Construction of a nearly 120-mile-long (193 kilometer) proposed natural gas pipeline from northeastern Pennsylvania to central New Jersey will not go forward, the group behind the project said Monday.
PennEast Pipeline Company, which won a recent legal battle against New Jersey at the Supreme Court, nonetheless said the state has failed to provide certain permits and is putting the project on ice.
“PennEast partners, following extensive evaluation and discussion, recently determined further development of the Project no longer is supported. Accordingly, PennEast has ceased all further development of the Project,” spokesperson Pat Kornick said in an email.
The decision is the latest swing in a long-running effort to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania. It’s also a major win for environmental groups who opposed the project, arguing it would cut a scar across the landscape, threaten wildlife and contribute the use of fossil fuels.
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Pipeline opponents held a remote video conference to take a victory lap of sorts. The pipeline company’s decision was emotional for some.
“It’s relief,” said Terese Buchanan, a resident along the proposed route and long-time opponent.
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It’s unclear whether PennEast will pursue the project again if circumstances change.
PennEast, a company made up of five different energy firms, won federal and Pennsylvania permitting approvals including a key Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificate that could allow the firm to use eminent domain to acquire land.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court said that companies building interstate pipelines can obtain the land they need even in the face of state opposition, once their projects have been given the greenlight by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Both the Trump and Biden administrations had supported PennEast. Nineteen states had urged the Supreme Court to rule the other way and side with New Jersey.
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has been an opponent of the project. Up for reelection this year and favored in public polling, Murphy has publicized his administration’s efforts to thwart the project.
New Jersey had failed to issue a water quality certification and other wetlands permits under the Clean Water Act for that state’s portion of the project, according to PennEast.
PennEast’s application with federal regulators goes back to 2015, though it began pushing for the project in 2014. The company argued the project would bring jobs and lower-cost natural gas to the region.
