Angry and afraid, Pinelands pipeline critics look to courts

For nearly three hours Wednesday morning, a steady parade of opponents pilloried plans for a natural gas pipeline in the Pinelands, criticizing it as unnecessary, short-sighted and dangerous.

But there's also an understanding within the environmental community that the Pinelands Commission, which was hosting the public comment session in Toms River, is unlikely to side with them.

"It's a set-up, it's a sham," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

For more on what people were saying, watch the video above.

The commission's approval is the last regulatory hurdle for New Jersey Natural Gas' Southern Reliability Link and these commissioners already approved an even more controversial pipeline proposal earlier this year.

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Much like the Cape Atlantic Reliability Project, it's likely that this pipeline is re-routed through the legal system before any dirt is moved.

"I think so," said Carleton Montgomery, executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, when asked if the SRL is likely to end up in court.

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A quick refresher on the Southern Reliability Link:

• A 30-inch wide, 30-mile long natural gas pipeline from Chesterfield to Lakehurst, passing through New Jersey's green heart: the Pinelands
• The pipeline would be mostly built under existing roadways
• The company claims the pipeline will provide reliability for 1 million homes in Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties as well as the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
• The New Jersey Bureau of Public Utilities and the state Department of Environmental protection have both signed off on the project
• The project will likely be paid for NJNG ratepayers, although how that exactly manifests is not yet clear

Arguments against

To secure permission from the Pinelands Commission, developers are supposed to demonstrate the direct benefit to the preserve and to its people or to the Joint Base.

Opponents say they've failed to meet that bar.

"In fact, the pipeline serves no public purpose at all," Montgomery said. "It's motivated solely by anachronistic state laws that provide the means for the utility to increase its profit — (by building) more infrastructure for which it gets compensation from ratepayers."

Others expressed more instinctive fears.

In 2010, a natural gas transmission line exploded in San Bruno, California, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes, noted John Fullmer, a homeowner in North Hanover, just off the SRL's route.

"The explosion created a crater 167 feet in length and 26 feet wide," Fullmer told the commissioners. "That is what you're bringing to the Pinelands."

Arguments for

A second connection to the interstate natural gas network at the southern end of NJNG's system will help guarantee uninterrupted service for customers in Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties, according to previous statements from the Wall-based company.

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There were other supporters in attendance.

Representatives of the Laborers Union, the IBEW and the Pipefitters were all in the bleachers, some needling speakers by saying "time's up" when their three minutes to address the commission had expired.

About 200 New Jersey members of the Laborers Union could contribute their skills to this project, Ciro Scalera, lobbyist for New Jersey Laborers’ Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust, told the Asbury Park Press.

Scalera said trusted government regulators had reviewed and approved the project, so it was time to move forward.

"We're not against wind or solar." he said. "Our position is all forms of energy are important and we shouldn't reject pipelines summarily."

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com