Pinelands Commission Nixes Pipeline in Upper Township

NEW LISBON – With a 7-7 vote at their Jan. 10 meeting, the Pinelands Commission failed to approve acceptance of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to construct a 22-mile natural gas pipeline from Maurice River Township to the B.L. England generating station in Beesley’s Point. The project would have provided an economic benefit to the area, according to local government and labor union officials, but drew the ire of conservationists and home rule supporters. In recent days, some had even raised the possibility of a connection between the pipeline and the “Bridgegate” scandal plaguing Gov. Chris Christie.
Many of those gathered in the crowded meeting room erupted into cheers when the vote was tallied. It isn’t clear whether the project can be revived.
Commissioners’ voting against the MOA were Robert Jackson, representing Cape May County; Candace McKee Ashmun, an original member of the commission since 1979; Leslie Ficcaglia, representing Cumberland County; Joseph DiBello, representing the U.S. Department of Interior; Commission Chairman Mark Lohbauer of Pennsauken; and Christie appointees Richard Prickett and D’Arcy Rohan Green.
DiBello noted he was concerned about a lack of transparency in the planning process, as well as the speed at which the plan was progressing. Ficcaglia noted that the pipeline was opposed by a bipartisan coalition of former governors: Democrats Brendan Byrne and Jim Florio, and Republicans Christie Todd Whitman and Thomas Kean. “The position of the four governors gave people confidence that they were doing the right thing,” said Jackson.
Throughout the pipeline approval process, Jackson expressed concerns about the BPU acting on behalf of South Jersey Gas, which it regulates. He also thought that other pipeline routes existed which would not disturb the Pinelands. “I’m hoping that South Jersey Gas will go back, find another route, and repower the [B.L. England] plant,” he said after the meeting.
“I’m really disappointed,” said Upper Township Mayor Richard Palombo. “This would’ve been good for the environment, good for jobs, good for liability, and good for Upper Township. I think they made the wrong decision.” Tax credits from the B.L. England plant account for approximately half of Upper Township’s total revenues. Because of repeated environmental violations and new regulations on coal-fired power plants, B.L. England may be forced to shut down if it cannot be repowered with natural gas.
Cape May County’s Conference of Mayors sent a resolution supporting the pipeline MOA to Governor Christie. They believe he has the authority to override the Pinelands Commission vote. Mayor Palombo had previously claimed that the pipeline would create 75 full-time jobs for nine months. Officials from the South Jersey Building & Construction Trades Council, who had said the pipeline would create 1000 jobs, were unavailable for comment.
Just days earlier, the Pinelands Commission seemed poised to green-light the MOA. At a meeting of the Commission’s Policy and Implementation Committee on January 6, the Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg presented a 42-page report which recommended approval of the MOA. The report summarized many of the pros and cons of the pipeline, and addressed some of the 2100 public comments received on the issue. Among the reports findings:
• There is precedent for a regulatory agency such as the BPU to act on behalf of a private company which it regulates
• The proposed route, mostly along Routes 49 and 50, would cause minimal disturbance to the Pinelands, and do less environmental damage than any other possible routes
• The $7.25 million to be paid by South Jersey Gas to the Pinelands Commission will protect 2000-3000 acres of land
• The pipeline would meet all state and federal safety regulations.
The full text of the Executive Director’s report is available on the Pinelands Commission’s website.
“This is a great victory for the Pinelands and the environment of the region. This is a victory for democracy over bullying, a victory for the Pinelands and more important, for the people. This is the biggest environmental victory under the Christie administration. The commissioners did not cave to polluters and special interests. Today the commissioners said the Pinelands are not for sale,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We are proud the commissioners did their job to protect the Pinelands region, its water supply, and its unique ecosystem from a polluting fossil fuel pipeline. Even with all the bullying and arm-twisting, protection of the environment prevailed.”
Carleton Montgomery, Executive Director, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, noted, “Before today, when a project got this far down through the approvals process they’ve always been approved. This is unprecedented.” He added that the question now is whether B.L. England’s owners want to spend the money to bring in natural gas by another route. According to Montgomery, pipeline routes outside the Pinelands would present permitting and technical issues, but are not completely unfeasible, just more expensive. “If it doesn’t violate the Pinelands management plan, we’re not going to oppose it,” he said.
Coming just two days after the release of e-mails showing that Christie administration officials had caused traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, allegedly in retaliation for the city’s mayor not endorsing Christie’s re-election, the case of Pinelands Commissioner Ed Lloyd took on new importance. Lloyd had been told by a deputy attorney general to recuse himself from meetings about the pipeline, because the State Ethics Commission had found a conflict of interest. Lloyd says he contacted the Pinelands Commission’s ethics officer, who told him that the order had come from the governor’s office. The New York Times spoke to Peter Tober, executive director of the State Ethics Commission, who claimed that his office had found no such conflict of interest, and that the order forcing Lloyd to recuse himself must have come from either the Attorney General or the Pinelands Commission.
At the start of the meeting, Chairman Lohbauer read a statement from Lloyd, which said that he still hadn’t been contacted by the State Ethics Commission and believed he should not have been recused. The point may be moot, however, as Lloyd’s expected “no” vote wouldn’t have changed the final decision.
Also in question is the involvement of David Samson, the former head of Christie’s transition team who was later appointed by the Governor to the Port Authority, which controls the George Washington Bridge. Samson’s law firm represents Rockland Capital, the Texas-based owner of the B.L. England plant. The Sierra Club pointed to published accounts of e-mails from Christie’s former deputy chief of staff which included the comment “Samson helping us to retaliate.”
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See County Conference of Mayors Endorse Pipeline: http://goo.gl/MhDLOf
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For the Herald’s previous coverage, go to:
– Over Objections, Board Supports Pipeline in Pines: http://goo.gl/krm2Rl
– Pipeline’s Advocates, Opponents Await Pinelands Commission January Vote: http://goo.gl/5CT4PS
– Pipeline Opponents: Not Enough Comment Time: http://goo.gl/MptkTS
– BPU Hears Comments from Public on Pinelands Pipeline: http://goo.gl/0DBq8g