valve manually. The firefighters, in four- or five-member shifts, took turns on the four-foot-diameter hand-wheel, moving it six to eight inches at a pull against the flow of gas through the line. The heat was such that the reflective material on their turnouts burned away and the bottoms of their fire boots melted. It took 752 turns and 2 1/2 hours to close the valve.

Henry’s submission is available below.

Henry’s submission – FERC Generated PDF

Henry’s submission – FERC Generated PDF Alternate site

Easement realities

Richard, Anthony, and Beverly of Delaware Township have a conservation easement on their farm, a very common thing in Hunterdon County. I like to read our town Open Spaces Committee minutes (they’re available online!) to see how the conservation process works, and to see what properties are being considered in my town.

One aspect of the process I forgot about is that you owners can ask for exception areas. These are exceptions to the conservation easements so the families can have some limited development rights. They’re usually very well defined and for a very specific reason.

This trio points out how these exceptions can make a bad situation even worse when the Pipeline company comes knocking on your door.

Four generations of the Danese family have worked the land for nearly a hundred years in Delaware Township, New jersey. Our 67-acre farm (Block 32, Lots 32 & 32.01,Delaware Township) has served as the center of our family’s history, life, and livelihood in this portion of Hunterdon County.

In recognition of the very special place that our farm occupies in our family’s heart, we agreed to preserve our farm in 2009, and accept the restrictions that farmland preservation places on landowners. Our farm was preserved with State, County, Municipal, and Federal funding through the Federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. We thought that we had preserved our land in perpetuity and that one of the parties to that agreement was the government of the United States of America.

Now we have been contacted by the PennEast Pipeline Company LLC, who tells us that they wish to run a high pressure, 36-inch gas pipeline across our preserved farm. What is worse, we fear that this pipeline will bisect a small area that we had exempted from the preservation as a non-severable exception area, to serve as a building envelope in the event that any of the future generations of our family wished to establish a home on that site. A high-pressure gas pipeline running through the non-severable exception area would make our building envelope useless as an area to build a home, and would destroy the remaining value of our preserved
property.

The Danese family has proved our willingness to abide by the restrictions imposed on our property by the preservation easement in order to preserve our farm for future generations. We are both shocked and saddened that the Federal government, our partner in land preservation, would even think of allowing a high pressure gas pipeline to cross our Federally preserved property and abrogate the agreement that we thought would be in effect in perpetuity.

Their filing is available below:

Richard, Anthony, and Beverly’s filing – FERC Generated PDF

Richard, Anthony, and Beverly’s filing – FERC Generated PDF Alternate Site

Environmental and conservation regulations ignored by FERC and pipeline companies

I heard Mark Gallagher speak at the Hunterdon County FERC scoping meeting. He’s a VP with a firm called Princeton Hydro that’s dedicated to environmentally-sound engineering projects. His statements focused on reminding the FERC of the rules and regulations in this state, and rather pointedly showed some instances where FERC has been ignoring the rules.

His full submission to the FERC is available here:

Princeton Hydro statement – FERC Genereated PDF

Princeton Hydro statement – FERC Genereated PDF Alternate Site

I think the best part of this submission is near the end, where he states: “Difficulty in the application of the trenchless methods due to constraints such as lack of area or slope should not be used as the basis for an argument to use more invasive measures since these constraints should be viewed as self-induced since Penneast selected the route”.

In other words, Penneast can’t say “Aww, doing it the right way is too hard!”.

My comments are primarily related to the need for the FERC and PennEast to understand the regulatory requirements associated with the proposed pipeline route. From a regulatory perspective, Penneast could not have selected a more onerous pipeline route based on the environmental sensitivity of the area and the number of special protection waters that this pipeline would impact. However, based on other pipeline projects that have been granted findings of no-significant-impact by FERC it is unclear whether either FERC or Penneast has taken any relevant Federal regulations into account when planning this pipeline.

He goes on to talk about past pipelines that FERC approved – and which were found to be sorely lacking.

Previous pipeline applications including Transco’s Leidy Southeast Expansion Project have overlooked various Federal requirements during the scoping and NEPA proecess. After review of Transco’s current application to the NJDEP it is readily apparent that compliance with the Clean Water Act was not take seriously. As indicated above, New Jerseey has assumed jurisdiction of section 440 of the Clean Water Act and as such must implement this regulation as restrictively as the Army Corps of Engineers. However, whether it be a result of ignorance or arrogance the Federal regulations have not been fully applied in previous pipeline applications.

He goes on to illustrate the many issues along the route and what PennEast must do to to conform to regulations:

The route of the Penneast pipeline has shown little to no consideration for either antidegredation streams or the preserved lands along the route. Nonetheless Penneast must show compliance with section 40CFR230.10 of the Clean Water Act.

