By Linda Powell, Somerset. As a concerned Franklin Township resident, I need to bring up an important public health and safety issue: The proposed Williams-Transco Compressor Station and Pipeline Expansion and to explain my support for Joe Danielsen for Assembly in District 17. Many Franklin residents already know that Williams-Transco wants to add a 32,000-horsepower gas powered gas compressor station off Route 27 in Franklin Township near South Brunswick and add pipeline extensions through neighborhoods and near schools in Sayreville and Old Bridge and 23.49 miles under Raritan Bay threatening marine wildlife, recreation and the fishing industry. The site of the proposed compressor station is in a wooded area near an active dynamite blasting quarry, a Superfund site, in a residential area with low water pressure and no functioning fire hydrants, near many places of worship and schools, and NJ’s second-largest aquifer. The gas, mainly from fracking wells in Pennsylvania, goes through pipelines in Mercer, Somerset and Middlesex Counties built in the 1950s and 1960s. The increased speed of gas coming out of compressor stations causes an increase in temperature which drastically increases the rate of corrosion in old pipelines and welds, which has led to explosions (e.g. PA April 2016). Pollution and health problems are caused by the leaks and exhaust from compressor stations and pipelines which contain methane, carcinogens and other toxic chemicals. Assemblyman Joe Danielsen has been working with us from the beginning to stop this project. Joe has been working with town councils and Middlesex and Somerset County freeholders to oppose this unsafe project. Joe has been actively supporting us in our efforts to oppose this project and to protect our health and safety. I support Joe Danielsen for Assembly in the 17th District. Linda Powell is a steering committee member of the Franklin Township Task Force on the Compressor Station and Pipeline Expansion.
The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
