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In Your Opinion: Transco Compressor Property Could Be Expanded

By Lynn Collins.

Compressor Station 206 is proposed to be built on a 52-acre site with additional land to build an access road.  The company, Williams-Transco, noted that they needed at least 10 acres when they looked for a site for this part of their Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project.

They also wrote that they have no plans to expand this facility.  A similar statement was made for their other projects that included compressor stations, and expansions actually occurred within a few years at many sites.  A list of some other expansions of compressor stations by Williams-Transco can be found below.  This list is just a sampling.

Most recently (October 2017), Williams-Transco had an “invitation only” meeting in Roseland, where they announced plans to seek approval from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand their Compressor Station 303 there.  See http://www.roselandnj.org/newslist.php.  This compressor station was originally put into service in 2013.  It was uprated with additional horsepower in 2016.

Also of note, this company purchased a 50-plus-acre lot adjacent to their Compressor Station 207 in Old Bridge in 2016.  This compressor station was first operational in 2007 with a 10,000 horsepower electric unit, and it was expanded once around 2013 to add 5,400 horsepower.  Williams-Transco is currently expanding it again to add another 11,000 horsepower unit. (see list below).  At this time, there are no announced plans for expansion or other facilities there, but paying more than $6 million for this new land makes one wonder what their plans are for this large lot.

There is no reason to believe that Williams-Transco would not eventually add more compressor turbines in Franklin Township if Compressor Station 206 is built, since they would certainly have room for expansion.  We need to pay attention!  This would mean more toxic pollution, methane leakages that contribute to ozone and smog, and increased danger of fire or explosions as more and more natural gas is pushed through aging pipelines.

Most in NJ favor a transition to renewable energy and not a continuation of reliance on dirty fossil fuels.  I intend to call our new Governor and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to let them know that we can do better than this.

 

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