Local activists keeping an eye on plans for the 42-inch pipeline project that would run through the Princeton Ridge have 30 days to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent approval of the project. FERC announced last week that it was giving the go-ahead to Williams Transcontinental, or Transco, to begin construction.

While FERC’s decision allows Transco to proceed with its plans, citizens have a month to file for a re-hearing. “We were expecting the decision,” said Barbara Blumenthal, president of the citizens’ group known as the Princeton Ridge Coalition. “Now we’ll review it and see whether the conditions they have required of Williams match the promises that were made to us during our negotiations. Then we can decide on what action to take next.”

While the announcement of FERC’s approval was not unexpected, it provoked strong responses from environmentalists. Known as the Leidy Southeast Expansion Project, the portion affecting Princeton and Montgomery would add a second line to run natural gas through an area that contains bedrock, boulders, and environmentally sensitive wetlands. A line that was installed there in the 1950’s is no longer capable of handling increased production, Transco has said.

FERC has stated that the project will not significantly impact the surrounding community. Environmentalists differ, saying that it fails to evaluate the cumulative impact in favor of looking at each loop of the project separately.

“FERC has rubber-stamped another pipeline. This pipeline is being cut through New Jersey to serve utility companies in the South,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, in a written statement. “This pipeline has nothing to do with bringing gas to people in New Jersey. We do not need the gas and we do not need the pipeline. Once again FERC ignores the environment and public health and safety. This project will carry polluting fossil fuels through environmentally sensitive areas and across public lands and should have been rejected. For far too long FERC has been on the side of the companies it is supposed to regulate rather than the people they are supposed to work for, us.”К

In a statement last week, Transco said, “This federal authorization is a major milestone for the project and the culmination of a tremendous collaborative effort more than two years in the making. We appreciate the efforts of all of those who participated in this process. Once in service next winter, the Leidy Southeast project will provide additional natural gas supplies to local distribution companies and power generators all along the East Coast, bolstering supply reliability and contributing toward stabilization of the prices consumers pay for energy.”

According to Kate Millsaps, the New Jersey Sierra Club’s conservation program coordinator, “This dirty infrastructure will cause irreparable harm here at home in the Princeton Ridge, Sourland Mountains, and other protected and environmentally sensitive areas. FERC is not only ignoring and writing off these impacts, but also the damage this project will have on the region by allowing fracking operations to move more gas to market and increase production. As a result of this pipeline, the communities the infrastructure runs through and those near drill sites will see more air and water pollution.”

Since the project was first proposed nearly two years ago, residents have been meeting with Transco to air concerns about safety and the effect on the environment. About 30 miles of new pipeline will be installed through Mercer, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey, and in two counties in Pennsylvania. The Skillman Loop, approximately 6.36 miles long, is the one affecting the Princeton Ridge.

This past September, Coalition members and Princeton engineer Bob Kiser met with Transco about revising the construction plan due to safety concerns. Last month, Princeton Council passed a resolution extending work hours for building the pipeline so Transco can turn off gas to the existing line before doing the necessary work to make room for construction equipment.

On Monday of this week, Princeton Ridge Coalition members Rob Goldston and Jean Grossman were interviewed by Joan Goldstein of the TV30 show “Back Story,” which will be aired Wednesday, December 31 at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 4 at 5:30 p.m.