Section CFR40 230.75 describes the need to address the minimization of adverse effects on populations of plants and animals. […] Compliance with this section of 404(b) guidelines is extremely important with regard to the Penneast pipeline since the route crosses endangered habitat and antidegredation streams. Penneast must illustrate compliance with this section of the Clean Water Act as part of its need to obtain an Individual Frewshwater Wetland Permit from the DEP.

He goes on to illustrate what methods PennEast must use to stay in compliance with the various sections of the Clean Water Act:

In order to protect the sensitive aquatic resources of New Jersey, Penneast should seek full compliance with section 404 of the Clean Water Act and New Jersey antidegredation standards by by using trenchless crossing methods for, at a minimum, all sensitive waterways that are associated with Category 1 waters and endangered species habitat. The 404(b)(1) Guidelines require an alternatives analysis which addresses how impacts to waters and wetlands (waters of the United States) have been avoided or minimized. The alternatives analysis should address practicable alternatives to the discharge of dredged and fill material for each individual crossing of a wetland and/or waterbody. The proposed method of crossing should not be simply based on convenience but rather focus on the most ecologically sensitive alternatives in order to fully comply with New Jersey and Federal Regulations. Difficulty in the application of the trenchless methods due to constraints such as lack of area or slope should not be used as the basis for an argument to use more invasive measures since these constraints should be viewed as self-induced since Penneast selected the route.

In the end he takes FERC to task again, basically saying that if FERC were not involved this would be a whole other process – one much harder on PennEast, and they would have almost certainly chosen another route (or chosen not to play this game to begin with).

In conclusion if Penneast viewed this project as a typical applicant [to the NJ DEP], not one supported by FERC, and took even a little bit of time to understand the project regulatory constraints they may have more seriously considered the value of an alternative route that would have avoided the numerous antidegradation streams and other environmentally sensitive areas that they are proposing to impact.

Indeed. If this pipeline didn’t cross the Delaware this would be an NJ-only issue, and the proposition would have been dead in the water from day one. It’s only due to the FERC ignoring environmental regulations that we’re in this mess.

Pipelines criss-crossing the landscape

Maria from Wyoming, PA writes to the FERC to remind us that this isn’t about just one pipeline. There are many that have already been built, many more proposed, and some already approved. We may soon all face with what she already lives with in Luzerne County.

I am currently surrounded by the expanding gas industry infrastructure that has invaded my township and has disrupted the enjoyment of my property and the surrounding natural and scenic areas. UGIES already has a large high pressure Auburn II pipeline in close proximity to my home as well as a high pressure pipeline
interconnect, they wish to call a gate station. None of this current infrastructure built by UGI has benefited the residents of the area, and in fact thousands of residents including myself, do not even have natural gas service available. UGI has stated there are no plans for expanding local service from these facilities or any of its proposed future pipeline projects in my area. In addition, the Williams Transco pipeline is a few hundred feet from my home.

I have great concerns over the cumulative effect of all of these pipeline projects on the air quality and the threat of a lethal explosion looms over my home. The area I live in is not a remote desolate area as UGIES would like FERC to believe. I live in an R-1 zone which stands for residential, not remote. I have watched the destruction of wetlands around my home as these pipeline projects have cut through them, as well as increased erosion and water runoff problems on the mountainous terrain where I live. I fear more irreparable damage will be done by yet another pipeline adjacent to the existing ones in my area.

I have seen on my own personal property, the lack of competence when UGI simply needed to provide a new electrical service line underground to my home. They did not evaluate the situation and the environmental issues for this small project by comparison, and caused my home to be flooded and property to be damaged, by not providing proper drainage and releasing an underground water source into my home. In addition, to this present day they never performed any proper restoration to my property. Using this experience as a reference, how can I possibly believe that UGIES will have the ethics and competence to handle such a huge undertaking as the PennEast pipeline? They simply will not.

In considering the scope of this proposed project, I urge FERC to consider the environmental impact and damage in a cumulative way. This is one of several existing and proposed pipelines to invade the area. The track record has been poor so far from what I have seen. I am living with it in my back yard and speak from personal experience. I also fear for the Susquehanna River Levee system as this pipeline project proposes tunneling in close proximity to it and under the river itself. The history of flooding in the Wyoming Valley is widely documented and this levee system is the greatest form of protection.

