Sierra Club Sues, Hopes to Stop Pipeline; Utility Views Action as Project Delay

NEW LISBON – The Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit against the Pinelands Commission, the latest move in a long fight to keep a 22-mile pipeline out of the protected pinelands.
The environmental organization wants to overturn a February vote that cleared the way for the South Jersey Gas pipeline proposal, which would primarily provide natural gas to the B.L England electric generating station in Beesley’s Point, and provide gas service to some customers.
The power plant operates on coal and oil and is under a mandate to either stop using coal or cease operating.
The gas utility company calls the pipeline plan the Cape-Atlantic Reliability Project.
The environmentalists who have rallied against the plan see it as a terrible idea.
Sierra Club members argue that if constructed the planned pipeline will harm the land and water and have been fighting the project for years, including in a court case that led to a fresh commission vote on the matter in February.
At that time, a divided board approved the pipeline in front of a raucous and angry crowd. In the most recent suit, the Sierra Club argues that the decision violated the Pinelands rules because, they allege, such projects can be approved only if they primarily serve the pinelands.
“We are going to court to do the job the Pinelands Commission is supposed to do, which is to protect the pinelands. The Pinelands Commission has sold out the pinelands and the environment by approving the South Jersey Gas pipeline.
“We are filing this lawsuit because the pipeline clearly violates the Comprehensive Management Plan and the Pinelands Act. We are doing this to protect the pinelands from this damaging and unnecessary pipeline because it violates the commission’s own rules.
“This pipeline will cause irreparable harm to our forests, threaten biodiversity, and cut an ugly scar through the pinelands,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The reason the commission had this vote is because we sued them once and won. When the court remanded approval back to the commission, the commission’s process was a sham, and they used alternative facts to justify the unjustifiable.”
The project has the support of many local elected officials including the Board of Chosen Freeholders and Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st). According to the utility, it will mean jobs and more reliable service. 
Utility’s Statement
“Regarding the recent lawsuit, unfortunately, it only serves to delay the project from moving forward and interferes with the dependability that customers deserve,” according to a statement from Barbara Del Duke, the general manager at South Jersey Gas.
“The Pinelands Commission’s approval of the Cape-Atlantic Reliability Project recognizes the energy reliability challenges facing southern New Jersey and the balanced solution this project offers.
“Their decision also recognized its Comprehensive Management Plans’ allowance of energy infrastructure since 1980.
“South Jersey Gas has operated infrastructure responsibly throughout the pinelands for decades. This project is no different.”
Opposing Views
In a lengthy prepared statement, he called the Pineland’s Commission decision a betrayal.
“This pipeline is not only bad for the environment and will undo a successful growth management plan; it’s dangerous and unneeded. The South Jersey Gas pipeline will create irreversible harm to wetlands, streams and threaten one of the largest sources of fresh drinking water on the East Coast,” he stated.
Duke argued that the pipeline would mean cleaner energy.
“The careful construction of this pipeline will address the energy demands of 142,000 customers in Cape May and Atlantic counties, protect and create jobs, and provide a meaningful opportunity to significantly reduce air emissions while supporting the state’s Energy Master Plan,” she wrote.
“It will also enable the B.L. England facility to use cleaner, more efficient natural gas to generate locally sourced, lower-cost electricity for residents.”
Other Litigation
According to Tittel, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance has already filed its own lawsuit.