Environmental groups appeal permits for natural gas pipeline planned in Monroe, Luzerne
By Kathryne Rubright, The Pocono Record
March 21, 2023
PennFuture and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network have filed an appeal on permits granted for a natural gas pipeline planned in Monroe and Luzerne counties.
Permits given by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental protection would allow the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company to degrade waterways, the groups said in an appeal filed with Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board on March 14.
PennFuture is an environmental advocacy organization focused on clean energy, and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network works on water quality and ecosystem issues in the Delaware River watershed.
The expansion, known as the Regional Energy Access Expansion Project, would add 22.3 miles of 30-inch pipe in Luzerne and 13.8 miles of 42-inch pipe in Monroe, in addition to a new compressor facility in Gloucester County, New Jersey and updates to existing facilities.
New Jersey has not signed off on the project, while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved it.
Related:DEP taking comments on permits for natural gas pipeline in Luzerne, Monroe counties
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC, is a subsidiary of The Williams Companies, Inc., which had not responded to a request for comment as of 11:30 a.m. Monday.
“What the permits here allow Transco to do is to cut across a number of High Quality streams and to cut across two Exceptional Value streams, Poplar Creek and the Tunkhannock Creek, as they construct this additional pipeline, which is multiple miles across Luzerne and Monroe counties,” said Jessica O’Neill, senior attorney with PennFuture, adding that Tunkhannock is “one of the premier fishing streams in Monroe County.
The Monroe section of the pipeline, called the Effort Loop, would largely run next to existing pipeline Tunkhannock, Chestnuthill and Ross townships, except for an approximately 3-mile section in the Brodheadsville area.
More information:Study: Poconos' and northeast PA streams account for $3 billion in economic benefits
Original article appeared in The Pocono Record: https://www.poconorecord.com/story/news/environment/2023/03/21/groups-appeal-natural-gas-pipeline-planned-northeast-pa-pennfuture-delaware-riverkeeper-network/70012443007/