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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 Environmenta...
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