Pipeline Secrecy

Voice of the People, Dec. 10, 2013

Pinelands pipeline
shrouded in secrecy
The New Jersey Pinelands Commission has unveiled its approval for a gas pipeline cutting through the heart of its namesake, but did not release the factual basis for key assumptions prior to the sole public hearing on this controversial project, held Monday. Requests by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility were either denied or deferred until after the hearing.

The commission's memorandum of agreement to bring shale gas to the B.L. England Generation Station relies on a number of assumptions, such as air quality models, consumer demand patterns and absence of any impact on wetlands. But neither the commission nor the state Department of Environmental Protection posted any supporting documents.

How can the public constructively comment on a project resting on assumptions grounded in documents hidden from public view? The 1.1 million-acre pinelands is the largest open space left on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard. The public should have had time to study the facts underlying what now is a pig in a poke.

At a Dec. 4 meeting, four commissioners questioned the legal, technical and ethical basis for the MOA. They urged that the project be subjected to the much more stringent standard for a "waiver of strict compliance," including the demonstration of "a compelling public need" - a standard that the project could not likely meet
.
This deal undermining the very purpose of the Pinelands Act was pre-negotiated entirely behind closed doors. The fix was clearly in.
This move to shove this pipeline package through without meaningful public participation represents the antithesis of good government.
BILL WOLFE
Director
New Jersey Public Employees
for Environmental Responsibility

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/letters/voice-of-the-people-dec/article_004febe5-ab49-5804-8d86-3d56e776ecbe.html


Additional pipeline information at :
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2013/12/packed-court-at-pipeline-hearing.html

UPDATE
Cape May County's Freeholder board passed a resolution Tuesday night in support of the pipeline.
http://www.nbc40.net/story/24197535/cape-may-county-freeholders-approve-pinelands-pipeline-plan