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Resolution of the Mayor and Council of Princeton Opposing Williams Transco’s Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE)
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WHEREAS, Williams is proposing the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) to build a 23.4 mile methane natural gas pipeline through Raritan Bay and Lower New York Bay, from Old Bridge, New Jersey to Rockaway, New York; and construct a new Compressor Station for the Connection to the Transco Pipeline by Williams on the Proposed Route 27 Location owned by Trap Rock in Franklin Township, Somerset”; and
WHEREAS, on May 15, 2019, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied Transco’s application for a Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification citing “significant water quality impacts from the resuspension of sediments and other contaminants, including mercury and copper”; and
WHEREAS, on June 5, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection denied a second set of permits for failing to meet surface water quality requirements, disturbing wetlands, endangering species and without a compelling public need; and
WHEREAS, in April of 2020, the Synapse Economic Energy Report found there is no demonstrable supply-and-demand-gap that could justify NESE or any other large-scale gas infrastructure projects; and
WHEREAS, in April of 2020, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report found that there is no public need for the NESE pipeline and that the National Grid utility’s contract for the pipeline would have required ratepayers in Long Island, Brooklyn, Staten Island and most of Queens to pay $193 million a year for 15 years; and
WHEREAS, in April of 2020, National Grid identified in its “Long-term Capacity Report” an alternative for natural gas services, including a clean energy, no-infrastructure alternative, that did not require construction of a new pipeline; and
WHEREAS, on April 20, 2020, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied another of Transco’s application for a Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification “with prejudice”; and
WHEREAS, on May 15, 2020, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection denied Williams the Wetland and 401 Water Quality permits for 23 miles of submarine pipeline off the Raritan Bay cutting under Sayreville and Old Bridge and requiring a new compressor station in Franklin; and
WHEREAS, in May of 2024, the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company LLC (Transco), a subsidiary of Williams, notified the Federal Energy Regulatory Authority it would not seek an extension to build the NESE project abandoning it altogether by letting the expiration of a previously granted extension by FERC on May 3, 2024 occur; and
WHEREAS, on May 29, 2025, Williams Transco petitioned FERC for “Expedited Reissuance of Certification Authority Northeast Supply Enhancement Project”; and
WHEREAS, Williams Transco has made no changes to the project and failed to update cost estimates; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the proposed project is to transport 400 million cubic feet of methane natural gas, extracted through the environmentally destructive process of hydraulic fracturing, from the Marcellus Shale to New York markedly contributing to climate change, as well as expose the residents of the state to climate emergency situations such as extreme weather events, droughts, fires, flooding; and
WHEREAS, the project will in no way serve the interests of the State of New Jersey, or its residents, and will only supply methane natural gas to Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island New York; and
WHEREAS, the proposed pipeline part of the NESE project will have severe negative impacts to the Raritan and Lower New York Bays, such as disturbing roughly 14,165 acres of the seabed of the Raritan Bay, discharging 690,000 gallons of drilling fluid and chemicals into the bay, re-suspending over 1,090,000 tons of toxic muck contaminated by PCBs, dioxin, lead, mercury, and arsenic, and destroying over 1,000 acres of benthic habitat that houses marine fish, shellfish, and larva; and
WHEREAS, the project poses serious concerns related to environmental harm to marine and coastal ecosystems, as well as negative impacts to the safety, health and wellbeing of Bayshore coastal communities, resulting in well-documented public opposition; and
WHEREAS, the proposed pipeline will endanger marine life and fisheries through decreased water quality from re-suspended toxins, sieving of over 3.5 million gallons of seawater destroying any living thing that is caught in the process, and creating loud sounds and powerful vibrations that accompany pipeline development which will impact migration patterns, communication systems and other important biological processes; and
WHEREAS, the proposed pipeline will have significant upstream environmental impacts that will directly harm the Raritan Bay, such as negatively affecting 41 acres of wetlands, including approximately 20 acres of forested wetland; and
WHEREAS, the proposed pipeline will adversely impact industries important to the New Jersey Bayshore communities, disturb commercial and recreational fishing and shell fishing activities, and potentially damage the tourism industry; and
WHEREAS, the proposed construction of the compressor station and pipeline will increase dependency on fossil fuels, reverse the state’s renewable energy agenda, and contribute to climate change through increased emissions of methane and carbon dioxide; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey cannot achieve 100% clean energy and an 80% reduction in emissions economy-wide by 2050, as state law requires, without a transition away from gas and other
polluting fossil fuels; and
WHEREAS, due to significant improvements in performance and declining costs, modern air-source and ground-source heat pumps, together with building weatherization, demand response, distributed renewable generation, battery storage, and other grid-decarbonization solutions, now provide a reliable and cost-effective way to heat homes and businesses without expanding gas supply, making the project unnecessary to meet present and forecast heating needs; and
WHEREAS, the companies Williams and associate Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company (Transco) demonstrate a history of mismanaged facilities that resulted in explosions and fires, and do not show results of pipeline tests to governing bodies in any municipalities through which the existing pipeline runs; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of Princeton, County of Mercer, State of New Jersey, as follows:
1. The Mayor and Council oppose the construction and installation of a 23.4 mile pipeline.
2. The Mayor and Council urge Williams to eliminate any further consideration for a pipeline.
3. The Mayor and Council urge the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to deny any permit application for the project and any other pipeline, and urge the Governor of New Jersey and Princeton’s representatives in the New Jersey State Legislature and United States Congress to oppose this pipeline application.
4. The Municipal Clerk shall cause a certified copy of this resolution to be forwarded to the following:
a. New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy
b. Matthew Resnick, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Land Use Regulation
c. New Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker
d. New Jersey State Assemblypersons Mitchelle Drulis and Roy Freiman
e. United States Senators Corey Booker and Andrew Kim
f. United States Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman
5. This resolution shall take effect immediately.