The Pinelands Commission has officially approved the controversial vote on the Southern Reliability Link Pipeline by an 8–4 vote.
Members of the Pinelands Commission approved the construction of New Jersey Natural Gas’ Southern Reliability Link Pipeline last Thursday at a special meeting. The pipeline will connect the Trenton-Woodbury Lateral Pipeline in Chesterfield Township to a network of pipelines in Lakehurst Borough if constructed.
The pipeline was approved by an 8–4 vote.
Chairman Sean Earlen, vice chair Paul Galletta, Alan Avery (Ocean County freeholders appointee), Joe Chila, Edward McGlinchy, William Brown, Jane Jannarone and Gary Quinn all voted in favor.
Candace Ashmun, Richard Prickett, Mark Lohbauer and D’Arcy Rohan Green voted against.
Bob Barr was absent for the vote, and Edward Lloyd recused himself.
However, the pipeline is not yet completely in the clear, as the Pinelands Preservation Alliance intends to appeal the decision.
In a phone call after the vote, Carleton Montgomery, executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, described the decision as a “bummer.”
Thursday’s decision comes on the heels of the South Jersey Gas pipeline’s approval back in February, which will run through the Pinelands to connect the Cumberland Lateral Pipeline in Maurice River Township to the BL England power plant in Cape May County so long as it makes it through the appeals process.
“It was not a surprise because of everything the Pinelands Commission and its staff had been doing on the South Jersey Gas pipeline and the New Jersey Natural Gas pipeline to get these paths approved,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery and the PPA maintained that “the Pinelands Commission has consistently undermined or ignored protections set out in the Comprehensive Management Plan during its review of this pipeline,” and that “the project fails to adequately protect the people and the aquifer of the Pinelands,” according to a press release from the PPA.
The pipeline still requires approval from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which the pipeline is slated to run through. The U.S. Air Force published a Draft Environmental Assessment for the project this spring, according to the press release.
Still, in his post-vote interview with The Sun, Montgomery still was not pleased.
“The rules that are being applied here were clearly, unambiguously, intended to prevent development in these conservation zones unless it was essential for the people of the Pinelands to receive essential services,” he said. “You can’t say that about either of these two pipelines.”
