‘A recipe for disaster’

| 19 Aug 2021 | 12:13

    The West Milford Council has before it a resolution authorizing an agreement with the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company.

    This agreement is a deal with TGP to let them move forward with their dangerous project to construct a compressor station in West Milford and increase the size of the existing compressor station in Wantage without opposition from the Township of West Milford in exchange for a commitment to pay ad valorem taxes ( taxes based on assessed property value) annually as well as other financial incentives for West Milford.

    This was done despite the fact that the agreement was written out of the view of the public under the guise of executive sessions, residents were only given a day to review the agreement, most of the safety, health and environmental concerns brought up during public comment periods at the many months of council meetings were not addressed in the agreement, almost all resident comments have been in opposition of this project, other neighboring towns have written resolutions opposing this project, none of this increased gas is for our state, the 2021 UN’s IPCC report “underscores the urgency of strong, sustained cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.” and all permits from FERC and NJDEP have not yet been approved.

    We were hoping to gain the support of the West Milford council in stopping this project. We continue to target the agencies who will approve or deny this project.

    Tennessee Gas has a proven track record of causing destruction. In 2011 they caused serious problems at Lake Lookover and Bearfort Waters. Mudslides, erosion and more covered the two lakes with mud and impacted drinking wells. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC ) cannot give them another approval for a compressor station right next to a reservoir that would be attached to a 65 year old pipeline that goes under the Monksville Reservoir. That would simply be a recipe for disaster.

    Please help us stop this compressor station and the expansion of the one in Wantage by learning more about the health, safety and environmental risks of this project and submitting comments on FERC’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) today by going to www.stopthecompressor.org.

    Comments are due by Monday, Aug. 23, at 5 p.m.

    Thank you,

    Renee B. Allessio

    Sustainable West Milford