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Contact: Tom Gilbert, tom@njconservation.org, (267) 261-7325

FEDS STALL PENNEAST PIPELINE,

APPLICATION AGAIN SUSPENDED
Second Delay Follows FERC Demanding Responses to Concerns from Multiple Agencies;
New Public Comment Period on Route Changes
Far Hills, NJ (November 8, 2016) Amid growing opposition from residents and key
government agencies, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today announced a
second delay in its schedule for reviewing the proposed PennEast pipeline. The date for
issuance of the final environmental impact statement was postponed to February 17, 2017 from
December 16, 2016.
FERC also sent the company a substantial request for 46 sets of new data and demanded 34
corrections to PennEasts application to build a 118-mile gas pipeline through New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. In several cases, FERC notes that PennEasts maps are outdated, incorrect, and
incomplete. In a letter dated November 4, FERC told PennEast it must comply with the request
within 20 days.
FERC also added a new 30-day public comment period for its Draft Environmental Impact Study
(DEIS) on PennEast due to numerous route changes proposed by PennEast after the close of
the DEIS comment period.
Growing opposition, delays, and major red flags from federal and state agencies show that this
ill-advised pipeline is certainly in jeopardy, said Tom Gilbert, campaign director, New Jersey
Conservation Foundation and ReThink Energy NJ. There is so little data on which to base
PennEasts application, FERC had no choice but to delay the review.
Opponents of the PennEast pipeline should take heart that FERC is responding to the
overwhelming opposition from the public and significant concerns raised by other agencies,
Gilbert added. Clearly, this project only serves the gas companies affiliated with PennEast,
which has been flat-out misleading to the public throughout its review process.
The New Jersey utilities that have signed contracts for gas through PennEast are PSE&G,
South Jersey Gas, New Jersey Natural Gas, and Elizabethtown Gas. Their owner companies
PSEG, South Jersey Industries, New Jersey Resources, and Southern Co. Gas, respectively
are also the owners of PennEast. The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel has said the project
would be unfair to consumers, and that FERC should not accept these self-dealing contracts
as evidence of need for the project.
Among the numerous requirements from FERC to PennEast is a request to examine various
alternative routes and for significant additional data and consultation previously requested by
federal and state agencies including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Its outrageous that FERC has not required PennEast to explore no build alternatives to avoid
significant harm to protected land, high-quality streams, wildlife, and wetlands, said Jim
Waltman, executive director, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. Ample evidence
exists from experts, including the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, that the PennEast
pipeline is not needed for future supply or demand for gas.
FERC still has not addressed the fact that the PennEast docket lacks the data to show that the
project is needed, said Jennifer Danis, senior staff lawyer, Eastern Environmental Law Center.
By failing to ask for additional information related to need, FERC continues to ignore the
requirements of both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Natural Gas Act. We have
asked FERC to hold an evidentiary hearing to analyze whether there is any need for the
pipeline. If there is no need, there should be no pipeline.
Shaken by strong criticism from federal and state regulators and facing ever-growing bipartisan
opposition to the pipeline, PennEast recently modified the pipeline route. The modifications
were filed after the initial comment period concluded for FERCs DEIS preventing public input
on the route changes.
The hastily proposed and ill-conceived modifications to the route dont come close to
addressing the irreparable damage that PennEast would cause, and in each case, the route
changes simply shift the impact from one place to another, Gilbert said. There is no acceptable
route for the unneeded PennEast pipeline.
The public now has another chance to voice its opposition. All concerned citizens not just
affected landowners, as FERC tries to imply should use this new comment period to continue
to point out the issues with the route changes and the lingering fundamental flaws with the DEIS
that still havent been addressed, continued Waltman. Unfortunately, 30 days is not nearly
enough time for a substantive review of such a massive project, but the outpouring of comments
we have seen is clearly working, said Waltman.
Last month, FERC also delayed its environmental review of the proposed Atlantic Sunrise
pipeline due to a similar dearth of significant data and following submission of route changes
after a public comment period.
About New Jersey Conservation Foundation
New Jersey Conservation Foundation is a private nonprofit that preserves land and natural
resources throughout New Jersey for the benefit of all. Since 1960, New Jersey Conservation
has protected 125,000 acres of open space - from the Highlands to the Pine Barrens to the
Delaware Bayshore, from farms to forests to urban and suburban parks. For more information
about the Foundation's programs and preserves, go to www.njconservation.org or call 1-888LAND-SAVE (1-888-526-3728).
About Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, a member-supported nonprofit conservation
organization, works to keep water clean, safe and healthy. Since 1949, the Watershed
Association has protected central New Jersey's water and natural environment through

conservation, advocacy, science and education. For more information about the Watershed and
its programs please visit www.thewatershed.org or call 609-737-3735.
About Eastern Environmental Law Center
The Eastern Environmental Law Center (EELC) advocates on behalf of organizations and
community groups to resolve environmental problems that threaten people, natural resources,
and communities throughout New Jersey and the surrounding region. EELC represents
national, state, and local citizen groups that generally cannot otherwise afford such
assistance. EELCs representation includes general client counseling to our 35+ clients and
advocacy to promote effective environmental and land use regulations, to restore, maintain, and
enhance the quality of water bodies, to protect communities from disparate impacts, and to
promote smart growth and energy choices.