Letters: Independent review of PennEast Pipeline is key

ISSUE | ENVIRONMENT

Independent review of PennEast Pipeline is a big step in the process

The Delaware River Basin Commission is doing the right thing by conducting independent hearings on the PennEast Pipeline next year ("More review for PennEast Pipeline," Tuesday). This dangerous 119-mile pipeline, which would deliver Marcellus Shale natural gas to New Jersey utilities, would cut through the Delaware Valley, threatening water quality and the environment. It would affect 39 parks, 44 wetlands, 33 farms, and other open-space areas in the state.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is a cheerleader for the industry it is supposed to regulate and would have undermined the transparency and credibility of what the basin commission will do in its investigation.

This is a complex project that would affect thousands of people across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. More than 70 percent of landowners along the route have spoken out against it.

The New Jersey Sierra Club is calling on the basin commission to conduct seven meetings to hear from all citizens along the route. The commission made the right decision by separating its public process from that of the federal agency.

|Jeff Tittel, director, New Jersey Sierra Club, Trenton