In conclusion, I sincerely hope that FERC can truly look at this project with objective and impartial eyes, despite the fact that your agency is funded by fees paid to you by the gas Companies themselves, such as UGI. Please protect the citizens of Luzerne County PA as well as all the citizens along this proposed PennEast pipeline route

You can read her submission below:

Maris’ submission – FERC Generated PDF

Maris’ submission – FERC Generated PDF Alternate Site

More on PennEast trespassers

Brian’s FERC submission mentions trespass:

Also to address the continued trespassing of PennEast employees on private land, and the implications of allowing trespassers to continue violating landowners’ no trespassing notices, as well as FERC’s implicit approval of such trespassing by it’s acceptance of surveys that were obtained illegally.

PennEast Trespassers!
PennEast Trespassers – Alt Site!

Nora writes about trespassing:

3) Question 32 asks “When they come to get permission for signing the survey permission, what are their tactics that they use?” PennEast replies “If they are not able to reach the property owner by telephone, land agents will attempt to introduce themselves in person and will carry appropriate identification. If no one is home, they will leave contact information at the door.” My response to this is “We have posted No Trespassing signs all over our property. What gives PennEast agents the right to trespass on my property? Because of the rich wildlife that inhabits are property hunters and poachers illegally come onto our property. No one, unless invited, can trespass on our property!!!!

PennEast Trespassers!
PennEast Trespassers Alt Site!

Stephanie writes about trespassing:

PennEast workers are wrongfully trespassing to make their plans, and are extorting the use of Emanate Domain against people who have little time, little money to properly deal with it.

PennEast Trespassers!
PennEast Trespassers Alt Site!

Deborah King writes about PennEast trespassers:

PE representatives have already seriously compromised their credibility. They have cancelled meetings with communities because they cannot address the legitimate concerns raised by residents. Despite PE’s promises, they have yet to answer questions posed at the DE Twp September 29 meeting. They have used bogus math to exaggerate the tax benefits that communities would receive. And have misled residents about our rights and trespassed on my property.

PennEast Trespassers!

PennEast Trespassers Alt Site!

Illegal trespass

I think from context that Mark and Maureen from Frenchtown are related to the college student who’s submission I highlighted in a prior post, possibly parents?

They have a whole lot of issues with PennEast, the proposed route, and the conduct of the PennEast representatives:

Our family Supports under no uncertain terms the NO BUILD option for health, environmental and economic reasons. This proposed pipeline will sever our working family farm in half and will run the full width of our farm property and pass within 200 feet of our home and well.

Our concerns include and are not limited to:

1)Blasting could facilitate contamination of our well water with arsenic, radon and other toxins. This affects not only human drinking water consumption but our farm animal water consumption; in addition, contaminating our bathing water and watering of our organic vegetable and flower gardens.

2)Our home and farm animal barns are within the blast zone.

3)The pipeline path is positioned to follow our farm field drainage route causing re-direction of this natural storm water/snow melt run off, in addition, crossing cultivated prime agricultural soils. These soils are highly erodible and shallow.

4)This pipeline corridor encompasses very steep (greater than 45 %) ledge, crosses over Nishisakawick Creek (bedrock stream bed) and adjacent wetlands to the creek; in addition this pipeline will cross another small tributary to the Nishisakawick Creek that feeds our pond used for swimming, fishing, (large established plant, amphibian and water fowl populations located here)

5)This pipeline will cross historic original route 12 severely compromising existing macadam roadbed.

6)A centuries old, landmark to the farm, oak tree will be taken down to accommodate this pipeline.

7)Within close proximately to the proposed route is a nesting osprey and endangered bats.

8)Our intention was to preserve our farm; this will be impossible if this pipeline goes through. Sale of our farm in the future will be difficult at best and the value of the property will dramatically be compromised.

9)Lastly, we want PennEast and the public to know that our property was surveyed in multiple locations without permission, a state police report was filed, image of a trespasser was captured on trail cam, a metal surveyor box was left on our property (coincidentally under that old oak tree) and survey tape was removed.

In addition to our personal concerns we support all concerns of our neighbors and local New Jersey community officials and neighbors- degradation/devastation to this Delaware River Valley- our water resources and lands, scarring of our treasured open land that locals and visitors enjoy, the conflict of interest in the official studies/surveys to determine the viability of this project, countless stories of trespass, the lack of fair compensation to land owners if this project moves forward to address on-going land use and potential damage to water quality, the unwillingness of PennEast to explore first the option of using existing approved pipeline and power line easement routes, and THE DANGER to humans wild and plant life.

I’ve seen a number of reports of PennEast reps trespassing on people’s lands. They can’t be doing this by accident – there are literally an order of magnitude more “POSTED – NO TRESPASSING” signs in Hunterdon county then there are stop signs.

Their submission is below:

Mark and Maureen’s submission – FERC Generated PDF

Mark and Maureen’s submission – FERC Generated PDF Alternate Site