All those involved in approving the proposed PennEast natural gas pipeline need to be held accountable for doing a thorough investigation before making a decision.
To the editor:
I trust that agencies - local, state and federal - give appropriate consideration to facts to protect what is within their purview.
Yet, I am blown away by the lack of data in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed PennEast natural gas pipeline. In particular, FERC puts entirely too much faith in the proposed mitigation attempts of the damage that would be caused by the pipeline's construction.
The FERC's DEIS for PennEast is fraught with missing or incomplete critical information, without which FERC should not be making an assessment, let alone providing approvals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have all expressed grave concerns over the missing or incomplete information in the DEIS.
Evidence shows the mitigation measures FERC requires are not effective. They lead to environmental degradation, unhealthy ecological conditions, and irreversible damage to natural resources.
When it comes to open space, quality matters | Opinion
How can FERC conclude that the proposed PennEast pipeline could be installed without significant environmental impacts? It can't, yet it has. Without the proper data, and based on the proposed mitigation steps, neither PennEast nor FERC can know that sensitive natural resources like streams (which provide our drinking water) and forests will be restored to their pre-construction conditions.
Residents should not be fooled into believing PennEast's advertising claims that they have our best interests in mind. We must hold PennEast and FERC accountable.
Leslie Sauer
Sergeantsville