A natural gas compressor station proposed for the southern end of the township would have no affect on water quality should an adjacent quarry be converted into a reservoir. That was the word from a representative of Williams-Transco, the company that wishes to build the 32,000-horsepower compressor station on 13 acres of an approximately 52-acre tract off Route 27, near the Trap Rock Quarry. Plans call for the quarry to cease operations by 2045, at which time the property would be turned over to New Jersey, the quarry filled with water and turned into a reservoir, and the adjacent land become a state park. Township Councilman Ted Chase (D-Ward 1) at a recent council session mentioned that during a meeting about the proposed compressor station, the future reservoir was discussed and concerns expressed about particulates in the compressor's emission contaminating the reservoir water, making it unusable for drinking. Transco spokesman Christopher Stockton said that won't happen. "To be clear, our operations would not impact the potential future redevelopment of the property, nor would the development effect our operations," Stockton said in an email. "The presence of the proposed compressor facility would not negatively affect water quality, even if the quarry was eventually turned into a reservoir," Stockton wrote. "We safely operate many similar facilities across the country, many of which are located in proximity to lakes, streams or other water bodies." Read more about the proposed compressor station here. "The regulatory and permitting process for interstate natural gas transmission compressor stations is robust, protecting the health and safety of the public living near compressor stations," he wrote. "Station 206 will be classified as a minor source of air emissions for permitting purposes and will feature state of the art emission control technology. This includes Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology, which is used to effectively limit emissions. In addition, federal new source performance standards require LDAR monitoring for new/modified emission sources to protect air quality." The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is in the process of creating a draft Environmental Impact Statement, which Stockton said should be completed sometime in early 2018. Once public comment is received on that, FERC will use that information, as well as comments from state and federal regulators, to complete a final EIS and decide whether to issue a permit for the compressor. The proposal to build the compressor has elicited opposition from residents of Franklin and South Brunswick, parts of which are near the targeted property. The opponents argue that the station will spew contaminants into the air, will create noise pollution and also question why the station is being constructed near the quarry, which is an active blasting site.
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