Environment

Protestors gather outside the Senior/Community Center in 2018. (File photo.) Williams-Transco on May 20 won federal approval of its request for a two-year extension to bring to fruition the company’s planned Northeast Services Enhancement Project, which includes a gas compressor station in Franklin. Transco on March 19 applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a two-year extension on FERC’s …

A township Environmental Commissioner wants stricter enforcement of the state’s anti-idling laws at township warehouses. Commissioner Arnold Schmidt will write a recommendation to the Township Council, with the backing of his fellow Commissioners, asking that developers and owners of warehouses be required to install “No Idling” signs wherever trucks are located on the properties. A state law that’s been on …

Opponents of the Transco gas compressor station rally at the municipal complex in 2016. (File photo). Less than a year after its opponents were celebrating its demise, the controversial Williams-Transco Northeast Services Enhancement Project to increase its natural gas pipeline infrastructure has reared its head. Transco on March 19 applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a two-year extension …

Seven more recycling zones in the township have been added to Somerset County’s dual stream recycling program. The zones stretch from Amwell Road to Easton Avenue, and are bordered by DeMott Lane and John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Residents in those zones will be given two 65-gallon wheeled recycling totes; one is for cardboard and paper products, and one is for …

Members of the Environmental Commission said their concerns are not being heard by township officials. What started as a discussion about how the Environmental Commission could operate more efficiently soon evolved into an airing of Commission members’ grievances against the Township Council and Township Manager. Vornlocker declined to comment for this story. Commission members at their March 1 virtual meeting …

Claremont Road School’s electricity will soon be supplied via solar energy, thanks to a decision made February 25 by the Board of Education. The Board voted to approve an $813,501 contract for the solar installation to EZNERGY NJ of Brick. The solar panels will be installed on the school’s roof. Board member Ed Potosnak said the purchase will pay for …

The township Advisory Recreation Council discussed how township park usage could be measured. Responding to criticism leveled at a recent proposed park, the newly minted director of the township Parks & Recreation Department said he wants to come up with a better way to gauge township park use. Director William “Beau” Byrtus said at the February 10 virtual meeting of …

Princeton activist Eunice Wong speaks to the Environmental Commission during its February 1 virtual meeting. The Environmental Commission wants to know if Franklin residents support some type of ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. Commission members came to that decision during their February 1 virtual meeting, after hearing from a Princeton-based activist who is getting her town to act on a …

The use of gas-powered leaf blowers has become a hot topic in many communities across the country. (Photo: Franklin Township Environmental Commission.) The community is invited to join the township Environmental Commission for a virtual discussion about the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, set for 7 p.m. on February 1. The Commission has invited Eunice Wong, a well-known activist on …

A video still of the January 12 prescribed burn at the John Clyde Memorial Native Grasslands. There may be more prescribed burns in the future for the township’s preserved grassland sites. A January 12 burn at John Clyde Memorial Native Grasslands apparently went so well that the township’s Open Space Advisory Committee will recommend more. Prescribed burns are conducted for …