dendroica:Pinelands Commission votes to approve controversial pipelineThe New Jersey Pinelands Commi
dendroica:Pinelands Commission votes to approve controversial pipelineThe New Jersey Pinelands Commission has voted to approve a controversial pipeline project. The 15-member board approved the pipeline by an 8-6 vote, which drew immediate chants of “see you in court” from opponents of the South Jersey Gas project. One member abstained from voting. Hundreds of people had gathered for the meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Route 70 in Cherry Hill to accommodate the crowd.A majority of eight votes had been needed to approve South Jersey Gas’ application to build a 22-mile-long gas pipeline through the protected Pinelands forest. One member – Frank Hays who was the appointee of the U.S. Secretary of Interior and only joined the commission last month – abstained. After the vote was announced many in the crowd shouted, “Shame, shame, shame on you.” The vote was expected to be close. A motion to table the vote was rejected 9-6, which also prompted loud chanting by the hundreds of pipeline opponents in the nearly full ballroom.Groups both in support of and opposed to the pipeline project showed up to Friday’s meeting. Former chairman Mark Lohbauer, who was ousted last year, urged his fellow commissioners to vote against the project, arguing that the charter was designed to prevent such utilities from crossing forest areas if they did not serve the needs of the Pinelands itself. He said an approval would “lower the bar” for all future projects.Given some of the things that happened during the approval process (particularly attempts to limit public comment) and lingering questions over whether the BL England plant serves enough Pinelands residents to meet the standards of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan, there is at least a possibility that a legal challenge would be successful. Despite the opposition of four former governors to this project, the odds of stopping it were always long given that it is backed by Chris Christie (who replaced pipeline opponents on the Pinelands Commission) and powerful South Jersey Democrats like Steve Sweeney. -- source link