We are several communities in New Jersey working together to halt the Williams NESE fracked gas Pipeline.

GOAL: Join us in stopping Williams/Transco’s proposed fracked gas pipeline called the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) that would require Compressor Station 206 and pipeline in Old Bridge/Sayreville and under Raritan Bay that threatens our communities, the environment, and efforts to address risks from climate change in NJ and NY.

Basic Info: Williams Co. is proposing to build a fracked gas transmission pipeline pipeline that will carry fracked gas from Pennsylvania, through New Jersey, the Raritan Bay and New York harbor.

ACTION!

Send comments to the NJ DEP (Department of Environmental Protection)

WHY: There are many reasons to oppose this pipeline.

1.The pipeline is both unnecessary and expensive.

National Grid in New York would be the purchaser of this gas. However, a pipeline to Brooklyn just completed in 2015 doubled the amount of gas available to National Grid. Yet over the next ten years the demand for natural gas should fall as New York switches to renewable sources. And the estimated cost of this pipeline is nearly a billion dollars, a cost National Grid customers would have to pick up.

This gas would not even serve New Jersey, and New York does not even need the gas.

2.Construction will harm both human and marine life.

To lay this pipeline, Williams must excavate a giant trench across our waters. The harbor seabed is contaminated by toxins like PCBs, dioxin, lead, and arsenic. These toxins will be churned up into the water and washed ashore by the tides, contaminating marine life and the shoreline. Williams says that construction will take a full year and at points may run 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Turbulence, vibrations, and noise will take their toll on marine life. Whales, seals, turtles and birds risk having their migratory patterns disrupted.

3.Williams has a poor safety record.

Natural gas (Fracked Gas) is primarily methane, a highly flammable and explosive gas. Williams has a poor safety record in the management of its pipelines, compressor stations, and processing plants. In the last ten years, Williams pipelines and compressor stations have exploded and/or caught fire ten times. In addition, incidents at other Williams facilities have killed six people and injured dozens. These accidents have released methane into the atmosphere, leveled buildings, and contaminated groundwater. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has repeatedly levied civil penalties against Williams for neglecting safety procedures.

4.The Williams Pipeline is incompatible with fighting climate change.

While natural gas is often touted as less dangerous to the climate than coal and petroleum, it is in fact just as dangerous. Its primary component is methane, and methane in the first twenty years after its release is 84 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Even in the absence of accidents, the routine fracking, processing, and transportation of natural gas releases substantial amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Our state has mandated climate action, adn this pipeline is the wrong direction.