The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Local officials denounced the state Department of Environmental Protection November 7 for its approval of water permit applications needed for the Williams-Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement project.
The officials also criticized the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s approval of a similar permit application on the same day.
The permits approved by the NJ DEP include a Coastal Wetlands Permit, a Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit, and a Water Quality Certificate.
Pending in New Jersey are air quality permit applications.
The NESE project is designed to bring natural gas from Pennsylvania, through New Jersey and into New York. The project includes a 32,000-horsepower, natural gas-powered twin-turbine compressor station on a 52-acre tract in Little Rocky Hill, near Route 518.
The compressor station is needed to move the natural gas along on its journey.
Township Councilmember Ed Potosnak, who is also the Executive Director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, called the permit approvals a “coordinated one-two punch.”
“I am dismayed but more determined than ever to keep up our fight to protect our community from this unneeded and dangerous proposed project,” he said in a statement.
“New Jersey’s decision to follow New York and approve permits for the unnecessary and dangerous NESE pipeline is deeply disappointing and tone-deaf—especially just days after voters across the state reaffirmed their strong support for protecting our environment and rejecting the Trump-era agenda that favors big oil CEOs profits over people and the planet,” Potosnak said in the statement.
“The New Jersey DEP already determined in 2020 that this project failed to meet the state’s environmental standards—nothing has changed since then, this is all playing misguided politics which is driving up energy costs Governor Murphy must stand with New Jersey families, not fossil fuel CEOs, and once again deny the air permits for this unnecessary, expensive, and harmful pipeline,” Potosnak said. “Our future depends on a bold commitment to clean, renewable energy—not another giveaway to the fossil fuel industry.”
Mayor Phil Kramer said he was “gravely disappointed by the decision of New York and New Jersey to approve the water quality permit for the NESE project.”
“This project brings clear risks and no meaningful benefit to the residents of Franklin Township,” he said in a statement. “It threatens our environment, our safety, and the quality of life we work so hard to protect.”
“We shall continue to fight this project because we are right—and because there is no other choice,” Kramer said in the statement. “Our duty is to protect our community, our waterways, and our future.”
In a press release about the approvals, Chad Zamarin, president and CEO of Williams, said, “We’re proud to move NESE forward and do our part in providing New Yorkers access to clean, reliable and affordable natural gas.”
“This project reflects our commitment to deliver clean and reliable energy, while lowering energy costs and supporting economic growth and environmental stewardship,” he said in the statement.
“There is increasing recognition that energy affordability directly impacts everyday affordability,” Zamarin said in the release. “Natural gas is one of our nation’s lowest-cost resources, with U.S.
natural gas produced at a cost equivalent to less than 50 cents per gallon of gasoline. Expanding natural gas infrastructure is vital to lowering costs and increasing economic opportunity, and the NESE” project is “important to connecting energy to opportunity in the Northeast.”
Advocates fighting the proposal thought they had it beat in April 2024 when Williams – after being denied necessary permits by the NY DEC and NJ DEP– walked away from the project.
But in May, buoyed by two Executive Orders issued by Pres. Donald Trump it believed favored natural gas infrastructure, and a reported deal between Trump and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Williams asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency to reinstate the agency’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the project.
The state DEP is holding a virtual public hearing on the air permit application from 5:30-9:30 p.m. on November 13. The Microsoft Teams meeting link and dial-in phone number will be posted one day before the public hearing at the Air Quality Permitting website, https://dep.nj.gov/boss/public notices/. If you do not have access to a computer to complete the registration form, call 609-292-6722.
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