In response to the Williams company’s choice of a site on the grounds of Trap Rock Quarry in Kingston for the addition of a compressor station along an existing natural gas pipeline, residents of the area near the site attended a forum Monday night, February 27, to express their opposition to the proposal and hear from local environmentalists and lawmakers.

The Williams firm, which installed a natural gas pipeline in 2015 along the Princeton Ridge, is recommending to the Federal Environmental Regulatory Commission (FERC) that the site be used for the addition of 32 miles of extra pipeline with a 32,000 horsepower, gas-powered compressor station, at the quarry. The company plans to apply to FERC this month.

Some 300 people attended the forum at Sampson G. Smith School in Somerset, according to Carol Kuehn, a member of the steering committee for the Franklin Township Task Force on the compressor station. “The turnout was excellent,” she said Tuesday. “We had power point presentations and people learned about how to comment to FERC.”

Speakers from the New Jersey Sierra Club, New Jersey/New York Baykeeper, Food and Water Watch, and Rethink Energy NJ were among those taking part in the event. Representatives from the offices of Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, Senator Cory Booker, and Franklin Township officials were among those who offered opinions and advice.

Chief concerns have to do with safety, the environment, the effect on wildlife, and general quality of life. Noise and the possibility of accidents, especially regarding construction of a gas-fired compressor station in an area where the quarry is involved in active blasting, are also among residents’ worries.

But a Williams representative said the site is the more remote of the two that were under consideration, and is the furthest from residential areas. “FERC will do a complete environmental evaluation, looking at all the sites that are identified,” said Chris Stockton, Williams’ spokesman. “This is our preferred site. But if FERC comes back and says the environmental impacts are less in the other location, they can tell us they want us to switch.”

Mr. Stockton said Williams has been running an existing pipeline at Trap Rock for three decades. “We’ve safely operated for a very long time, and nothing is going to change,” he said. “In the FERC application, we’re doing a very, very extensive engineering study to measure where there would be any impact from blasting.”

Williams operates five compressor facilities in New Jersey and about 50 across the country. “We have a long history of operating those reliably,” Mr. Stockton said. “This is a significant investment we are making. Certainly we’re not going to do anything to put the facility or the safety of employees or people in the area at risk. We’ll be confident before we propose anything. We won’t put anything anywhere that is dangerous.”

The townships of Franklin, South Brunswick, and Montgomery have passed resolutions opposing the project. FERC makes the final decision as to whether or not the substation gets built. A pre-filing period for public comment ends on March 27, after which people can register for a period of time as intervenors.

In the meantime, a health forum is scheduled for March 18 at the Sampson G. Smith School, 1649 Amwell Road in Somerset. Pediatrician Dr. Curtis Nordgaard is scheduled to speak at the event about the health impacts of compressor stations.