ONLY 1 MORE DAY! Intervene and comment on the new docket!
 |
Show PennEast and FERC that we’re still here fighting! After losing their eminent domain court case against the State of New Jersey, PennEast has a new strategy. They want to begin building the pipeline in PA as Phase 1 and then use that to muscle through a Phase 2 project in NJ. We must STOP PennEast in PA now before it tries to get here! PennEast is hoping that NJ residents won’t pay close attention to this and so, once again, we need to get as many people as possible to file as intervenors to show them that we aren’t going away! Filing as an intervenor is also the best way to safeguard your legal standing in this matter. In addition to telling FERC this project impacts you, you can say: 1. Tell FERC that this latest PennEast application needs to be submitted as an entirely new project and not just an amendment. 2. Tell FERC that basic shipper information needs to be made public and not kept secret – as is ALWAYS the case! Remember, adult children, friends and relatives who are concerned about this project’s impacts (higher gas prices, threats to our water, etc.) can intervene. Instructions for how to file as an Intervenor on the FERC website for the new PennEast Docket CP20-47 can be found here. If you filed as an Intervenor on a previous docket, you can use the same account to file for this one. If you need assistance, let us know – we can help! Feel free to post on social media. |
| SEE HTCAPP’s Comment on the FERC Docket: Dear Chairman Chatterjee, Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline (HTCAPP), an organization comprised of thousands of citizens in Hopewell Township, New Jersey and the surrounding area, is writing to express our concerns regarding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) review of PennEast Pipeline Company’s, LLC (“PennEast”) proposed ‘amendments’ under Docket No. CP20-47-000 to the certificate of public convenience and necessity issued in January 2018 (FERC Docket No. CP 15-558-000). Given the completely new economic dynamics demonstrated by the recently divulged shipper information, FERC must conclude that the new amendments constitute an entirely new application. It is inherent upon FERC to use all tools at its disposal to determine whether there is legitimate public need for the project, and to be transparent with the provided information that determines its decision making process. It is clear from the recently released shipper information that there is no need-based justification for building Phase 1 of its pipeline in Pennsylvania, just as there is no need for the entire pipeline. PennEast grossly overbuilds gas capacity in New Jersey, putting New Jersey ratepayers on the hook for unneeded infrastructure for years to come. As we have already substantially communicated to FERC, there would be significant and irreversible long term negative impacts to the natural resources and communities within our region of NJ, including harms to preserved public lands such as Bald Pate Mountain, and our waterways. Hopewell Township’s Board of Health unanimously voted for a resolution opposing the pipeline after hearing expert testimony about the many health and safety implications to our citizens, and impacts to our at-risk water supply that feeds our wells. None of these issues have been addressed by PennEast. Many experts have written about threats to our single sole source aquifer from arsenic, diverted water flow, and stream damage. PennEast has yet to adequately respond to these concerns. Local realtors have agreed that hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost property values will be incurred by residents from the pipeline in this area. In particular, the residents of Blackwell Road, Shara Lane, and Beechwood Drive, would receive as “abutters” no compensation yet incur all of the risks and financial burden by bordering the large 2 1/2 acre polluting end station of PennEast – the single highest pressure pipeline in the state of NJ. It is imperative that the public, as well as FERC have full opportunity to evaluate the need for both Phase One and Phase Two of the proposed project. Clear public need for a project must always be determined before eminent domain is conferred to a private company to take private and preserved lands, communities are threatened, and ratepayers are put at risk for costly, unneeded infrastructure. Previously, FERC has relied on self-dealing contracts between the owners of PennEast and their affiliates as a foundation for finding market need. HTCAPP has previously objected and again reiterates that FERC cannot solely accept precedent contracts as evidence of project need, nor simply assess a private shippers’ ability to profit as satisfying FERC’s mandate to consider the public interest. Review of Penneast’s proposed Phase One and Phase Two ‘amendments’ without a complete reassessment of need as a new application is a further abuse of the public trust to which FERC is obligated. Furthermore, given the new connection to major PennEast partner New Jersey Resources’ Adelphia Gateway Project, PennEast and Adelphia should now be considered by FERC as part of the same interconnected project. Looking at them separately without an analysis of their cumulative impacts, including upstream and downstream climate impacts, would be illegal segmentation. This is yet one more reason why PennEast’s recent ‘amendments’ constitute an entirely new application. In order to ensure compliance with the Natural Gas Act and the National Environmental Policy Act requirements for a regional analysis of need, FERC needs to begin an entirely new application. HTAPP makes this request with respect for the mission and responsibilities of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and look forward to a timely response. Sincerely, Patty Cronheim Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline |
(HTCAPP) Hopewell Township Citizens Against the PennEast Pipeline 