Late last week, in front of a huge audience, the Pinelands Commission voted to allow South Jersey Gas to put a pipeline through our beloved Pine Barrens.
Where exactly? This map shows it best, going through the Pinelands to travel along 10 miles and 1.1 million acres of protected forest, just to deliver fracked gas so that a coal power plant can morph into a gas power plant.
It would go through through Atlantic County, Cape May County, & Cumberland County. A good coverage by philly.com here.
The Sierra Club plans to sue. The Pinelands Alliance plans to file an appeal.
This issue has been on the table since 2012. The reason that it wasn’t passed sooner is because so many people have been actively resisting this pipeline’s construction. It was empowering to be in the room with hundreds of people spontaneously standing and yelling “No! No! No!” for about 5 whole minutes when the issue came before the docket.
The event page has many more photos, even videos, of what transpired at the February 24th meeting of the Pinelands Commission at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Here’s how they voted, and here’s who voted for the pipeline:
- Sean Earlen, Burlington County appointee
- Paul E. Galletta, Atlantic County appointee
- Alan Avery, Ocean County appointee
- Bob Barr, Governor appointee
- William Brown, Cape May County appointee
- Joe Chila, Gloucester County appointee
- Jane Jannarone, Cumberland County appointee
- Edward McGlinchey, Camden County appointee
- Gary Quinn, Governor appointee
If you’ve got property in any of these counties, or know any of these people, they need to hear from you.
Please also tell the Pinelands Commission to postpone construction until all appeals and legal issues have been resolved. If easier, write them here: info [at] njpines.state.nj.us.
350 Philadelphia 