Essex County Protesters To Gov. Murphy: Halt Compressor Expansion

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Environmentalists in Essex County aren’t backing down in their protests against the expansion of a natural gas compressor station in Roseland.

Members of Roseland Against the Compressor Station (RACS) will hold a demonstration from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6 along the 500-block of Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland, near the Williams/Transco facility. A meeting will take place at the nearby Essex County Environmental Center after the rally.

The Jan. 6 event takes place a few weeks after the Roseland Town Council passed a resolution calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to immediately suspend any use of the expanded Williams/Transco station – which has gained federal and state approval – until an independent safety study can be carried out.

The council's resolution cited a fiery explosion at a nearby PSE&G facility on Nov. 21 as an example of one of their concerns.

• See related article: Fireball At PSEG Station In Essex County; Nearby Towns Hear Boom

“The gas compressor station has been constructed on land immediately adjacent to a PSE&G electrical switching station and the eastern terminal of the high-voltage, Susquehanna-Roseland electrical transmission lines which can transmit up to 730,000 volts of electricity,” the resolution states.

“The location where the fireball explosion took place, at the corner of Eisenhower Parkway and Eagle Rock Avenue, is known to local residents as a place where over the years gas is often smelled,” the resolution alleges.

Oklahoma-based Williams began expansion at the station in 2016 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 project has seen vocal opposition from community members, who have vowed to continue appeals with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

• See related article: Controversial Essex County Pipeline Station Gets Key Permits
• See related article: 2 Arrests At Essex County Pipeline Protest

Williams/Transco has disputed their allegations, claiming that the expansion is safe and is needed to help provide New Jersey with more than half of its natural gas.

The company has also challenged activists' allegations about the safety of the station and the proposed upgrade.

"Station 303 is an electric motor-driven compressor station, therefore, there are no emissions from natural gas combustion associated with compression," a spokesperson previously stated. "The Transco pipeline has been safely operating in this area for decades, and the pipe in this area consists of both class 3 and 4 pipe, which is the highest pipeline design class standard established by U.S. DOT code."

The spokesperson said it's important to note that station 303's horsepower addition will not result in an increase to the main pipeline's current operating pressure. In addition, the pipe will continue to be monitored 24/7 and will be "regularly tested" to validate its integrity.

The spokesperson also told Patch:

• "The project minimizes impacts to landowners and the environment by increasing the utilization of existing pipeline infrastructure, rather than constructing new greenfield pipe."
• "Virtually all of the project activities are within existing rights of way and/or property boundaries."

But local activists and officials haven’t been appeased by the company’s assurances of safety.

After the Roseland council passed its resolution on Dec. 17, Mayor James Spango and representatives of RACS, Food and Water Watch, the New Jersey Sierra Club and 350NJ sent Gov. Murphy a letter, again asking for a study of possible safety risks.

“This is not the first time that the idea of an independent safety study has been raised,” their letter states. “Since 2013, before construction began on the initial Roseland compressor station, local people and RACS have been speaking out about the very real dangers of building a large—now very large—gas compressor station right next to high-tension power lines and an electrical switching station on a flood plain at a time of greater climate instability and more extreme weather events.”

The letter continues:

“In 2014, after the first, 25,000 horsepower compressor operation was built, the borough of Roseland, several other towns in the area and the Essex County Freeholders passed resolutions in support of such a study, but it never happened. After this fireball accident, it makes a lot more sense now than it did then… We hope your office will agree that, for the people living and working close to this electricity/gas complex, thousands of them, it makes sense to pause this dangerous project and take a good, hard look at the potential risks via a serious, independent safety study before there is any further increase in the amount of gas going through the compressor operation.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.