OCT. REPORT TO CARBON COUNTY STAKEHOLDERS
By SAVE CARBON COUNTY
PennEast/UGI Pipeline Project- Prepared 11/17/2020
The PennEast Pipeline project continues to be stalled with no progress in months. The
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has yet to accept the inadequate
Environmental Assessment which was done for the Phase 1 Project (or the
Pennsylvania-Only version of this pipeline). Save Carbon County and the Aquaschicola
Pohopoco Watershed Conservancy (APWC) are two local groups that filed a strong
statement protesting the inadequacy of the Environmental Assessment and demanding
a full Environmental Impact Statement. You may recall that PennEast demanded that
the FERC fast-track their review of Phase 1 and complete their approval by October.
PennEast wanted to begin cutting trees in November. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty,
tree cutting is only allowed between November and March. If they don’t get the trees
cut this year, they will be delayed another year.
The pipeline has also made no progress in their DEP approvals. Two important permits
have yet to be granted. They are the Chapter 102 Permit which concerns erosion and
sediment control and the Chapter 105 Permit which concerns water obstruction and
stream encroachment.
Furthermore, they have not received a permit from the Delaware River Basin
Commission (DRBC). Save Carbon County and APWC joined eight other grassroots
organizations in urging that the PennEast application to the DRBC be rejected due to the
many inaccuracies and misleading information contained in the application. The DRBC
has yet to place the application on their agenda.
At the end of the day, “no progress” is a good outcome for the environment.
The Trump Administration wasted no time in punishing FERC Commissioner, Neil
Chatterjee for his support of carbon pricing. Chatterjee has been removed from his
position as Chair of FERC. He stated that, “I have obviously been out there promoting a
conservative, market-based approach to carbon mitigation and sending signals the
commission is open to considering a carbon price, and perhaps that led to this.” He
continued, “…If, in fact, this was in retribution for my independence, I am quite proud of
that.” Carbon pricing would benefit renewable energy sources. The new Chairman is
James Danly whose chairmanship could be short-lived. President-Elect Biden can
appoint a new chairman without Senate approval. There are currently only three
members of FERC. A full complement is five commissioners.
Save Carbon County is a member of a regional and two-state effort to stop the PennEast/UGI pipeline.
Local information can be found on FaceBook at “Stop the Fracking Pipeline.” Regional Information can be found on FaceBook at “Stop PennEast Pipeline.”
HALT PennEast 