‘It is more important than ever to stop this expansion project’

I am appalled to see that the Passaic County Commissioners have delayed their vote once again to pass a resolution against the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Compressor Station planned for West Milford.

With pipeline projects like these running rampart through our State, which have absolutely no benefit to New Jersey, the effects leave a chilling effect on our residents and their future.

The push to continue the expansion of natural gas, a fossil fuel that has been linked to climate change, air and water pollution, and destruction of pristine environments like West Milford, is unconscionable.

Add to this, noise pollution, which is inseparable from the function of a Compressor Station and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s environmental track record in Lake Lookover in Hewitt and Bearfort Waters in West Milford, it is more important than ever to stop this expansion project.

How can we possibly justify this immoral act when New Jersey already has over 1,500 miles of pipeline although it is 47th in size and #1 in population density?

You may look at West Milford and see the beauty and abundance of space we experience but realize that a pipeline explosion could change this serenity overnight. Even without the increased emissions from a Compressor Station, the ozone pollution in New Jersey is rated F (among the worst in the nation) and the rivers and streams in West Milford support drinking water to millions of New Jersey residents.

New Jersey continues to be the butt of so many jokes around the country. We are home to the largest number of superfund sites, 118 at last count; since 1895 average temperatures have climbed by almost 3.6 degrees, double the average for the other lower 48 state and apparently that is not enough.

We want to be #1 in the number of pipeline projects crisscrossing our State and continue the expansion of fossil fuels, now for the benefit of Westchester County, tomorrow to increase our exports of fracked gas.

How can our State possibly justify the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure when the New Jersey Energy Master Plan states that greenhouse gases must be reduced?

This project will create 40 union jobs that will end in one year but the project will be responsible for the continuation of 40 years of increased emissions and methane into the atmosphere, increasing the warming of our planet.

Governor Murphy has given us his promise to reduce greenhouse gases. The Commissioners should pass this resolution to oppose this project and allow Governor Murphy’s actions to speak louder than his words.

Barbara Stomber

Franciscan Response to Fossil Fuels

Wayne