Activists vs. Pipeline: 2 Arrests At Essex County Protest

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — An act of civil disobedience in protest of a natural gas pipeline station in Essex County ended with the arrest of two local environmentalists on Wednesday, activists said.

According to a statement from Food & Water Watch, seven people walked onto the construction site at the Williams/Transco compressor station on Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland. As part of their peaceful protest, the activists linked arms in the main driveway, blocking construction equipment from moving onto the site and disrupting work.

Police eventually arrested two of the protesters, Food & Water Watch stated. (Watch a video taken at the scene at the bottom of this article)

Patch reached out to the Roseland Police Department for more information about the arrests and charges. We’ll update this article with any reply we receive.

Williams Transco has been trying to beef up its current compressor station in Roseland for years as part of its Gateway Expansion Project, a larger effort to revamp the Transco interstate natural gas pipeline and provide additional service to New Jersey and New York.

The energy giant has claimed that the Gateway Expansion Project is needed to help it provide New Jersey with more than half of its natural gas, including to utility companies such as PSE&G.

However, the compressor station expansion has seen staunch opposition from local residents, activists and political leaders, who have alleged there are numerous safety and environmental risks posed by the facility.

• See related article: Proposed Pipeline Station Blasted By Essex County Official

‘ACTION IS THE BEST ANTIDOTE’

On Wednesday, activists called on Governor Phil Murphy to stop construction at the Roseland station while the project is under legal appeal, and to declare an emergency moratorium on all 12 fossil fuel expansion projects currently proposed or moving forward in New Jersey.

“For Governor Murphy to support this is hypocritical given his often-stated belief in the need to move to renewable energy in New Jersey,” charged Ted Glick, president of 350NJ.

Glick added that “action is the best antidote to imposed wrong” and a “necessity” for positive change.

It was a stance seconded by New Brunswick resident Karlos Edmonds, an organizer with Extinction Rebellion NJ.

“If built, this gas compressor station, like so many other harmful and dangerous fossil fuel projects across our state, would keep Roseland and New Jersey on a path that has no future,” Edmonds said. “When governments aren't doing their job to protect the people, the people armed by their vigilance have to step in and do it for them.”

A spokesperson for Williams/Transco told Patch that work at the Roseland station will continue, despite the ongoing protests.

According to Williams/Transco:

“Natural gas is a critical component of the mix of energy sources necessary to meet the region’s growing energy needs, creating affordability for utility customers and ensuring reliability while renewables scale. This federally approved project is designed to have virtually zero impact on surrounding neighbors and the environment, with almost all of the work taking place within our existing fence line. Since the station horsepower upgrades feature electric-driven compressors, its operation will not significantly impact noise or air quality. The comprehensive environmental assessment conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission positively reflects our efforts to design this project in an environmentally responsible manner, ultimately concluding that the project’s construction and operation would not significantly affect the environment.”

• See related article: Pipeline Company Says No Plans For 2nd Compressor In Essex County

After making its way through years of red tape and permit applications, Williams Transco finally has the necessary approvals from federal and state authorities to move forward in Roseland, a company spokesperson told Patch in March.

Activists aren't giving up their fight against the expansion, however, and have filed appeals to halt the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.

• See related article: Controversial Essex County Pipeline Station Gets Key Permits
• See related article: Essex County Activists Not Giving Up Fight Against Pipeline Company

According to grassroots advocacy group Roseland Against the Compressor Station, the Roseland facility is part of a pipeline that runs under several Essex County towns including West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Little Falls, Clifton, Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Rutherford, East Rutherford, Carlstadt, Ridgefield and North Bergen, as well as the campus of Montclair State University.

The pipeline system connects the Northeastern markets with natural gas from the Marcellus Shale Formation, some of which is extracted using the controversial process known as "fracking."

Activists' outcries for transparency have caused some local governments, such as the Roseland Borough Council and Livingston Town Council to call for DEP hearings on the station's expansion. Other local government entities that have expressed concern about the expansion include Nutley, Bloomfield and the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

“I am outraged that even though the Williams/Transco Gateway Expansion Project is under appeal by the town of Roseland and a coalition of several environmental groups, this company has been allowed by the Department of Environmental Protection to start construction,” Bloomfield resident Jane Califf said.

“This project will push more gas through a 60-year old-pipeline that passes under Bloomfield where I live, 15 other towns and Montclair State University, threatening leaks, fires and explosions that put our health and safety in peril,” Califf said.

Sid Madison, a Piscataway resident who was also at Wednesday’s protest, said that he risked arrest to raise awareness about the continued expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in New Jersey.

“The expansion of the Roseland compressor station is to ship more fracked gas to the region for other new polluting projects like the Meadowlands power plant – one of a dozen new fossil fuel projects that must be stopped,” Madison said. “I'm taking action today to call on Governor Murphy to stop all new fossil fuel projects by declaring a climate emergency moratorium.”

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