Final decision on Pinelands pipeline still to be made

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP Will the New Jersey Pinelands Commission's rejection of a proposed gas pipeline through the enviromentally sensitive Pinelands stand?

Or will forthcoming decisions by the governor and commission breathe new life into the controversial project?

The commission delivered the minutes of its January meeting - when members blocked the pipeline in a 7-7 vote - to Gov. Christie on Feb. 3.

He has until Feb. 18 to accept or veto them, officials said. The commissioners will vote on the minutes Feb. 21. No action by the body can proceed without approval of the minutes.

Even if the minutes are rejected, the decision would have no effect because the pipeline was not approved.

"I don't want to give the impression that the minutes' approval or disapproval would have any impact on the proposal," commission spokesman Paul Leakan said.

Pipeline critics such as Jeff Tittel, director the New Jersey Sierra Club, won't be satisfied, however, until the minutes are adopted. "Until they are, [the commission's decision] is not an official action," he said.

Christie had supported the project, proposed by South Jersey Gas Co., that would have run nearly 22 miles from Maurice Township in Cumberland County to a proposed gas-powered electrical power plant in Upper Township in Cape May County.

South Jersey Gas spokeswoman Joanne Brigandi said, "No decision has been made about what steps will be taken next. We don't expect a decision any time real soon."

About 15 miles of the pipeline would have gone through the Pinelands: 10.2 miles in the forest area, along with two miles in the Pinelands rural development area and 2.7 miles in the Pinelands Villege management area, commision officials said.

The proposed Upper Township plant was to have replaced the coal-fired plant operated by B.L. England Corp. at Beesley Point that has violated state air-pollution standards for decades.

The state Department of Environmental Protection endorsed the project on those grounds, but opponents said the pipeline would transform the Pinelands into an industrial development.

"We are glad the Pinelands Commission did their job: protecting the Pinelands region for future generations and not allowing the region to be destroyed for private developments," Tittel said.

- Edward Colimore